Is this the oldest fusebox you've ever seen? 👀

[@simondempsey1]

Hi John, I’m a retired UKPN cable jointer, that style of meter came out around 20 years ago, and one of the reasons for it was so the utility company that installed it didn’t have the monopoly on where the customer bought their electric from, when the utility company’s sold electricity (Seeboard) So on new building estates, we would install the new service, fit and connect the meter, then isolate the outgoing terminals via the switch on the front of the meter, then put a seal through it to stop it being turned on. We did get paid for fitting the meter. You don’t have to remove the lid to turn it on or off. Fitting this meter enable the electrician wiring the house, to liven it up after completion, not having to call in the meter inspector etc etc. The customer would move in, and then just nominate who their supplier was, giving the meter number and reading. I’ll bet there are still houses out there that aren’t paying for their electric as it was connected when they moved in???? These days most of the electric providers install separate double pole switches; this stops the need to touch the meter at all. The service head is a metalclad style, which we used to call “a biscuit tin cut out” for obvious reasons and is compound filled at the bottom, and we would change these live without too much grief, and there is no asbestos in them. Before it was painted white it would’ve been a cream or black colour and will have a 60amp (1361HBC 2) small bore fuse in it

[@JBE]

John you’ve found a gem there! I too would be giddy as a kipper looking at all this beautiful equipment. Rip it out and get it in the garage / museum.

[@crazysquirrel9425]

Oldest I ever saw was a double pole knife switch with a single Edison fuse on the load line from each pole. Cloth wrapped wires. I think they had one 1-bulb light fixture in each ceiling and I think one 2 prong outlet in each room. Ceramic posts too. Really OLD couple owned the house. They had a curved top refrigerator with a chrome one armed bandit handle to open the door. They used a radio, no TV. Toilet had the tank mounted on the wall. Claw foot bathtub.

[@jayktee96]

PRENTO (trade mark) made by PRENTICE. Earlier than you think- these were in use for a while from the mid 50's onward, similar style to BILL. of about the same time..Earlier items '40's were cast iron before pressed steel. I served my time, 5 years from '61 to '65.

[@truthseeker7794]

The asbestos is usually deep within the carrier and it's only usually covering the middle section of the carrier where the fuse wire crosses it. The piece you can see protruding out of the fuse carrier has probably been added at a later date and is probably an asbestos substitute. Local councils were still changing these old units on rewires will into the late 1980's. I sometimes contracted for the council and exchanged many of these old units for those chunky old Crabtree C 50's.

[@Dog-whisperer7494]

I love finding the old stuff its a lovely piece of kit when British manufacturing was at it best , and it’s a lovely bit of history. Great video John hopefully you can show more of the old stuff . As a when you come across it.

[@hairy248]

You havent lived mate I've taken out wooden fuse boxes with brass hinges and with lead cables feeding lights and power . And in harlow sawbridgeworth and bishops stortford love to see someone else still finding them just wish digital cameras were around 30 years ago

[@over-engineered]

my 1960 house had some kind of rubber coated cables, some was turning to goo, whilst others were turning brittle. No CPC on lighting. All re-wired about 20 years ago to 16th edition.

[@Tocsin-Bang]

The oldest one I came across was wooden with a glass front, fused in both poles, ceramic carriers! The whole installation was overloaded, with bits too hot to touch. Dated from 1928 when the shop was built. It was in a greengrocers shop in Croydon! This was in the late 70s.

[@charliechristmas5147]

I changed a lovely 1940’s unit made from quality wood. There were fuse carriers for line and the same carriers for the neutral conductors. I have kept the casing, as it is a piece of history and beautifully made.

[@grahammaclure5722]

Orignally a DC fuse board I would think, I remember seeing a few of them in a factory I worked in that had motor generator sets for lighting. Sometimes the incandescent lighting was AC if the water powered DC side of the motor generator was driving or DC if the main ac steam turbine driven wound rotor AC side of the motor generator was powered. EdiSwan (Edison and Swan) and Igranic open slate "board" mounted wooden handled blade switches with spring mounted sacrificial tips on the blades that took the worst of the arc when opening the switch . People wondered why there were so few old sparkies around by the 1960s.

