MCB In & Out

Hi All,

I spend a while searching the forum trying to find an answer but with no luck.

My question is.... Do MCB's have an in & out? Most consumer type installations would use a buss bar which would feed live/hot into the bottom of an MCB then out the top to the equipment/lights etc.

Do they work 2way? Can I put live/hot into the top and my feed out to say a light circuit to the bottom?

I have searched but not found the answer.

Can one of you technically bods help out please?

Thanks

 

When the MCB is used in a Consumer Unit then, yes one end does connect to a buss bar (sometimes at the top, sometimes at the bottom). For a C-Bus installation, the buss bar gets replaced by individual cables.

Have a look at my installation for a clear view. Here, the outputs from the C-Bus units go into the top of the MCBs and then the outgoing cables connect to the bottom.

Not sure where you are, but you could talk to Ben Addison - he did a superb job for me.

 

MCB or not MCB

Hi,

If you are located in Australia, then by AS3000, you are required to install RCD/MCB (safety switch) protection on all lighting and power circuits. This now applies to both residential and commercial projects.

RCD / MCB DO have a dedicated in and out or LINE and LOAD. This is due to the way they measure outgoing and incoming current used to detect an earth leakage fault.

Your electrician will be up to speed on this.

Remember, only licenced electricians can perform electrical work!!!

 

NickLocke...

Perfect exactly the type of thing I needed Thanks

darrenblake...

I'm in the UK, all work would be carried out by licensed installer, this was just for my knowledge that's all.

Mark

 

Mark,

No problem at all. Pleased to have been of some use. If you haven't already realised, you'll find plenty of other pics and info on my site. We moved into a standard new build - and then had all the wiring ripped out and replaced.

I did loads of up-front design work which I shared with Ben. Then, once we could actually get into the property, Ben started to work out how best to route cables and so on. Now it's all done, it is absolutely ace.

Not sure whereabouts in the UK you are? If you want to have a closer look, just sling me a PM.

Cheers

 

Yes i did have a read through on your site.

Would love to see your system working, your a little far from me but maybe if I'm up that way I will drop you a PM or something.

What does you system include? From what I understand you seem to have gotten involved alot with programing etc? This is something that I would like to pursue and this type of technology is something I could easily take on board and study

 

Lighting is all C-Bus. The alarm and home control is Comfort. Curtain motors are Goelst. Blind controllers and motors are Somfy.

Apart from the initial configurations of C-Bus and Comfort, there is little "real" programming. I have bolted on various other things - touchscreen running HomeGate for example. That does have some significant code to control a Squeezebox MP3 player.

There is no PC involved in the "essential" operation of either C-Bus or Comfort. Where the PC comes into play is the addition of "optional" functionality.

Hope that helps a bit.