NEDL slow to fit PME

borokat

Hi

We've been told by an electrician that we need to get a PME fitted as nothing in our kitchen is earthed :eek:. It is also having the knock on effect of our combi boiler being very unreliable, as it struggles to ignite. Obviously this is not good during the winter.

Only the electricity board, in our case NEDL, can supply the PME. We have contacted them and been told that they have to send us a quote by post, we then pay, and then 6 weeks later they send someone out. !!!!!!?

Why does it take so long? Has anyone else had experience of this, or any suggestions as to how we might speed the process up? We offered to pay on the spot, but this was rejected. Seems like bureacracy for bureacracy's sake. I can't stand the thought of another 6 weeks of the heating and hot water not working when you need them!

macman

What is the connection between a lack of earthing and a non-igniting combi? Someone please enlighten me.

Phil_L_2

The quickest way to get an earth is to get the electrician to install an earth rod and an RCD.

I would also question what happened to the old earth. If it was installed but has become disconnected then report it as a fault and the board will be out very quickly.

borokat

Macman - As I understand it, there is a wider electrical fault in the house that is affecting the polarity of the CU at ignition of the combi-boiler. The potential wider electrical fault cannot be diagnosed nor remedied without an earth. Hope this is enlightening.

Phil L - We live in a second floor flat and downstairs is vacant and therefore inaccessible at present, thus running an earth down is problematic. Our electrician advised that with new regulations (that admittedly I don't understand nor have access to) this was the most appropriate and safest approach - even considering the £155 it will cost. He's been very up front with us and didn't charge for coming out late on a Friday evening to diagnose the issue (for the record he isn't getting the £155, NEDL are). As to what happened to the old earth, we don't know - the flat is over 70 years old and we believe that the 2-3mm cable just gave up at some point - the survey on purchasing 3 years ago showed no electrical problems.

But any advice anyone has on speeding up the PME installation/set-up will be much appreciated.

Phil_L_2

This constitutes a fault with the supplier's equipment and needs to be rectified as soon as possible. I strongly recommend a call to your supplier first thing tomorrow morning reporting a dangerous situation.

They should resolve this immediately since it is very dangerous.

Justicia

borokat wrote: »

Our electrician advised that with new regulations (that admittedly I don't understand nor have access to)

Depends on how keen you are to read them...!

http://www.theiet.org/publishing/books/wir-reg/17th-edition.cfm

borokat wrote: »

But any advice anyone has on speeding up the PME installation/set-up will be much appreciated.

Check out Phil's response above

borokat

Thanks, tried calling the supplier last night and it made no difference whatsoever. I'm stunned that they think it is ok to leave us without heating or hot water and with no earth in our kitchen for at least 6 weeks!

macman

Did you call the DNO's emergency service? Not the billing company.

zax47

I'm not convinced the two are directly connected - who you gonna shout at when you've got a PME installed and your boiler still won't work? Solve the real problem first, not one the sparks thinks is an issue - how long have you "had no earth" and how long has the boiler been an issue?

If it was such an issue he could stick an earth rod in and TT the installation, then you'd have your own earth - even if only whilst you wait for the PME installation.

FWIW, the DNO only has to maintain an earth if one was present. There is no obligation on them to actually provide one - no, really!

Anyway, NEDL emergency number is 0800 668 877

borokat

The boiler is only 2 years old. When it started failing to ignite we called out the BAXI engineers under the warranty who changed a few parts before realising it was the electrics and advising us to contact an electrician.

We can't just run an earth down because it's a second floor flat and we don't have access to the flat underneath us.
I think it was the emergency number we rang but I will check.

zax47

borokat wrote: »

The boiler is only 2 years old. When it started failing to ignite we called out the BAXI engineers under the warranty who changed a few parts before realising it was the electrics and advising us to contact an electrician.

Still not convinced, but then I'm not hands-on the job. We'll soon see, when the PME (TN-C-S) is sorted, won't we. £100 says it doesn't fix it. If it was truly a polarity/earthing issue then many more of your appliances would potentially be troublesome. It did ignite happily for a period then stopped - so what changed - the earth? or a fault on the boiler?

We can't just run an earth down because it's a second floor flat and we don't have access to the flat underneath us.

Has he not heard of drills? Drill through wall, run down outside wall, connect to rod, sorted.

Have a read of this to learn more about earthing and the various types used in the UK;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system

No main earth affects more than your kitchen sockets and boiler!

No device design relies on a protective earth in order to function correctly - it's there for faults. Yer boiler's faulty and someones thrown you a smokescreen.