I always thought the isobar was a dead clever design, but everything about this is just just pure genius, the plug on neutral, the neutral bar and the way the attachments connect to the isolated busbar peg, and even the fact that their blanks allow you to park a conductor for maximum ease of adding a breaker for a provisional circuit at a later date. The company I work for at the moment for the most part fit Hager for everything, and I really like Hager stuff but this makes their distribution boards look awful 😂
It's not even the time saving I like. It's the neatness and cleverness of this. Always liked the isobar especially on big jobs you can put all your circuits away and still stay safely isolated
All these manufactures making massive changes to products lately. It's like Christmas everyday for the Electrician. Nice to see Schneider upping their game. Thanks for the Demo lads. Stay Safe.
Fitted one recently in a factory and I was very impressed with the pon connections. Learnt something new just now with with the neutral bar too late for that board but will get one for the next board I need to install.
everyone forgets the lemon on top of the isobar this is the correct tool for switching the isobar tabs using your screwdriver like Gary did can damage the plastic tab causing it to become detached from the sliding switch part. Don`t ask how I know this ( it wasn`t me promise)
The single phase RCBOs are great, 3phase, not so much.... so many poles for one circuit! Here in Aus, we are starting to get three pole RCBOs with a neutral fly lead. Obviosuly it doesn't isolate the neutral, but thats not somthing we really worry about over here.
Very informative guys. Only thing with Schneider gear is the unbelievable cost compared to other brands. I remember when it was merlin Gerin and you had those Y tabs to put into the bus bar . They have certainly moved on from there .
Required required required. For the love of humanity torque settings is not a requirement, if it was it would be included in BS7671 . it’s the manufacturers recommendation it’s not even a legal requirement. I not saying don’t use a torque screwdriver to torque up the connection’s , i’am saying dispense with the word required. That DB dose look like a nice bit of kit to install. And getting rid of the the stupid neutral and earth fly Leeds is a fantastic idea. Fantastic video guy’s as always .👍👍👍❤️
It is in BS7671. Regulation 134.1.1 contains "The installation of electrical equipment shall take account of the manufacturer's instructions", instructions which in this case state that all connections must be tightened to the prescribed torque. If you do not, you are deviating from these instructions, and thus deviating from 134.1.1. Furthermore, Regulation 134.1.4 specifies "Every electrical joint and connection shall be of proper construction as regards conductance, insulation, mechanical strength, and protection", and you cannot guarantee that it satisfies the mechanical strength criteria if you do not tighten them correctly, using a tool that positively confirms that you have done so.
I do like the Acti9 boards but I hate the 4 Pole RCBO's. Thankfully we always manage to avoid 4pole rcd protection as the cost/increase in required DB size often prohibits being able to install them. Will stick to Eaton for the mainstay for now though.
Late to the game here - Fitted one of these in a hospital, love the plug in neutral. My big gripe is the position of the earth bar on these, with all cables coming bottom entry its easy to forget just how much length you need on this type of board for your earth connections, compared to previous generations and eaton models with vertical earth connections lower down the DB. Personally I'd much prefer just an earth connection directly opposite the module position on the outside of the DB, so that (with plug on neutrals) all terminations are within 6 inches of each other! Final comment - why do you need the distributed neutral bar when you have 3x plug on neutral terminals available?!? I'd take a triple pole, longer module with three plug on neutral connections over the mess that is the 3 phase RCD modules, although the arrangement shown might just be to keep backwards compatibility with older boards, and thats not something I'd like to discourage!
I always looked at domestic CUs, thinking what a design mess. Look inside one that has been wired up! ♦ DP RCBOs only need to be _plug in,_ like the old plug-in fuses, with _no_ terminals on them. Reducing cost and size. ♦ A row of fixed L, N & E _push-fit_ terminals simple and quick. ♦ Then a circuit cable can be brought in the top or bottom of the CU to each RCBO point. ♦ L & N & E bus bars built-in behind, nice and safe, out of sight, out of touch. ♦ Just run in L, N & E meter tail cables from the meter to the push-fit terminals of the mainswitch - the three cables being next to each other, so no heavy L, N & E cables snaking around inside the CU. Nice and neat. What could be easier? What could be so obvious and simple? Yet look at the cludged up mess served up.
