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So then...how are people supposed to splice wires to the lights, besides using ceiling roses with the terminal blocks in them and/or junction boxes?

Or is there a more heat-resistant better-quality version?

A few observations, from the time I spent overseas in the '80's.

While there are such conectors made from bakelite...nothing is proof to an over-size bulb.

The wiring system used typically has plastic boxes, plastic conduit (similar to 'smurf tube'), and all connections are made on one piece of 'block.' The different sections are not normally in contact with each other.
This means that the block can bounce around all over the place, and never short to anything- unless the plastic has completely metled away- at which point the entire box and wiring is also probably toasted. Then again, that's where fuses earn their pay.

Which brings up another quirk of this system....their fuses are typically snap-in ceramic blocks, wits replacable bits of nichrome wire as the "element." One can easily replace the wire with a higher-rated one, so there is nothing to prevent over-fusing. Since the service conductors are typically uninsulated steel wire, one can easily make an "infinite" fuse.
Overfusing may also result in a melted 'choc block.' Indeed, since the box itself seems undamaged, that is likely what happened here!

A typical home is often a completely uninsulated masonry shell, with a tile floor. Central heating, as we know it, is rare. No surprise, then, that light sockets are often used for space heaters, which leads to over fusing, and so on.....

The color coding doesn't seem to be entirely British. With the red, yellow and black wire comes a downsized light blue wire which seems to be a neutral. Also there seems to be some very recent wiring with harmonized Euro color coding (black, brown and grey phases).

There are heat-resistant silicone choc blocks and for extreme locations you can still get the old ones made of porcelaine. My dad uses those above his recessed LV halogen lights in an insulated ceiling. Before he did so, I saw similar choc blocks quite often. Thankfully it's fiberglass insulation, which is non-inflammable.

@Renosteinke: about which countries specifically are you talking about?

Regarding the transfer switch: as it's hard to guess the size of the enclosure the wires might be big enough anyway. Emphasis on _might_

Porcelain types are employed in high-temperature locations, such as inside heaters:




I can't speak for the Middle East, but the old rewireables have gradually fallen out of use for new installs in Britain over the years, with breakers or cartridge fuses now the norm. It's true that on an economy install they were still being fitted new as recently as the 1980s though, and of course there are still many in service. Wylex (one of our commonly used makes of panel) still makes replacement carriers for rewireables too, although so far as I'm aware they are the only company still making them.


Well caught -- I hadn't noticed before that the blue feeder appears to be smaller than the others. Also, the black cable from the left-most conduit is marked with blue tape.

The conduit to the right of that one also appears to be just 3 conductors (excluding the unconnected ground!), so it's more likely to be 3 phases than 2 phases plus neutral.

Still, it appears that they've used black as neutral in the smaller conduits. It appears to be rather a mess in color-code terms.




[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 02-04-2006).]

That's for sure! However, not noticeably worse than the mess I found in our own house today...
The worst I found is the note scribbled on a basement wall next to a junction box: "Blue - Neutral
White - switch wire
Bare - P"
If there's actually a bare phase somewhere I'm not that surprised we've got some intermittent shorts...

So....what do the light switch, lampholder and wall socket fittings look like?

IF that's how the main stuff is, I wonder what shape the outlets are in.

More from Afghan Roger

WOW! Makes me feel blessed to have 4 breaker houses and 11 supply houses in my cell phone!

I'm afraid to ask how much current is going through all that stuff or what it's all running!

Here the colors seem to be standard European predating the last round of harmonization. Two black and one brown for phases.

Regarding the first picture again... no, no way those wires are able to carry 800amps. The way the strands look just doesn't seem right, besides I guess any electrician with some sense in his head would run several parallel conductors instead of a single big one for 800 amps. Is it actually 80A? That might just be possible with the visible wires.

The line side of those breakers those look hefty... that _could_ be a few hundred amps bus bar!

Could you give us any further info, like breaker ratings, close-up pictures of the breakers?

Maybe the main breaker feeding that bus ( 400A ?) has been tweaked right down to the value of the by-passed breakers ( 250A ?)

Probably not though

Thats the worst copper bar work I've ever seen. Unfilled holes in the bars and half-assed shrouding. The whole lot has been made by someone that doesnt own a ruler.