Thread: Residential RCD

It looks fine to me, on thing to keep in mind though is that under the current regs, 3000:2007 you now need a minimum of 2 RCD's per main switchboard with lighting spread between them if there is more than one lighting circuit.

The sizing does not have to be any more than the maximum demand of the part of the installation being protected, or the rating of the highest rated protective device.

Thanks for your reply.

What about the neutral bars, does this seem correct too?




So the old main neutral will now be used for non-protected circuits and the new neutral link will be protected. The new link will not be earthed in line with the RCD wiring requirements.

Of course this will be a little different with two RCD's but i'm just getting some ideas.
Cheers.

Looks good, but if you install two rcd's then each rcd needs to have its own neutral bar.

The new regs don't apply until the first of July. This being the case, you are allowed to stick with the one RCD.

Also, I'd recommend having any unprotected circuits (aircon, electric oven, whatever) between the main switch and the RCD - that way, you can use a piece of buzz bar instead of looping wires. And the board will look neater (unsure if it's a requirement - it's late and I'm only an apprentice) if you have a second piece of buzz bar on the bottom of all of the actives of the protected breakers, instead of on the top. Harder for someone to get shocked whilst working on the board too.

3000:2007 is the current standard and has been since november 2007.

How ever, whilst it is the current standard, electricity regulators are not enforcing the changes until 1 june 2008, giving a 6 month overlap to allow electricians / contractors to "get up to speed"

Whilst what you are saying is correct due to technicallity, and even though you are still an apprentice I feel it is quite sad that you are thinking this way with a "do the bare minimum attitude"

Think SAFETY FIRST

G'day Ppl,

AJT, I am with you on that one.
Is it possible to have To Many RCDs

If I loose a Power
or LIGHT Cct.....Yes, RCD on lights, most if not all the Lights
I would prefer to have some others still working, even when I drop of one circuit.

eg

If one does Loose a Light Cct at night,
there will [HOPEFULLY] be other lights remaining on......(as long as there were already on) from the OTHER Light Circuit

your drawing for the neutral bar seems correct. each rcd will have its own protected neutral bar, where the associated loads will be connected.

and the situation you just described shouldn't happen under the new regs, lighting circuits now need to be seperated across the rcds.

and in response to having the cb's as main switches, technically that is a violation, as a domestic installation is only allowed as many main switches as it has meters.

Just Put in a RCD/MCB for each circuit (except Oven) then no need for extra Neutral bar
EASY.

the cost would probably be too prohibitive.

I looked into RCBO's and they around $88 each so yeah bit too much for me. ($440)

I'm going to order 1x Hager 80A 30ma 2 pole RCD for the three power circuits and one light and also get 1x Hager 25A 2 pole RCD for the other lighting circuit. So it will be around $165 plus the two neutral bars.

Thanks for your help guys

Edit* Or maybe i'll just get one 10A RCBO for that one seperate light circuit, would be better than getting a 25A RCD just for that, not to mention the need for the extra neutral link.

I looked into RCBO's and they around $88 each so yeah bit too much for me.

What about these units
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HEM-20AMP-SIN...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HEM-10AMP-SIN...QQcmdZViewItem

cheers

RCD/MCB are around $40 Trade
And I assume you are going to put in a main switch which will require it to be inspected

Originally Posted by juan

What about these units
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HEM-20AMP-SIN...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HEM-10AMP-SIN...QQcmdZViewItem

cheers

Thanks for that, i'll look into it though i've never used HEM, are they decent?

It doesn't say if they're 30mA, 100mA or what. They are also rated at 6ka, whereas the ones i was looking at are around 4.5ka.

Originally Posted by nev25

RCD/MCB are around $40 Trade
And I assume you are going to put in a main switch which will require it to be inspected

Yeah main switch will be going in, not leaving it like that

I was looking on the Hagar web site for those prices, and i will be getting them cheaper anyway.

It doesn't say if they're 30mA, 100mA or what.

They are 30ma

Attachment 72127

Sorry, I cannot attest to the quality although they claim "HEM is a part of HEM GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED supplied from a professional manufacturer with over 10 years experience in international marketing and ISO9001 approved. HEM is a International registered trade mark. We supply quality products to meet Australian Standards"

I found another on line business selling HEM equipment at very reasonable prices with free delivery. No idea about them at all but it looks interesting.

http://www.factorydirect.net.au/inde...24eee4c3b4e20d