Does this fusebox have an RCD?

Nonsense, I appreciate the heads up!

It's a flat built in 1986. All the sockets are basic MK white plastic ones. All of the ceiling lights have earths, and most of the switches do (one or two are missing an earth - old style red/black twin wires). No scorch marks, rats or ghosts (as far as I know).
 
Nonsense, I appreciate the heads up!

It's a flat built in 1986. All the sockets are basic MK white plastic ones. All of the ceiling lights have earths, and most of the switches do (one or two are missing an earth - old style red/black twin wires). No scorch marks, rats or ghosts (as far as I know).
 
well that's good news!

the cable itself is most likely PVC (might even be singles in conduit, for a flat, and the conduit might carry the earth) and unless overheated, has a very long safe life.
 
Thanks, so any favourite RCBOs? Let's assume I want the best money could buy for 7 circuits.
 
I wouldn't expect a property built in 1986 to have very much wrong with it.

Changing the consumer unit will update it all very nicely, adding RCD protection.

The size of the bonding cable for services such as gas and water SHOULD be of the correct size by 1986.

It would expect very little actual rewiring, but that's not to say there aren't any faults on the circuits - many of which an RCD would now detect.
 
opinions differ. I have MEM (now branded as Eaton) which I like and are very popular in industrial/commercial, where reliability is vital. They used to be a good source of RCBOs, but now there are also plenty of other makers.

Also, consider an oversized CU with spare spaces. You are only paying for a slightly bigger empty box, and it will be convenient if you want to add an electric shower or something in future.
 
The missing earths at the switches could do with being looked at - whether someone has been meddling here, or whatever. By 1986 lighting circuits should have had earth connections throughout for 20 years.

EDITED because of duplicate post. Original post that was here can be found a couple of posts above this one.
 
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btw, if you think you might want a burglar alarm, it is an advantage to put it on its own dedicated circuit so that no other fault can trip it. It may be possible to put it on a non-RCD circuit, thus reducing risk of trip even more (there are rules for this)
 
My vote for RCBOs goes firstly to Eaton, but they're more expensive. Super fast trip times on all the Eaton RCBOs I've ever tested.

Second (almost equal first) vote goes to Hager. Not as fast trip times but RIDICULOUSLY consistent. Installed and tested two C32s I think, and they were within 0.1ms of each other on both 1x and 5x. Cannot beat that for consistent manufacturing (not just a one off, they're often within a ms of each other)
 
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