16 amp fuse question

[Woodwork Journey Dean]

The consumer box in my garage workshop has a higher rated fuse than the one it goes to in the house - I believe 16 in the workshop and 13 in the house.
It means that if something trips the circuit, it rarely does anything in the workshop and I have to go into the house to reset the fuse board.

Does anyone know if it’s an expensive job to make the garage fuse in the house the same as the garage fuse in the garage?
I’m imagining it’s not just buying a higher rated plug and switching them out on the board

 

[Spectric]

That is obviously wrong as it provides no discrimination, plus you need to provide more details on how the workshop is connected to the 13 amp supply in the house which would only give you a basic power socket and lighting in the workshop. The consumer unit in the garage would only be needed to provide a lower rated circuit for lighting.

 

[Woodwork Journey Dean]

That is obviously wrong as it provides no discrimination, plus you need to provide more details on how the workshop is connected to the 13 amp supply in the house which would only give you a basic power socket and lighting in the workshop. The consumer unit in the garage would only be needed to provide a lower rated circuit for lighting.

Sorry, are you saying the setup is wrong (which I know), or I’m wrong?

 

[Bingy man]

Sounds like one of those posts that will
eventually end up with you needing a professional electrician so that would be my advice. Last thing you wanted is a problem that could affect your insurance or even worse your home . Get a professional to check everything is as it should be .

 

[Spectric]

How can you be wrong, it is the installation that sounds wrong and further info would help with saying how wrong or what you may need to do.

By the way can you answer my querry on that lift please

 

[ChaiLatte]

The consumer box in my garage workshop has a higher rated fuse than the one it goes to in the house - I believe 16 in the workshop and 13 in the house.

I think you need to work a litttle on your terminology.

Unless the stuff was installed 40 or more years ago, it is unlikely to have a fuse in it. Given you also talk of 'resetting' the garage from the house, it is more likely to be a breaker than a fuse.

Take a picture of the one in the house and draw a red circle around the one relating to the garage if it is not obvious from any label. Also take a picture of the one in the garage and clearly identify it as so.

That will at least tell us what you have and suggest some options so you have some background knowledge when talking to your electrician.

 

[Woodwork Journey Dean]

This is what I have in the garage. Apologies for incorrect terminology but I’m not an electrical guy. Obviously it’s not like the old days and banging in a thicker bit of wire for a fuse but I don’t know what these plugs are called.

 

[ChaiLatte]

This is what I have in the garage.

There is an anomaly in that already. The breaker labelled SKT (presumably sockets) is a B6 (6 amp tripping, B-curve). The breaker labelled LIGHT is a B16, 16 amp tripping. Unless you have a cannabis plantation in your garage, that is the wrong way around.

It would be standard to have lights on a 6 amp and sockets on a 16 amp.

Hopefully it is a simple case of mislabelling and a bit of Tippex will sort that one out.

The MCB on the breaker stands for 'mini circuit breaker'.

 

[Woodwork Journey Dean]

There is an anomaly in that already. The breaker labelled SKT (presumably sockets) is a B6 (6 amp tripping, B-curve). The breaker labelled LIGHT is a B16, 16 amp tripping. Unless you have a cannabis plantation in your garage, that is the wrong way around.

It would be standard to have lights on a 6 amp and sockets on a 16 amp.

Hopefully it is a simple case of mislabelling and a bit of Tippex will sort that one out.

The MCB on the breaker stands for 'mini circuit breaker'.

Can a 16 breaker get put into the house unit instead of the 13 so if a hard start triggers it I don’t have to get to the house to reset everything?

 

[giantbeat]

Please please just call an electrician. It’s worth doing, I’m fine with basic home electrics & have a decent understanding of 3 phase, but beyond the very basics and especially for my workshop I call in my electrician…. don’t take the risk.

 

[ChaiLatte]

Can a 16 breaker get put into the house unit instead of the 13...

Impossible to say. It would be good to see a photo of the MCB in the house that is feeding the garage.

The cable that runs between house and garage will influence what can be done.

As above, you would have to consult a proper electrician.

Cable allowing, you might be able to have a 20A or 16A curve C in the house and then a 13A curve B in the garage. That would go a good way to ensuring the garage trips first, allowing local reset.

 

[saleemtaibjee]

Similar issue in our own garage and house. Our electrician suggested to increase the rating/ampage of the main breaker in the house if we later get an issue of the garage tripping the house

 

[MikeJhn]

From the sawdust on the Garage CU are you using a table saw or some other powered woodworking machine off the sockets? if so what is the rating and is it off the 6A MCB as suggested by the label?

