Dangerous Henley Block!?

eveares

eveares

Joined
28 Jul 2012
Messages
1,351
Reaction score
55
Location
Surrey
Country
United Kingdom
Just noticed this on my Henley block between my meter and my consumer unit. Tails on left are to consumer unit, tails on right are to electricity meter.

I am unsure if the tails have worked lose over time due to never being tightened up properly in the first place or this has always been like it and only just noticed.

Of course I no way to safely isolate and correct this without breaking the seal and pulling the main fuse, not that I am recommending or condoning this action and am well aware the cut out is the property of the DNO and one can not legally touch it without their permission.

The meter tails have a similar problem, although less exposed than my Henley block as shown below. What should I do?, as this look dangerous to me and I would personally rate a C1!

[GALLERY=media, 105309]Dangerous Henley Block by eveares posted 4 Oct 2020 at 7:23 PM[/GALLERY]

Regards: Elliott.
 
Last edited:
eveares said:
.. The meter tails have a similar problem, although less exposed than my Henley block as shown below. What should I do?
Click to expand...
I'm presuming that you mean the other end of meter tails (at the meter). If there's copper showing there, that is a job for the supplier or their 'meter operator' (not the DNO) and they would have to (and are allowed to) pull the DNOs fuse to do that. One would hope that they would be sensible enough to let your electrician (or you?) attend to the problems at the Henley whilst they had the DNO fuse out - or, if you asked them nicely and gave them some coffee and biscuits, they might do it for you!
eveares said:
... as this look dangerous to me and I would personally rate a C1!
Click to expand...
Even though it's very unlikley that anyone would 'go poking about' there, I agree.

Kind Regards, John
 
Alec_t said:
Complain to the DNO?
Click to expand...
That side of the meter is nothing to do with the DNO - the meter end of the tails are certainly the territory of the supplier/meter operator, as may well be the downstream end of those tails (at the Henley), but it may be debatable as to whether the tails from the Henley to CU are the responsibility of the supplier/meter operator or the consumer.

Kind Regards, John
 
AndyPRK said:
You could get an isolator fitted in place of the Henley. That maybe easy
Click to expand...
If you ask for that to be done other than at the time of a meter change (and, with some suppliers, even then!) you're quite likely to get charged, at least for the 'call out' - but there is certainly a problem there that needs to be done by the supplier (or their meter operator) free of charge.

I therefore think that the initial contact should highlight the 'dangerous situation' that needs immediate attention (free of charge) but one could also ask (at the time, or when the man turns up) whether they could take the opportunity to fit an isolator in place of the Henley (which would be hardly any additional work, just the cost of the isolator) - assuming, of course, that the OP does not want to retain the isolator to facilitate additional feeds from it in the future..

Kind Regards, John
 
Not sure why there's even a Henley block there - it doesn't appear to be doing anything other than a join rather than going straight into the DB. Certainly not well terminated.
 
chivers67 said:
Not sure why there's even a Henley block there - it doesn't appear to be doing anything other than a join rather than going straight into the DB. Certainly not well terminated.
Click to expand...
As I implied, it may perhaps have been put there with the thought of taking some other feed from it in the future.

Kind Regards, John
 
AndyPRK said:
You your right. They charge £200 these days ... That’s a lot of electricity.
Click to expand...
Indeed, they quoted something like that when I asked if they (E.ON at that time) could just 'come and fit an isolator'. However, when I subsequently asked them if they could install one at the time of a meter change, not only did they do it for nothing, but they even declined my offer to supply, or pay for, the actual isolator.

Kind Regards, John
 
AndyPRK said:
You could get an isolator fitted in place of the Henley. That maybe easy
Click to expand...

That did occur to me, as I only have one 1 DB/CU and have no way to isolate the single consumer unit currently, so would be a useful benefit if I ever replaced my CU.

My 2013 vintage MK twin RCD 12 way CU is not in the best of shape, the plastic busbar protection panel was never refitted by the 2nd electrician who completed the works back in 2013 and he also back then stripped and cracked the plastic insert by overnighting the self tapping screws, resulting in significantly larger non original screws having to be used to hold the CU cover on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top