UK Install – No space in consumer unit for probes – What to do?

[MikeF]

For those who have installed a Vue2 in the UK.  My consumer unit is very full of wires and there isn’t nearly enough space to get many of the clamp on probes into the consumer unit and still get it closed.  I have already assumed that the device itself will be mounted external in a separate electrical box, but don’t know if not having space in the MCU is normal.   I am looking for any suggestions as to how people have deal with this problem.   It is possible the electrician who installed the box just left a lot excess neutral wire in the box rather than neatly trimming it (in which case I might be able to have a better electrician clean up the internal wiring).  Or alternatively, the standard MCU might not be suitable to get 16 probes into.  In which case, I would be really grateful for recommendations of MCU brands that are likely to have sufficient space!

Thanks in advance.

[NJT1000]

There is very little space. I have two consumer units with 8 in each and that is very tight. One of my boxes is far less crowded than the other. The original consumer box has a couple of wires in some of the fuses, whereas the new one is 1-1.

I shut down the poser completely to get my hands inside and try to move things around, but it is a squeeze. I only have the clips and the shortest amount of cable in the consumer unit, the majority of the cable and the transmitter are outside the consumer unit. I also wired the transmitter to a plug and plugged it into a normal socket.

[MikeF]

Thanks for the Feedback.  I had concluded the transmitter needed to be external and most of the cables.  I will look and see if there is some movement to get enough space.  Unfortunately I have a long thin box packed with 14 RCDs and the neutral and ground wiring is not that elegant, so uses up some of the space for the sensors!

[Alan_B]

I feel your pain Mike!

I eventually managed to fit five sensors inside my small consumer unit, and can just about get the cover back on! There was no room for the 200A sensor, nor for the monitor unit and all the excess sensor cable lengths. I therefore designed and 3D printed my own mount for the monitor – please see my post here for further details and photos.

As you’ll see from that post, I attached the 200A sensor to the live cable from the meter, and used a 2m 3.5mm mono jack extension cable to connect it to the monitor.

I hope this helps!

Alan

[vrooze]

Hi Mike, fellow UK installer here too.

 

I managed to cram 4 sensors +main 200A into my tiny unit. Thankfully my little flat had vacant breaker spaces so fitting the Vue itself in was easy, getting the CT’s on however was another store. its snug but it works!

[Author]

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