With those of you that are allowed to change
Power Company service fuses, have you any funny stories relating to why they blew, in the first place?.
I've got heaps, so would like to start this one off with a Bang!!
A registered Electrician, over here had a 4.5kW water heater element, in his bath of
water, all Earthed and such, but, it was hooked into the line-side of the Metering Equipment, this would have worked quite well,
except, the whole thing fell into the bath,
blowing the Pole Fuse and cutting out his house, I turned up and investigated this,
I was instructed to leave his house disconnected for a week, pending an enquiry,
the guy got sent to prison, for 6 months and lost his registration.
OK, you guys-

All I wanted to ask, was if anyone had had the same experiences as me.
We cannot all be Faultsmen(people),just go ahead and submit your reply.
This sort of thing only crops up during the Festive Season,when people are at their most drunken and happy.
It's unusual to turn up at a house when you have had nothing to drink, for 2 days, and everyone is really drunk.

The PoCo here would be most unhappy about anyone else replacing their fuses. In fact, it's illegal to break the seal.

In this region they've taken to plastering every cover with red & white stickers to dissuade tamperers: "It is dangerous to interfere with this equipment. It is also an offence." (sic - That's the British spelling of "offense").

In Ireland from what i've seen the ESB uses keyed screws as well as a seal. You physically couldn't get into the fuse if you wanted to and it would be an offence not to mention the fact that they'd prob. reserve the right to disconnect you from the powersupply completely at the pole/distribution fuse box (cabinate) on the street! Same goes for tampering with a meter.

One thing I have learnt, guys,
is the fact, that nothing is fool-proof,
some people over here have even tried changing their own pillar box fuses(normally 63A HRC), with a few strands of tinned copper wire paralleled up.
Security screws, notwithstanding, there will always be some idiot, who will avoid getting the Power Board out to replace a fuse.
One guy over here recently, thought he would try and change his own Pole Fuse, this would have been OK, he got the fuse out, but as he went to climb down the ladder, it fell out from underneath him.
I got rung up at 0230HRs, to go and have a look at this guy holding a power pole.
Long story short, the guy had been up there for 2 Hours, and man was he glad to see me.
Don't try this one at home.

Here officially you have to leave it for the Po Co, but if as a qualified electrician you call them directly after changing the fuse/breaker to replace the seal, then most times they wont do a fuss about it, especially if the Po Co agent knows you personally.

May I add that for a new install or a complete renovation, then the it's the electrician that has to install the meter box including the breaker and the Po Co only installs the actuall meter.

Here is a pic of the "meter box" :



(sorry for the poor quality! It's two meter boxes side by side)

Belgian,
thanks for the pic, mate.
But one of your comments, is quite true,
if you have a good relationship with your Power board, there are no problems.
I used to work for the local PoBoard, I served my time there as an Apprentice Line- Mechanic, I know all of the guys who work for the company and have worked with most of them,during my apprenticeship and after this when I went onto Faults work.
It's a personal relations thing!.