Safety Switch, Use By Date

Did You Know That the Safety Switch on Your Switchboard Has a Use-By-Date?

If your switchboard features a CLIPSAL terracotta coloured Safety Switch as pictured above, then you are over a decade overdue for an Electrical Safety Service inspection and replacement.

Over the weekend, a customer of Sharpe Services requested a call-out after the power to his property was lost and because of the law of maximum inconvenience, the power loss occurred on a Sunday!

The loss of power occurred because the safety switch failed and was unable to be re-instated. The safety switch in question was a model that is over 25 years old and not in circulation anymore. The main issue with this type of switch is that when it fails it kills power to the entire house.

As the switchboard hadn’t been touched in over 5 years, it wasn’t fit for purpose for it’s current use. As a family grows so does the load on the electrical supply to the property. New TV’s, larger fridge / freezer combos and upgraded air conditioning all place a greater load on the switchboard.

5 Yearly

The team at Sharpe strongly recommend that your electrical supply / switchboard be safety checked and inspected every 5 years. An ongoing inspection cycle is important for peace of mind and will always save you money in the long term.

In this example the reason for tripping was dripping rains saturated in root electrical junction if tripped never to reset resulting in major disruption over the weekend.

The Solution

A switchboard upgrade was instigated with all new compliant safety switches on each circuit. A neat and future proof solution to give peace of mind for the next 5 years.

Before:

After: