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Great picture C-H!
I thought some of our British consumer units were tight for wiring room until I saw this, and this is 3 phase too.
Like Paul, I can't get my head around the colour code, it appears random to UK sparks, we are used to seeing 5 different colours only.

My guess is that it is an old panel with old colour code. Or rather - lack thereof. Can anybody see any grounding?

The connectors are "u-boats", so nicknamed because of their shape. The standard size holds three 2.5 mm2 wires.

David: If you think this is tight, you should see the 2x2 inch junction boxes used for four or even five incoming cables. Or the 1 1/2 inch boxes...

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 10-19-2002).]

Yeah, there's a ground bus bar with 2 lugs and at least five yellow-green wires cramped in at the top left of the panel. One of these wires is sheathed with grey plastic, so it should be the incoming ground.
On some circuits there are different fuse sizes on the phases.

Still, nothing beats a panel, at least 50x50 cm, located beneath an old-house ceiling (3m or so) filled with diazed fuses of all sizes (guess 6 to 20 amps) and all black cloth wires.
I couldn't take a really close look because said ceiling was partially broken down and I could hear debris coming down all the time. The floor was already covered at least 20 cm high with debris (all the plaster, lathes, some sub floor from above,...
The only thing I did in this room was to take a short look at this panel, take out a light switch, both with a solid helmet on my head, and then run!

I can't make out a gray wire on the ground block, but if it's there, it makes for an interesting conflict with the gray used as a phase on the main GFI at the bottom!

I hadn't notice the different fuse on phase C of the top left unit either, but maybe these are three individual single-phase circuits? Looks like only a single neutral going into that block though.

It also looks as though it's an open back unit with just the mounting rails screwed directly to a plastered wall (David - It brings to mind the open-back Wylex consumer units which are still to be found in great quantities here.).

Another point: Those main incoming conductors bottom right look as though they're just single-insulated cables buried directly in the wall. Or is there perhaps a conduit that we can't see?

You sure are sharp sighted, Ranger. Indeed, there they are. Whatever happened to the old "maximum one ground wire per hole" in the ground bar? (I think the NEC has a similar requirement?)

Different fuses? If the cable is good for 3x13A, I can fit two 10A and one 16A fuse, can't I?

There are also different fuses on the top right block.
No, it's a yellow-green wire with a grey outer sheathing, as it is used in Germany for seperate ground wires directly buried in plaster.
It rather seems to be a cable with the sheathing cut off directly where it comes out of the wall.
Still, a rather strange setup.

Wow, look at all of them pretty colours,
in that panel of C-H.

The two buttons to open and close each switch are another interesting feature that looks strange from an English point of view.

The 0 and 1 markings have been added alongside ON and OFF to many of our switches and breakers though.

I've also seen Ein and Aus used on German radio equipment, and it interesting that ein also means "one."

Tex,
Does ein by itself also mean "in" as well as "one" or "a/an" ? I'm thinking of Eingang and Ausgang for entrance and exit, so I assume that Aus also means "out"? Or am I hopelessly confused?!

Ja, Ich glaub' daß "ein" bedeutet "in" und "aus" bedeutet "out".


[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 10-24-2002).]

No, this isn't directly connected.
"ein Computer" means "a computer", ein also means on. Eingang is something different, which may have been linked in ancient times, but isn't now. Eingang and Ausgang are used as well for "input" and "output" on radio equipment as for "Entrance" and "exit". "Aus" can mean out or off, but also "from" in a different context. "Er ist aus Österreich" means: "He's from Austria". It can mean out (like to put out a fire), or off (switch off a light)