[@mudlick8186]

One of the very first distribution panels I poked my fingers into was in the attic of a three story masion built in the 1860's but converted to a 13 unit apartment building in the 1950's. The panel had an exposed two pole knife switch for the main disconnect (think Frankenstein movies), glass fuses, and wiring so crazy and crammed in that it looked like a squirrel's nest. A combination of knob and tube, BX and its antecedents, and Romex. 40 years later I can still see it clearly in my mind.

[@TCJB33]

Really interesting. I'm on my level 2 at the moment and I'm just soaking as much as I can in generally and I love the enthusiasm and the willingness to explain what's going on. Hopefully I can break into the industry one day and if I do things like this are invaluable. I've already come across an old wylex fuse board when I looked at a friend's setup and they don't teach you about the old gear in college.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

good luck, despite what other sources are saying it's a growing trade. old guys like me are still here, but it's the younger ones who will hopefully carry it on. John is a good source, i assume you already follow efixx too

[@jedi-mic]

It's fine isn't it, I don't know if it's old as mine? I've got the bakerlight from 1946. I find it's difficult to get fuse wire one little corner shop I found that had some. Where would I get fuse wire? You might be alright with the asbestos my dad worked in an asbestos factory didn't affect him but a few of his friends died in their 50s 60s

[@GlynHudson]

That meter is fantastic! I wonder why more meters don't have built in isolators. It's madness that many houses don't have anyway to isolate the main supply from the fuse board without pulling the fuse

[@WorldlyNonsense]

Sadly I’m old enough to remember these. I’m sure the fuse carriers have asbestos. 👍

[@SSJIndy]

My former home had a single fuxe box that looked like the lower right unit you have. It contained two fuses, the upstairs fuse and the downstairs/garage fuse. 60 Amp service. Inside the cover plate was a label from the original inspection in 1925.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

it's not mad, it's ok to get excited when you find something interesting. Like i said i have one. And no cpc on lighting is just a c3 provided no class 1 fittings. notice at cu necessary

[@imark7777777]

That thing is beautiful and it's still in pristine condition. Just have to decontaminate it and then you can put it into your museum collection. Yeah there's being careful and then there's being careless. As long as you don't put the fibers in the air. I would probably snip off at the fuse carriers carefully pull the box off and then wipe every cable down. As far as the fuse carriers go yeah that's gonna have to get removed from there it is a bit dusty. It's amazing what a properly installed system looks like decades later when it hasn't been messed with.

[@turboslag]

In the early 70s we lived in a pre war house in Whitley Bay in the North East, Geordie land why eye!!! I was still at school and mad keen on all things electrical and electronic, so when we had our kitchen refitted I was doing the electrical work to keep costs down. That was when I discovered that it still had the original lead sheathed wiring, which ran to wall fittings and light switches on the surface in wooden conduit!!! Many of the sockets were still round pin!!!! The fuse board was a wooden frame with steel supports that held the fuses, all 4 of them!!!! I did check the earths and insulation with a hand crank megger though! And incredibly it was all good!! My parents couldn't afford a rewire so that's how it was left during our time there, never had a problem! In my experience, the worst wiring I've ever seen was in Italy in a hotel on holiday in the 80s, it was literally hanging!!! Bare wires with old insulating tape barely hanging on, in a bathroom!!! Little junction boxes all over the place with the wires just twisted together inside!! It was a horror show! Nothing like the stories I've heard from India though, where people just tap into supplies and steal their power, no fuses, no isolators, just direct connection to the primary supply!!

[@harry130747]

Before that was single rubber cables, braided in cotton, carried on ceramic "cleats". (Cable was known as "VIR") Vulcanised India Rubber.

[@turboslag]

@harry130747 I actually have some of that cable!! I salvaged a few mtrs from an old factory that we rented as an industrial unit in the late 90s. The owner had a new breaker panel installed and a lot of the old wiring was stripped out and upgraded to new for safety, probably as a result of trying to get insurance knowing landlords!!! I'd never seen that sort of cable before, so saved some for posterity. Amazingly it's still in almost perfect condition! I also liberated some massive old cast iron isolator switch boxes, I just couldn't see them go to scrap as the quality was incredible compared to the stamped steel rubbish we have now. Some years later I met an "upcycler" who specialised in converting old industrial equipment into decorative lifestyle objects, she almost had an orgasm when she saw those old isolators!!! She begged me to sell them to her and offered an insane price. I accepted with one condition, that she gave me one of them when she'd done her thing with them. I'm still have that now, converted to a light with trinket storage inside. It was one of the larger ones, from memory a 200 amp, 3 phase isolator, about 20" high and weighs about 20-30kg!!!

