Earth, neutral and a messy fusebox

[G7PSK]

The round zinc passivized plated metal (might be cadmium plate) enclosures are semi rotary water proof switches two have handles still and one is missing its handle. the two objects at the very top are other splash proof switches. Used to lots of similar semi rotary switches in farm and stable yards in the 60' &70's, now its all plastic rocker switches with clear membrane similar to the top one in the OP picture.

[briselec]

In Australia, we are seriously over-governed. It is illegal here for a fully qualified and experienced electrical engineer to even add a light fitting to his house - you have to overpay some electrician with whom you risk getting a good job done and with whom you also risk electrocution. In my house, I found a few metal light fitting installed by a licensed electrician, that did not even have the earth connected. I fixed them myself illegally because I do a far better job than slap-dash electricians.

There are many tradesmen around, but very few craftsmen.

I don't know about other states but In Queensland you can thank the government for that. Years ago every job requiring metering work was fully inspected. The inspectors were the wiring rule experts so if you were doing something in a way that didn't comply with the rules the inspector was the one who would notice  and educate you. But they decided that cost too much so now they supposedly check a random 10%. We now have lots of electricians out there who have never had their work inspected. I personally know one guy who didn't know metal light fittings now have to be earthed ( they weren't required to be many years ago) . Due to a more serious stuff up he did on another job the safety office got to know him and put conditions on him that drove him out of the trade.

[HackedFridgeMagnet]

The round zinc passivized plated metal (might be cadmium plate) enclosures are semi rotary water proof switches two have handles still and one is missing its handle. the two objects at the very top are other splash proof switches. Used to lots of similar semi rotary switches in farm and stable yards in the 60' &70's, now its all plastic rocker switches with clear membrane similar to the top one in the OP picture.

Ok thanks seems obvious now. Well except for the top two, I cant see a handle on the top two, are they broken?

[LukeW]

I'm kind of surprised that the electricity utility people have obviously come in, in the original photos posted above, and they've replaced the meters with new shiny smart meters but they haven't questioned any of the existing old wiring?

Every single wire is white? 

I would really hope to see different colors for neutral, earth, and each active phase.

[German_EE]

Providing a wire is labelled at each end (and documentation is available) there is not a problem with single color wiring. I have seen many industrial panels where only one color is used and I don't view this as an issue. The local electrical code there probably allows it.

What DOES cause a problem is the wrong colors being used leading to confusion. I have seen installations in Eastern Europe that have red=ground yellow=phase and blue=neutral at which point there is a moments pause before the circuit tester comes out from the back pocket. Then there are the USA standards where black is DC ground but live on an AC circuit.

[G7PSK]

The round zinc passivized plated metal (might be cadmium plate) enclosures are semi rotary water proof switches two have handles still and one is missing its handle. the two objects at the very top are other splash proof switches. Used to lots of similar semi rotary switches in farm and stable yards in the 60' &70's, now its all plastic rocker switches with clear membrane similar to the top one in the OP picture.

Ok thanks seems obvious now. Well except for the top two, I cant see a handle on the top two, are they broken?

The top two are rocker switches underneath a rather tatty formerly clear membrane the one on the right of picture looks like it may even be torn.

[gore]

Looking at the OP"s switchboard, you could easy get it redone, there is so much space.
At the very least I would change the circuit breakers to be combined CB/RCDs. From the picture I think you would need about 5 of these. I think these are the best way to protect against electrocution.
They are almost ( but not quite) mandatory now in Australia for new circuits.
http://www.hagerelectro.com.au/e-catalogue/energy-distribution/protection/rcbo-s-residential/14158.htm.

That's definitely on my list, replacing the old circuit breakers and adding RCD's. I will replace the old ones with a single combined block.

I'm not sure what the two round things are on the very top, but the middle ones with a single missing handle are switches. All they do is cut the live wire if need be. Redundant, since you can do the same thing on a circuit breaker.

I'm kind of surprised that the electricity utility people have obviously come in, in the original photos posted above, and they've replaced the meters with new shiny smart meters but they haven't questioned any of the existing old wiring?

Every single wire is white? 

I would really hope to see different colors for neutral, earth, and each active phase.

It's messy and inconvenient, I agree. Some of the live wires are marked with a red marker. Barely visible, but I've noticed. Colored wiring is the way to go, which is also going to happen once I get things moving.

