When your board needs changing
Not every old board needs replacing. Common signs that yours does:
- Wylex 'Standard' with the black fuse carriers (pre-1990s, no RCD protection).
- MEM 'Memera' or MK 'Sentry' from the 80s — usually no RCDs, often no space to add them.
- Plastic-bodied unit fitted before 2016 — the current rules require metal (or non-combustible) enclosures in domestic settings.
- Repeated nuisance tripping on a single RCD — usually the sign that too many circuits are stacked behind one RCD.
- Any burn marks, browning around the busbar, or that distinctive plasticky smell.
Why we only fit full RCBO boards with SPD
A dual RCD board splits your circuits across two 30mA RCDs. When a fault trips one, half the house goes off — lights, sockets, fridge, freezer, everything on that side. Fine on paper, a nightmare in practice, especially if you're not there when it happens.
A full RCBO board has one RCBO per circuit. If a fault trips one circuit, only that one circuit goes off. Everything else keeps running. The freezer stays cold. The heating stays on. The Wi-Fi stays up. If it's a holiday let and a guest trips the shower circuit, they've still got lights and sockets and can ring you — not sitting in the dark on a Sunday night.
Costs a bit more up front. Saves you money the first time a fault happens — no lost freezer, no lost let, no emergency callout to reset an RCD from 60 miles away. That's why every board we fit is full RCBO. No dual RCD, no split-load. One spec, done properly.
Every board also gets an SPD (Surge Protective Device) as standard. It clamps voltage spikes from lightning, grid faults and switching events — which the Highland grid throws at you more often than most people think. Cheapest bit of insurance in the whole install.