[@idi0tdetectioninprogress]

Classic kit. I do like wooden boards with fused neutrals though, they're beautiful.

[@railgap]

No, I've seen older in the house I grew up in. I've seen older in Victorian rental houses in Denver.

[@davideyres955]

Absolutely agree about the isolator meter. We hve new editions of British Standard to improve things and yet we don’t do the smallest thing to make electricians lives safer at work. Should just be introduced that all meters must have ability to isolate supply.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

or mandate that meter fitters fit an isolator, either works

[@harry130747]

It's done that way to make theft of electricity more difficult.

[@Ste2023]

the older stuff was actually better made

[@harry130747]

But then there was only lights and maybe two fifteen amp sockets in the house. It would cost twenty times what modern stuff costs.

[@thisismyuniquestory]

Yes ​@@harry130747to both

[@Ibrahim-vt2tz]

it's just nice to see the old age consumer unit from 60s and be honest with you they don't need to job and very clean done and I still with standing and functioning well that is brilliant it just shows there are the quality was really good we're not talking about technology but the quality so it looks brilliant it's like an old cars however been amazing to see this consumer unit And the old age of the installation that you mentioned is the one of the biggest factors of doing a eicr and electrical installation certificate report we do look at age of the installation and see how old is the installation Look forward to see the video of testing Of this consumer unit but I think you couldn't do it because of asbestos but if you ever do I'm looking forward to see that thank you

[@bikerchrisukk]

That meter is something else eh!

[@totherarf]

Well I cant be certain about the make of consumer unit, but .... the Cutout is a Henley! They are still good as long as the plate on top with the tails running through it are intact. Technically you will need to call the DNO out to get the outgoing tails from the meter out of the cutout. They originally had a devils creation of a live and neutral block inside the cutout so you only needed one neutral which went into the meter (but cutting that connection allowed free power so was outlawed) The connection in the cutout had a live coming vertically downward and then going out horizontally to the DP switch so it was easy to get a flash over! Originally they were fitted from the first electrification of houses en mass back in the 1920's. They had a separate DP switch on the side (usually the right) and a fuseboard bolted above it! Earthing was usually externally done with a small stranded (if you were lucky) cpc cable of 4mm equivalent. These were a staple of council housing estates that were built around 1030's. As you noted this was installed with pvc cable with earth so is probably 60's (some used earthed cables even before it was mandatory! There will be a 60A main fuse that can be upgraded to 80A, but if you need more than that it is time for a new cutout from the DNO! I started work back in 1977 for NORWEB and worked there until I retired this year so I have come across more of them than most! One thing you would need to check is the sizes of those cables as the fuse ratings may not take 32A as they were fused at 30A (OK I know .... rewireable 30A is higher than CB at 32A). All in all a nice Blast from the Past!

[@pradolover]

Had a 1950s flat in Church Leys, Harlow that had one of these!

[@matthewellisor5835]

I haven't personally come across the kit kat rewireable fuses, over here across the pond I have rewired ones coiled around ceramic rods. It was likely a 1920-1930s installation.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

the old pullcap... i have one over there >>> complete with meter reading booklet. And i LOVE those meters

[@TheChipmunk2008]

OOO not pullcap.. but they did the same, MEM

[@markhines9234]

In Australia, we now have to have a meter isolator BEFORE the meter when a new meter is installed ie. import/export meter for Solar

[@thisismyuniquestory]

Brilliant,short answer

[@avocet89]

Nice one John, proper antique piece of kit there. I guess this was an EICR prior to someone buying the house, wouldn't be seeing stuff like this in a rental? Sorry to hear about the asbestos incident, utter b*st*rds leaving it in the vents like that...

[@joshuamyatt6979]

great vid bud keep them up, passed in may and learn a lot from your vids

[@dead.format]

I get equally excited by finding an old DB. Glad it's not just me!