I just found out that a dear friend of mine still has the license. He used to work in this exact area. It might save me some money. I don't mind the cost of materials, but a hired electrician charges by half hours. Since I want to sort this mess out, it's going to take time. The job can't be rushed because of some time restriction. Has to be done right.

Once again, I thank you all for all the informative responses, suggestions and observations. It helps me a great deal to learn about it.

[Dave Turner]

In the UK it's worse since the colour standards changed in 2004 (I think it was) for both single and 3 phase installations.

http://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-regulations/cable-colours/

New installations no problem, the confusion occurs in additions to an existing building because the new colours must be used. This can lead to colourful junction boxes. Despite the legal requirements for warning stickers the chance for errors has increased.

[HackedFridgeMagnet]

Black (was neutral) goes to phase and blue (was phase) goes to neutral.
Cant say I like Black going to phase. Cant say I like three brown phase wires either.

Still I guess it is better than every cable being white.

[Dave Turner]

Hackedfridgemagnet

I'd almost prefer all white - at least then you'd triple check. I've seen too many close shaves caused unwarranted assumptions.

[G7PSK]

In the UK it's worse since the colour standards changed in 2004 (I think it was) for both single and 3 phase installations.

http://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-regulations/cable-colours/

New installations no problem, the confusion occurs in additions to an existing building because the new colours must be used. This can lead to colourful junction boxes. Despite the legal requirements for warning stickers the chance for errors has increased.

That's what happens when you get 28 committees trying to decide on something together, we are lucky that they did not decide that all colors should be pink except on Tuesdays when it would be purple. 

[IanB]

That's what happens when you get 28 committees trying to decide on something together, we are lucky that they did not decide that all colors should be pink except on Tuesdays when it would be purple. 

But the implementation is screwy. If they insisted that all new installations use the new colours and all modifications to legacy installations should use the old colours then everyone would know where they were and confusion would be minimized. But requiring a confusing situation by insisting on a mix of new and old is not understandable.

[G7PSK]

It is when you consider that there were committees  from 28 different countries within the EU  making the rules. One governmental committee is bad enough but 28 together we are lucky that they did not decide that all wiring be done with liquorice shoelaces.

[gore]

I was thinking about RCD's. Before my friend the electrician comes back from vacation, that's all I can do - a little bit of research. Not that I complain. It's fun. I get to read a lof ot stuff and draw some silly pictures.
       Wouldn't an RCD protect you in any kind of a fault anyway, even in a setup like mine? And if it's not the case, what kind of a fault would put you in a position of becoming Mr. conductor, like the poor fellow in the picture? Even though according to the diagram, he's perfectly safe in that particular situation, right? All you'd have to do is make some unusual changes in the diagram and he's not safe anymore. Let's call them faults. That's what interests me. I haven't had the opportunity yet to go check out the main fuse box of the building, the entry point of all the fat wires from the local transformer.



By the way, I should mention how I got the whole idea in the first place. I build sound gear for musicians. A good portion of it for my personal use.  Some other things like simple lab equipment as well. Anyway, I just finished building this particular amp. Looking at it, I though I ought to properly ground it, like it clearly states in any kind of a manual of an amplifier. Oviously the amp is not my only concern.

[BradC]

It is illegal here for a fully qualified and experienced electrical engineer to even add a light fitting to his house - you have to overpay some electrician with whom you risk getting a good job done and with whom you also risk electrocution.

The electricians have a good union which lobbies the government for trade protection. No different to the fridgies. One of my big bugbears.

[BradC]

Wouldn't an RCD protect you in any kind of a fault anyway, even in a setup like mine? And if it's not the case, what kind of a fault would put you in a position of becoming Mr. conductor, like the poor fellow in the picture?

The RCD will only protect you if you are leaking current outside of the protected circuit. If by chance you happened to create a circuit between active and neutral and were insulated from earth, like you were sitting on a plastic chair and had an active conductor wrapped around your left ankle and the neutral conductor wrapped around your right ankle, then you won't trip the RCD and will slowly cook. That may sound like a pathological example, but I read the coroners report.