I am surprised that there aren't more boards there that include this for consumer units as well. We see the plug in neutrals here in the USA as well. Leviton has gone a step a step further in that both line and load and neutral are all on the back plane, the breakers just plug into complete the circuit, as all wiring is completed in the board and could be wired in rough in phase (1st fix in UK).
The 3 phase RCD/Vigi module was used on the older Merlin boards hence why the neutral fly lead is that long, my biggest gripe with it though was the fly lead was often not long enough to reach the neutral bar meaning it required extentending, unlike MEM they didn't produce a longer version
a great product have used it on site but i when re-configure boards i have come into trouble when fitting the RCBO's that i am losing another 3 ways in the board especially when it is a full board and you change a machine power supply to a socket outlet. whilst you can put the RCBO's on the shop floor at the outlet i have had trouble in wet environments and repeated opening of outlets causing a loss of the IP rating. it would be great if schneider could do a 3 phase 4 pole RCBO that takes up just 4 ways similar to the single phase versions as this would greatly increase the flexibility of the boards in a constantly changing industrial environment. great work as always guys especially on the industrial side i have found it hard before to find good impartial reviews and technology updates before i found you guys
Its funny, its like those american distribution boards just actually thought out and giving me a sense of safety. Like the american distribution board isn't a bad idea its just badly executed (in my opinion). But this is very lovely. Like I would be "scared" of working with american distribution boards but this seems very nice.
Its a good idea, but in a work environment Ive never found it that much quicker to install and the boards themselves are quite flimsy especially when bolting on big incomers and expansion boxes. Mem shield 3 is still the best for build quality in my opinion.
Can you tell me how best to use 1-pole circuit breakers or 1p+n or in what situations one is used and when the other is used you can also make a video on this topic but in accordance with the regulations
Do the Acti 9 boards come with the Neutral bar and link accessories etc supplied? I haven't used Schneider or done 3 phase for a long time, it was Merlin Gerin back then.
I wonder why the modules in 3PH-DBs in the UK are arranged vertically? In my opinion this takes up more space than actually required. Wouldn't it be easier to use a 3/4-pole busbar instead? And how do you fit additional modules like contactors, timers etc.?
Something like this (3 pole RCD + 4x AFDD): www.elektrikerwissen.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Hager_Phasenschienen_2-750x450.jpg And yes, the next one is something you fit in a single family home, plenty of space for any modules: www.zaehlerschrank24.de/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/b406a9cdc224c57c443df60b8bd9edbe/1/e/1ehz_1.jpg Btw. I'd like to see that cont *r* actor module fitted to the DB ;)
Vertical boards can fit many more circuits in the same horizontal space, which allows for multiple boards to be placed side by side. So it's better for a large commercial install with multiple boards. Plus you can then run trunking across the top and bottom of multiple boards for all the incomer and outgoers.
Merlin Gerin/ schneider have always had the best three phase boards, except schneiders single phase db way to big for an upgrade in a domestic property
I do like to use Schneider bits, but they aren't the most practical board's out there. Hagar's definitely better as it's a LOT more practical and they're cheaper.
Still waiting on a board with fixed wire L+N terminals on the board itself, and full plug in double pole MCB's/RCBO's with no wire terminations at the MCB module. Meaning MCB's etc can be changed or worked on without touching the wiring at all.
Check out a company called SBS trade, they are offering bespoke consumer units to order and they have a double pole miniature RCBO with no fly leads fed by a double pole busbar
@@zoltrix7779 there is an equivalent commercial rcbo by schneider over here that is similar to this but when it comes to domestic there is nothing like what you and I have mentioned.
When I first used those boards I thought it was a really good idea, that was when they were Merlin. For years now I have thought why has no one ever made a board that has a plug in neutral to get away with those messy leads, and there were have it, about time to. Also a 3 phase rcbo, I don't think I have ever seen one of those, some nice design features.
@Defectiveresistor true, as always the simple ideas are the best, don't know why anyone else didn't do it, probably didn't want to put the investment in