[@TheChipmunk2008]

I was delighted to get an entire meter board, complete with meter and a foot of PILC a few years ago lol, sad gits aren't we

[@dead.format]

@TheChipmunk2008 is it sad that I'm still waiting for the day I can get a nice cast iron incomer lol

[@gtb81.]

i still have a fuse board in service from the 1890's uses the same fuse wire

[@VLC8792]

I worked at a large property in rural North Yorkshire in the early 90s which had, not one but two, 8 way wooden fuse boards. It had me confused for a while as one of the fuse boards was for the neutral, so a lighting circuit, for example, had a fuse in the live & the neutral! How old was that.

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Why not fit for continued use, was compliant at the time of install. C3

[@MarcWh]

My parents’ house still has a 1960 fuse box. I had to re-wire one of the re-wireable fuses about five years ago. It keeps chugging.

[@havoctrousers]

The diamond logo and printed circuit chart look just like the ones on some old boards I've got in service here. They were made by the Dorman Smith company in the 60s and 70s. The ones I've got were commercial and use BS88 offset tag fuses rather being rewireable.

[@g.williamswilliams8442]

Good find John

[@anthonybragg]

When the self-connect meter came in for new builds they were Lydiis and Gye or some mane like that where you had a small 100A switch and the terminals for the tails.

[@hillppari]

that fuesboard is fine. just make a subpanel with all the new fancy stuff

[@stuartrobb673]

I came across similar some years ago. That head looks like an enclosure for a dual ceramic fuse. You should get the DNO to check because it could have a fused neutral which is extremely dangerous. If it does, the DNO will replace it with a BS1361 for free

[@daviddawson9099]

interesting thanks John

[@andysims4906]

The early plastic cable was better quality than some of the later stuff. Just because they’re is earth wire in the lighting circuit doesn’t mean it serves the whole installation. Possibly just the ceiling fittings and not the switch drops. Also near me there is a housing estate and every house was first wired by the SEB. Guess what they have earths in the lighting circuit, but in the early 60s there was no requirement to have earths in the lighting circuits. So they couldn’t be bothered to connect the earths in fittings or joint boxes. Quite dangerous for Mr DIY . He sees an earth wire ,assumes he can put up his metal light fitting and thinks alls well. As he’s done no testing he is putting his or anyone’s life in danger , unknowingly .

[@peteb3365]

waves hello from down the road in w.abbey 👍

[@davidreason8334]

Be careful with the term wetting down as people may take that as water. water has no effect on Asbestos it is one of the many reasons it was used What is meant to be used is a wetting agent (yes I know) but for this, I would not even bother anyway I would recommend is cutting all cables without even removing the fuses, remove the board whole and double bagging in approved asbestos bags. all this should be done in full PPE so Respiratory mask FFP3 min half face Respiratory mask with p3 filters if you doing few of them (face fitted), Cat3 type5/6 coveralls, goggles and gloves this is all a minimum if doing this, then clean the whole work area with rags using one side of the rag with each pass to be bagged as asbestos waste AND GET THE RIGHT TRAINING CAT B

[@truthseeker7794]

The flame retardant material was deep inside the carrier where the fuse wire crossed over it. The piece protruding from the carrier in this video was probably added at a later date and was would most likely be an asbestos substitute. These things were harmless. I sometimes contracted for the local council and was ripping out these old units well into the late 80's as part of a rewires.

[@tonywatson1412]

Get a life

[@johnmaguire9305]

One wonders why the energy supplier who fitted the meter didn’t recommend a board change/ rewire. Also, pvc covered wires of this vintage is known to ooze green goo.

[@MarcWh]

Maybe the supplier did, but unless someone is going to pay for it, the change isn’t going to happen.

[@johnnz4375]

You obviously haven't been to New Zealand yet. Most older house have these fuses on a pertinax panel with a wooden frame around it and no cover. Often installed in hallways or bedrooms. And mostly 2 or 3 phase.

[@thedodger1387]

ive seen awooden board from the fifties with fused neutrals , that was just six months ago

[@octymocty132]

You can actually get whack from the holder with the bits falling out and phelon\ bakerlight brakes down

[@db111]

I had one made of bakelite frame and wooden dovetailed jointed base to the frame

[@guffermeister]

The Siemens Digital meters from 20ish years ago had a similar arrangement. An isolating switch, and a non sealed side so that you could change the tails going in to the board. New "smart" meters? No way of safe isolation. Just stupid.