[gore]

The RCD will only protect you if you are leaking current outside of the protected circuit. If by chance you happened to create a circuit between active and neutral and were insulated from earth, like you were sitting on a plastic chair and had an active conductor wrapped around your left ankle and the neutral conductor wrapped around your right ankle, then you won't trip the RCD and will slowly cook. That may sound like a pathological example, but I read the coroners report.

Didn't the coroner include a note that the deceased had this idea of testing out what being the LOAD of a circuit feels like? I do not have any intention to carry out the function of a light bulb or any other device.  Nah. On a serious note, I get it. Even though it sounds extreme, it's still a possibility. But no one is protected against that, huh?

[HackedFridgeMagnet]

RCDs will protect you in most cases. Most faults are either to earth via the dedicated earth conductor or via some other path to the real ground.
These paths include via the real ground, through water, waterpipes, steel etc. These paths are often highish resistance and so the standard circuit breakers wont even trip.
Whereas an RCD will trip in all of these cases at roughly 30mA.

As BradC said if you use your body to bridge Active and Neutral then the RCD wont trip, but this is a highly unusual circumstance. The RCD will trip in all other cases (assuming it is wired correctly).

[m100]

It is when you consider that there were committees  from 28 different countries within the EU  making the rules. One governmental committee is bad enough but 28 together we are lucky that they did not decide that all wiring be done with liquorice shoelaces.

What is surprising is that grey never even figured in the phase colours used by any EU nation until the change!

[G7PSK]

Yes I can see problems with using grey as a phase wire when white is used as instrumentation line color combine that with dirt ageing and poor light and you have a recipe for disaster.

[HackedFridgeMagnet]

From an Australian perspective, the worst for us is anyone using black as a phase colour.

BTW
On the topic of colour confusion I have a moulded Hitachi "Australian" style plug taken from a desklamp.
It has the Active conductor as blue (not light blue) and the neutral as brown. It has an inline switch on the blue as well.

By assuming this was a normal Australian flexible cord with brown as active I managed to use this plug to blow up a DUT and with it my laptop. 
I still have the cord but have rendered it unusable.

[briselec]

From an Australian perspective, the worst for us is anyone using black as a phase colour.

BTW
On the topic of colour confusion I have a moulded Hitachi "Australian" style plug taken from a desklamp.
It has the Active conductor as blue (not light blue) and the neutral as brown. It has an inline switch on the blue as well.

By assuming this was a normal Australian flexible cord with brown as active I managed to use this plug to blow up a DUT and with it my laptop. 
I still have the cord but have rendered it unusable.

That's why you never ever make assumptions with electricity. Last time I checked, which was a few years ago now, there was no legal requirement in Australia as to which way active and neutral has to be connected to a plug top. Which means even if the brown had been connected to the inline switch you still needed to check whether it's the active or not. Don't assume the power point is wired the correct way either.

[briselec]

It is illegal here for a fully qualified and experienced electrical engineer to even add a light fitting to his house - you have to overpay some electrician with whom you risk getting a good job done and with whom you also risk electrocution.

The electricians have a good union which lobbies the government for trade protection. No different to the fridgies. One of my big bugbears.

I'm calling bullshit on that one. And fridge mechanics are not a closed trade, you only need a license for the gas and that only came in about 7 or 8 years ago for environmental reasons.

[BradC]

I'm calling bullshit on that one. And fridge mechanics are not a closed trade, you only need a license for the gas and that only came in about 7 or 8 years ago for environmental reasons.

You can call bullshit all you like, try getting a refrigerant handling license without doing a 4 year apprenticeship as a refrigeration mechanic and then come back and tell me I'm wrong. I've been trying for 5 years and been thwarted at every turn by the closed shop protectionist industry. Not that its an issue practically, as Arctick don't actually enforce anything, but the legislation and resulting rules in place to protect the industry is pretty tight. I can get a gas fitters ticket through TAFE, but I have to work full time for an electrical contractor to qualify to be trained as an electrician and I need 5 years full time as a fridgie to get a refrigerant handling license. I've done my research and spoken to about 7 registered training organizations across Australia to get my informed viewpoint. You seem to know more about it than I do, so tell me how I go about doing it as a 40 year old with current full time employment who can't afford to give up his income to re-train on an apprentices wage?

[Monkeh]

yea i totally hate the new color schemes ...

i rather they just use red and black, its so bloody obvious what red is and what black is

Is it?

And for your second and third phases? When you have no neutral, how obvious is it then?