Upgrades
Power Points and Outlets
Some instances, 1x 10a GPO (General Purpose Outlet or Power Point), maybe upgraded to a double GPO or a Quad or now even a Quad with 4x USB.
Consider factors such as cable size, run length, protective device rating, and load requirements of this circuit.
Ceramic Fuses
What is a ceramic fuse?
Ceramic fuses are the sort of fuses that suspend a wire between two screws, with the wire passing through a ceramic holder. You wedge this holder into your home’s switchboard.
The fuse wire is rated according to the load that circuit is designed for. If it goes over, the fuse wire burns out and the circuit stops working.
Changing fuse wire is an operation often performed in the dark while holding a torch or phone.
Reasons To Upgrade Your Switchboard's Ceramic Fuses with Circuit breakers
1. Your switchboard may have become unsafe
You can see in this image that one of the ceramic fuses is broken. That is clearly unsafe. If you have broken, cracked or damaged fuses, get them replaced.
Circuit breakers are safer than ceramic fuses. For instance, a fuse will only blow when it reaches maximum capacity. A circuit breaker is much more sensitive. For instance, it will trip from an earth leak.
What this means in effect is, if you have ceramic fuses, your switchboard is unsafe. Ceramic fuses should be upgraded.
2. Your switchboard isn't coping with current demands
If you have fuses, it can be hard to tell if your board isn’t coping. Unless you’re blowing fuses (a bad sign that you’re over-capacity) then you may not know whether you’re over-capacity or not. Chances are, if you have ceramic fuses, then circuitry in your home is out-dated (and therefore likely not meeting modern demands).
You’ve probably added numerous appliances and lights since your wiring was first designed and installed.
If this is, you then it’s time to have your switchboard looked at. We’ll upgrade it to circuit breakers and do any other work required to make it safe.
3. You want to add major appliances or pumps
If you’re adding major current draws (like large appliances, pool or irrigation pumps) then you want to make sure that the circuit can cope.
If you’ve still got ceramic fuses, then that’s already a really good indication that the circuit isn’t ready for it. Have the switchboard inspected by licensed electricians.
4. You want to improve your electrical safety
Circuit breakers respond faster than fuses. They’re also more sensitive. These can be very important considerations if you’ve come in contact with a live wire.
Circuit breakers also respond to problems that a fuse will not. For instance, on our circuit breaker page, we give the case study of a home with a frayed wire. The fuse did not react to this problem. When we upgraded to a circuit breaker it did. A fuse will never detect a problem like this because it only reacts to an overload.
5. You want the convenience of circuit breakers
If you plug-in your old drill and trip the house circuit, do you want the convenience of flicking a switch? Or do you want to pull out an old ceramic fuse, unscrew the wire, only to find you don't have the correct fuse wire spare, go hunting your drawers for fuses wire...etc? Circuit breakers are loads handier than ceramic fuses.
If you plug-in your old drill and trip the house circuit, do you want the convenience of flicking a switch? Or do you want to pull an old ceramic fuse, unscrew the wire, only to find you don’t have the correct fuse wire spare? Circuit breakers are loads handier than ceramic fuses.
CAP and CASING
Casing and capping wiring is a traditional surface-mounted system in which wood-insulated wires are run through a wooden casing and enclosed with a matching nailed or screwed capping. It is a low-cost, neat-looking method commonly used in homes, offices, and low-voltage installations. However easily broken and live cables may arc and cause fires in roofs or unsuspected electric shock / electrocution in buildings.
Split Steel Conduit
Old split steel conduit wiring is an obsolete electrical installation method featuring folded or split metal tubes that house old rubber-insulated cables, posing significant shock and fire hazards.
Risks and Dangers
Brittle Insulation: Commonly paired with Vulcanised India Rubber (VIR) or Tough Rubber Sheath (TRS) cables that dry out, crack, and crumble over time.
Live Metal Shell: The split steel pipe was historically used as an earth return; if the brittle internal insulation breaks down or the conduit is pinched/stepped on, the entire metal pipe or connected appliance can become live.
Sharp Edges: The open seam or folded edges of old split conduit can easily slice into aging wire insulation, causing dangerous short circuits.
What to Do
Treat as Live: Never attempt to DIY, pull new wires through, or modify old split steel conduit systems without professional testing.
Get an Inspection: Hire a licensed electrician to perform a complete safety audit and rewire the property with modern TPS/PVC cabling inside appropriate enclosures.
Time To Upgrade
If your building was built before the 1990s, it may still have old ceramic fuses with fuse wire in the fuse box, Cap and Case or Split Steel Conduit and maybe even VIR Cables. If so, it is time to upgrade to a modern switchboard with circuit breakers, along with rewiring the cable sub-circuits which provide better protection for both people and property.
Modern circuit breakers known as RCBO’s are a combination safety switches and circuit breakers.
To explain briefly, these protect single circuits from shorts, overloads, and electric shocks. This means any problem is confined to that one circuit and will not take out the circuits for the rest of your house.
And remember, only safety switches save lives.
Circuit breakers and surge protectors protect appliances, not people. By UPGRADING a modern fuse box to a new SWITCHBOARD, you are saving both yourself and your buildings.
Upgrading fuse boxes, and installations cabling, like most things to do with old buildings, vary from house to house, shed to shed, installation to Installation.