[@alvina69]

Installations are generally okay providing nobody touches them.

[@Dog-whisperer7494]

If all your test comes back within the specified limits and considering the overall condition it safe for continued service . Point 2 BS 7671 are not retrospective RCD became mandatory in the 17th edition amendment 3 going forward you are not required to fit RCDs on installations designed before the 17th edition amendment 3 . If the a socket the can /is used for outdoor equipment replace it with an RCD socket which is permitted by BS7671 earthing on lighting circuits became mandatory in the mid late to eighties because people started to replace their standard pendant lights and switches with fancy metal light fixtures mostly bought from Woolworths, B&Q and Homebase. That Fuse box and the head date back to the mid forties early fifties, the circuit cables early sixties. The asbestos flash guards are harmless as long as they haven’t been pulled apart and or falling apart. Asbestos is only dangerous when it is pulled apart or broken if’s solid asbestos like ceiling panels those flash guards are a woven material so unlikely to break apart and your unlikely to breath in any fine particles. My wife’s uncle worked in the asbestos factory in Watford in the fifties and early sixties and I asked him about the asbestos flash guards he told me what I have already said in this comment and he would know as he used to make the dam things .

[@juliegreen7604]

It's not too old - mid '50s to early/mid '60s I spent much of my apprenticeship taking these out (and earlier stuff) to put in the "safer plastic" units - which are now being taken out for the "safer metal" ones.... Tbh these ones weren't any problem, there were some where when the fuse blows it sent an arc jet out of the top and bottom of the holder - sometimes this could create an arc between the line and the metal cu - ok if it was the circuit side of the fuse, but if it was on the feed side then the arc would be continuous!!

[@jamesmc1272]

Watch out for the asbestos in the fuse box rope.

[@James_Bowie]

4:57 "Made in England by Prentice Ltd"

[@garrygriffithselectricalse843]

Great video 👌

[@anthonybragg]

Are you doing a video on testing this? It would be a good learning video on how you go about testing an installation with these practical limitations.

[@petermichaelgreen]

I'd think Zs from the ends of circuits, ring continuity from sockets on the ring. global IR can be taken from anywhere. Limitation for not inspecting what is in the fuse carriers due to asbestos concerns. C2 for lack of RCD protection on sockets reasonablly expected to supply equipment outdoors. C3 for lack of RCD protection on other circuits. Assuming no other faults found, reccomendation to replace the fusebox with one incorporating RCD protection.

[@anthonybragg]

@@petermichaelgreen I think that covers how you could practically do it taking in the limitations some mind you would just put Lim

[@christastic100]

I would fail it because of the asbestos fuse flash guard material on health and safety grounds. It cannot safely have a fuse wire changed by the end user. It would also go down as a limitation on the test forms . I would also label it as asbestos on the consumer unit.

[@mrdan2898]

That setup wouldn't be allowed in North America. Here there must be no junction boxes as seen here because of the chance of stealing power, bypassing the meter.

[@bramcoteelectrical1088]

I have come across 2 so far... about 1942 i think

[@danvictor3934]

Abestos flash guards hmm Code C1 or C2?

[@leeedwards9994]

oldest one ive ever seen was in a wooden bevelled case with glass front ...

[@metrotechguru5863]

Very cool video. Thanks, John.

[@jenko701]

You Brit’s have the craziest electrical in the world , bordering on bizarre. A switch at every receptacle, no wire nuts , crazy .

[@emilioescobedo3024]

What country are you from?

[@AndyK.1]

Use the tinned copper wire to age

[@harry130747]

Not impressed. Older still were massive units made out of cast iron. The interiors made out of ceramic material with double break, double pole knife switches. Rewirable fuses. Totally fire proof. Totally indestructible. One of the makers i remember was "BILL" but there were others.

[@RandyDarkshade2]

I own a fuse board much older.

[@davidryan6616]

Calm Down 🧐🙂🇮🇪☘️

[@sircampbell1249]

UK plastic junk...

[@willrenyolnds]

first

[@mrdan2898]

That setup wouldn't be allowed in North America. Here there must be no junction boxes as seen here because of the chance of stealing power, bypassing the meter.