- Thread starter oceanobsession
- Start date
Its a double pole mcb, unless the mcb fails internally somehow, its not possible for the neutral side of it to fail seperately.
Also all the installs here have what's called a differential disjoncter at mains input between the meter output and the consumer unit, and this operates on differential current and also acts as a over current device. So you'd have to have a mcb failure and the disjoncter go wrong too.
We're not on PME bonded systems here if thats what your asking about the neutral on earth, every house install is responsible for maintaining their own earth, though in the latest regs you have to provide a test point for this and they come along and measure its impedance at certification time.
Mind you , this is all current specs to pass a new meter install, find a property thats pre-consuel and you could still find no fuses/neutral unfused or any combo of the above, although they do still all have the differential disjoncter at the input
Although the newer cartridge fuses have neutral and live connections top and bottom, on those only the live is fused. Im not sure they even isolate the neutral when the fuse is pulled out as I remember getting a shock once due to a grounding/neutral fault on another circuit after isolation.
The older but still cartridge fuse systems had individual fuses for each wire, and neutral was not fused also.
Or, you could have the really anchient system that was in my first house here, that just had giant bakelite chocolate blocks inside a housing, no fuses
Its mandated now that all switches switch the live wire not the neutral as it leaves the lampholder potentially live etc. Im still coming across certified professional electricians who want to wire up light switches into the neutral conductor to reduce sparking and draw through the poles...
And its also finally in the norm's for france which poles on the plug are live and neutral, so perhaps we might start seeing a move towards per device fuses too in the future.
The older but still cartridge fuse systems had individual fuses for each wire, and neutral was not fused also.
Or, you could have the really anchient system that was in my first house here, that just had giant bakelite chocolate blocks inside a housing, no fuses
Its mandated now that all switches switch the live wire not the neutral as it leaves the lampholder potentially live etc. Im still coming across certified professional electricians who want to wire up light switches into the neutral conductor to reduce sparking and draw through the poles...
And its also finally in the norm's for france which poles on the plug are live and neutral, so perhaps we might start seeing a move towards per device fuses too in the future.