 

[jwc2919]

I would like to help with this but I can't open your jpeg. No one has mentioned anything about cable sizes which is just as important as the MCB rating. Have you determined which of the two MCBs already mentioned actually supply the garage. Try tripping them to find out.
Once you done that check the cable size. Hopefully it's at least a 2.5mm cable which is rated for 15 to 22 amps. If it is a 2.5mm cable then a 16 MCB can be used. There a lot of ifs here, but if the cable is 2.5mm and your garage is supplied from the 6 amp breaker. Then you could change it for a 16 amp breaker.
If you are not confident in checking this then I agree with the earlier comment about using a qualified electrician. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Terrytpot]

As others have said, regardless of how competent you think you are, electrical installations should not be “tinkered with” by unqualified individuals. Current legislation prohibits just about everything from being altered and with good reason. I’ve just had the consumer unit for my property replaced with a new one so I know it hurts in the wallet department, but any changes that aren’t tested with the correct equipment by someone knowing exactly what they’re doing is simply putting not only your property but also your family at risk..

 

[jwc2919]

I would like to help with this but I can't open your jpeg. No one has mentioned anything about cable sizes which is just as important as the MCB rating. Have you determined which of the two MCBs already mentioned actually supply the garage. Try tripping them to find out.
Once you done that check the cable size. Hopefully it's at least a 2.5mm cable which is rated for 15 to 22 amps. If it is a 2.5mm cable then a 16 MCB can be used. There a lot of ifs here, but if the cable is 2.5mm and your garage is supplied from the 6 amp breaker. Then you could change it for a 16 amp breaker.
If you are not confident in checking this then I agree with the earlier comment about using a qualified electrician. Better to be safe than sorry.

I have just seen the jpeg of the garage distribution box. The description I wrote assumed that you had shown the distribution box in the house. Is the supply to the garage run from the distribution box in the house? If so what size circuit breaker does it connect to? If not how is it connected?
One further point, cable ratings are dowgraded depending on how the are run. For example if they run through insulation then a 2.5mm cable may be downgraded to 13 amp instead of 16. If you have 2.5mm cable and it is connected to the distribution box on a 13 amp or 16 amp breaker then I would not use a higher rated breaker. The MCBs are primarily used to protect the cables from being overloaded.

 

[yngndrw]

Cable allowing, you might be able to have a 20A or 16A curve C in the house and then a 13A curve B in the garage. That would go a good way to ensuring the garage trips first, allowing local reset.

Even then selectivity isn't guaranteed. You're better off installing a supply that is sufficient that you won't trip so that it isn't a problem in the first place.

If it's a 13A supply, I'd assume it's essentially an extension lead so it sounds like a new cable is in order anyway.

 

[yngndrw]

As others have said, regardless of how competent you think you are, electrical installations should not be “tinkered with” by unqualified individuals. Current legislation prohibits just about everything from being altered and with good reason. I’ve just had the consumer unit for my property replaced with a new one so I know it hurts in the wallet department, but any changes that aren’t tested with the correct equipment by someone knowing exactly what they’re doing is simply putting not only your property but also your family at risk..

This is the problem with Part P, nobody is allowed to do any electrical work so nobody learns anything - The knowledge is now hoarded by the training companies who lobbied for tighter regulations and the customer base that they build on the back of it. Regular people used to know a lot more before the changes and now we have to pay "qualified" tradespeople who in my experience rarely take pride in their work. [/Rant]

 

[Spectric]

I suspect this is all hanging off the circuit for the house sockets,

I’m imagining it’s not just buying a higher rated plug and switching them out on the board

This sounds like your workshop supply is just plugged into a house socket, the plug can only accept a 13 amp fuse and you cannot take a larger supply from this point. This then raises questions over your supply cable (extension lead) and several other factors have to be taken into account so at this point you need to consult an electrician.

It means that if something trips the circuit, it rarely does anything in the workshop and I have to go into the house to reset the fuse board.

When this happens what effect does it have on the house electric's, do you just lose power to the workshop or do you lose power in other parts of the house ?

 

[Spectric]

This is the problem with Part P, nobody is allowed to do any electrical work

The real problem with Part P is that it allows unqualified people to become domestic installers and without the background knowledge of an electrical engineer who has gone through many years of training.