Assembly instruction for switchboard

It's important to know

First you need to explain to you what kind of electrical panels there are for use in houses and apartments. The information provided will help you correctly. choose an electric shield for an apartment or a house.

The so-called "boxes", in which all protective automation and an electric meter are installed, can be presented in the following varieties:

• Production material: plastic or metal. The first option is more practical, because lightweight and aesthetically attractive appearance of the shield. As for metal - it is more reliable and more durable.
• Mounting method: overhead and built-in. Accordingly, for the latter it is necessary to make a special niche in the wall, but at the same time they do not occupy free space in the room. Installation of built-in switchboards is more difficult, but at the same time they are more often used when installation of hidden electrical wiring. The laid-on version is attached to the wall with dowels, nails or self-tapping screws, which greatly facilitates installation work.

You should also talk about the best quality manufacturers of "boxes". Since in any case you will buy a visor in the store, we recommend that you give preference to the following companies: ABB (ABB), Legrand (Legrand), IEK (IEK), EKF, Schneider Electric (Schneider Electric). These manufacturers have taken a stable position in the market and have become the standard of quality for most professional electricians.

The advantage of choosing the products of this leading four is as follows:

• high-quality manufacturing materials (if plastic, then heat-resistant), if metal, all welding and riveted joints are made carefully;
• the cost is slightly higher than that of models of average quality;
• In the kit are auxiliary parts for assembling the switchboard, which you would have to buy separately: zero tire and grounding, designation stickers, mounting screws.

Well, the last thing I would like to talk about before giving instructions - what the introductory distribution panel consists of in an apartment (private house).

The main components are:

1. The box itself with the door.
2. DIN rail (all automatic equipment is mounted on it).
3. Distribution busbars (PE and N) for connecting all grounding and neutral conductors.
4. Group circuit breakers with RCD (or a combined version - a differential automaton).
5. Electricity meter.
6. Wires for connecting all elements of the circuit.

It should be noted here that it is better to select the connecting cores in advance calculate the cross section for power and currentto independently select the most suitable conductor diameter. Regarding automation, a separate topic, however, we have already considered, which is better to choose: difavtomat or RCD, the information will be useful to you.

To put it briefly and in simple words, then the connection of the machines in the shield is performed with a copper single-core wire with a single-wire core (monolithic). When using wires with multi-wire (flexible) conductors - the part that is clamped in the terminal blocks of the machines, RCDs and other things must be crimped or tinned with solder and a soldering iron. This is necessary so that the terminal block does not flatten the wires when tightening and does not loosen the contact over time. Wires can be used type PV-1, PV-3 or individual veins extracted with VVG, PVA and others (this option is worse). Cross-section of connecting wires from the table of permissible continuous currents (PUE table. 1.3.4., See Chapter 1.3 of the EMP)

With the familiarization part sorted out, go to the instructions that will help to assemble the distribution board in the house with your own hands.

A very interesting video instruction on this topic:

Main process

Step 1 - Create a Scheme

First you need to create a connection diagram for all machines, meters and distribution buses in order to quickly and correctly assemble the switchboard in the apartment (or country house). At this stage, you must also choose the most suitable place for installing each product on a DIN rail. The more compact and logical the machines will be arranged, the more you will save connecting wires and make the box convenient for maintenance.

To your attention an example of how the assembly diagram of a distribution board in an apartment for 220V should look like:

In your version, everything may be fundamentally different, and this will not indicate that the circuit is not drawn up correctly. In each individual case, you can assemble the switchboard in your own way.

Step 2 - Preparing Materials and Tools

Among the tools you will definitely need:

• multimeter (to ring wiring after connecting all the elements).
• screwdriver set (tighten the screws on the terminals).
• stripping tool or, in extreme cases, an electrician’s mounting knife.
• screwdriver (fasten the box to the wall)

As for the elements of the circuit, here you should choose everything yourself, depending on the total load on the wiring, the voltage in the network (1 or 3 phases) and the branching of the created circuit. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the following block of articles that are closely related to self-assembly of a distribution board:

• How to distribute the load in phases
• How to divide wiring into groups
• How to make a wiring diagram before repair

After reading these articles, you can go to the store for suitable automation and materials, after which you will only have to assemble the switchboard with your own hands.

Step 3 - Assembling the electrical panel

So we come to the most important part of the article. Now that you already know what the “filling” of the box will consist of and how to select each of the products, you can proceed to the assembly.

One very important nuance should be noted right away - you must coordinate with representatives of the energy sales who will install the electricity meter. If you are allowed to install it yourself, you can draw up an appropriate act and go get started.

Step-by-step installation instructions for the electrical panel are as follows:

1. Hang the case on the wall (or install in a prepared niche).
2. Insert the lead-in wires and those that come from each room / high-power appliances into the switchboard.
3. Strip the cores for a good connection to the terminals.
4. Using self-tapping screws, fix the DIN rail inside the case, which will serve as a fastener for assembling the entire "filling".
5. Fasten all circuit breakers, RCDs and even the counter (if its mounting matches) on the installed bracket. Everything is simple here, the design of the shield includes a special latch that quickly and effortlessly snaps the product onto the rail.
6. Install the ground and ground bus.
7. Cut the connecting wires into suitable lengths.
8. Connect together all the elements according to the diagram. Do not forget that the input phase and zero for circuit breakers and RCDs must necessarily wind up to the upper terminals. About, how to connect machines in the shield, we told in a separate article.
9. Carefully check the quality of assembly of the switchboard, if necessary, retighten the screws on all terminals.
10. Invite an energy sales representative to carry out sealing meter.
11. Check the correctness of the work performed by turning on the introductory machine.

If, after you turned on the electricity, the characteristic smell of a burned one did not appear, sparking did not occur and did not occur. RCD trip, then all electrical work is done correctly.

Visual video lesson of the entire main process:

In the end, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with some simple tips that will help you more correctly assemble the switchboard in an apartment and a private house.

Useful Tips

The first thing I would like to advise is on the inside of the box lid, stick the circuit with the legend (where it is located). If an emergency occurs and you are not in place, anyone else can quickly turn off the electricity or vice versa turn on the machine that knocked out.

We also recommend that all groups of wires inside the shield be marked with tags and additionally grouped with plastic clamps, as shown in the photo. This will make maintenance and repair more convenient so that a person does not rack their brains when looking for the right contact. About how it can be done wire marking during installation, we told in a separate article.

Do not forget about an important feature RCD connection and circuit breakers - lead-in conductors must be run at the top, which even duplicates the manufacturer on the front panel of the product.

After you have made the first switch-on after the assembly, leave it open for a couple of hours, then go up and check the temperature of the automation and wires. If somewhere the insulation starts to melt, immediately turn off the electricity and start looking for a problem, otherwise in the future short circuit You cannot be avoided.

Once every six months, it is necessary to tighten the screws on the automation terminals inside the box, especially if you use aluminum wires.

Do not buy a compact switchboard, which will be right next to the place. First, perhaps in the future you will add new elements to the diagram.Secondly, a cramped space will contribute to overheating of devices and their rapid failure.

That's all I wanted to tell you about how to assemble a distribution board with your own hands. We hope that the information was useful and interesting for you.