Help Please.electric..3phase At 10 Amp To Mono Phase At 30 Amp ? (1 Viewer)

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
The man from edp (Portuguese electricity supplier) called today to alter our supply from 3 phase at 10 amp to "Mono?" phase at 30 amp. I was down in the bottom field,Jennifer was indoors with all the doors and windows open and a portuguese lad was working away in the garage.
The lad came in and said that the "edp" man had been and we were now on 30 amp...... So,numpty me,on hearing this, goes into the garage,expecting to see a new unit.... No. the old 3 phase unit is still on the wall,and in each of the three windows is the number 30 showing. Am i right in thinking that we are still on,"3 phase,but now at at 30 amps a pop ?",or am i reading this information wrong.
Any ideas as to what is going on here will be appreciated,thanks in advance for any help.
Tea Bag

 

[Old Soldier]

Hi.
The man from edp (Portuguese electricity supplier) called today to alter our supply from 3 phase at 10 amp to "Mono?" phase at 30 amp. I was down in the bottom field,Jennifer was indoors with all the doors and windows open and a portuguese lad was working away in the garage.
The lad came in and said that the "edp" man had been and we were now on 30 amp...... So,numpty me,on hearing this, goes into the garage,expecting to see a new unit.... No. the old 3 phase unit is still on the wall,and in each of the three windows is the number 30 showing. Am i right in thinking that we are still on,"3 phase,but now at at 30 amps a pop ?",or am i reading this information wrong.
Any ideas as to what is going on here will be appreciated,thanks in advance for any help.
Tea Bag

Difficult to tell without seeing the board and associated wiring / fuses. Any chance of some photos?

 

[Wildman]

Three phase supply wires include 3 live and a neutral plus an earth. For a single (Mono) supply there will be one of those three phases plus the neutral and an earth used to give you a 240v single phase supply. uprating to 30 amp was probably only a case of changing the fuses in the supply. did you have a new ring main to connect up to? Why did you want to lose the three phase supply.

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[Tea Bag]

Hi.
First.. Old Soldier... The answer to your question is."Slim to NON!! LOL. It's ME your talking to,if the grand kids are not here,i don't function past reading e-mails and,"Fun" posts .Perhaps in anothe r 5years.. If someone here in Porty land can show me how,i will.
Second. ..Wildman..Calma,calma. We had the house renovated,moved in,could only use a combination of two appliances or BOOM,no leccy,called in the electrician,who said we were on 3 phase at 10 amps,so to upgrade to "Monophase 30 amps",problem solved. This was arranged through edp who came today.
In my ignorance ?,i thought 3phase was for factories etc and mono for houses,i was also given to think that i would be paying an arm and a leg for leccy that i don't need,so that is why i am seeking clarity on this problem. It was all re-wired,so that side of it is OK.
Thanks anyway for your help,at least we have had all systems "Consuming leccy" and nothings gone BOOM yet,so so far so good.
Tea Bag "I have seen the light......... on LOL!!"

 

[gus-lopez]

Here when you have a 3 phase supply in a property , which is normally only when you require a supply above 10kw, they balance all the demands across the 3 phases to keep the supply balanced. It sounds like they are now just supplying a single phase at 30 amps on each of the incomings. might be completely wrong especially if you actually have 3 phase requirements.

 

[gus-lopez]

Yes just seen your reply. sounds like what they have done.
Yes, 3 phase in domestic houses but supplying only single phase balancing the demands across all 3 phases was an eye opener to me when I first found out about it.

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[Sandancers]

Do you mean they take electricity from EACH of the three phases and supply, for instance, three different ring mains from them ?

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
Thanks for all the replies,it has eased my fears a bit. I will retire gracefully from this post now,BUT,Geordies question should get some super "Techno" answers. Fair play to all you electricians who learnt and mastered the dark art of electricity,thank you.
Tea Bag.
Edit. sorry Gus. I am totaly unaware of what i need,however,the wife needs to be able to use the cooker/dishwasher/TV/micro wave,the pump from the well has to kick in and supply all but the cold tap in the kitchen with water,that is supplied from the main,and while all this is happening,NO BOOM its gone LOL

 

[Gorse Hill]

Hi.
The man from edp (Portuguese electricity supplier) called today to alter our supply from 3 phase at 10 amp to "Mono?" phase at 30 amp. I was down in the bottom field,Jennifer was indoors with all the doors and windows open and a portuguese lad was working away in the garage.
The lad came in and said that the "edp" man had been and we were now on 30 amp...... So,numpty me,on hearing this, goes into the garage,expecting to see a new unit.... No. the old 3 phase unit is still on the wall,and in each of the three windows is the number 30 showing. Am i right in thinking that we are still on,"3 phase,but now at at 30 amps a pop ?",or am i reading this information wrong.
Any ideas as to what is going on here will be appreciated,thanks in advance for any help.
Tea Bag

If you have 3phase supply (each phase and neutral giving you 240v) across 2phases 415v and you asked for an up grade chances are you have 30a per phase
Normally 3phase is used in a domestic situation if supplying a farm/or a number of building close together and using single phase for each building or customer request in the past who required 3 phases
chances are if you have a 3 phase supply they have simply upgraded the 3 phases to 30a per phase why would they only increase a single phase to 30a (if the Incomer was suitable) and leave the other 2 phases at 10a leaving an unbalanced load just as easy to upgrade all 3 phases to 30a per phase especially when your install could be being used across all 3 phases (lights on phase 1, sockets on phase 2 and combination of both on phase 3 as an example)
3 phase supply is more efficient than a single phase supply, and if it's available at source there's no advantage in not using it to any party
So I would think, as you thought you now have 30a per phase, easiest way to check Is on the DB (distribution board) there should be identification of L1 L2L3 and assiocated MCB (breakers), isolate a breaker on each phase and check what isn't working and if this happens on all 3 (L1,L2,L3) then you still have a 3 phase supply but with the capabilities of 30a per phase which is what I expect you have

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[DBK]

At the risk of confusing this further it is possible at the "edp" end of things they have simply connected the three live wires which came into your house together, so they are all one the same phase.

This would not require any changes to the wiring in your house.

The way to tell would be to put a multimeter across the three live wires and see if you can detect any voltage between any two of them. If they are all the same phase you won't detect any but if you still have three different phases you will, in the UK it would be 415 volts, probably something similar in Portugal.

However, I wouldn't suggest trying to draw 30 amps from anywhere until you have had the wiring checked. If the wiring was built to take 10 amps that may still be all it can do!

 

[Gorse Hill]

At the risk of confusing this further it is possible at the "edp" end of things they have simply connected the three live wires which came into your house together, so they are all one the same phase.
!

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi Gorse Hill and Devon Beekeeper.
Keep up this level of information and i will soon be able to design and run a "Power station LOL". The way you have written the above,has even given me a small insight into electromagicianary,thank you,and yes,it was a farm.
DO NOT! hold your collective breaths,waiting for me to prod ANYTHING into anything electrical,even if the power is OFF. The thing is,we have been led to believe that 3 phase supply is very expensive,the 10 amp was less than useless,so,on upgrading to 30 amps, we could also go onto the monophase at a cheaper base rate.Thanks again.
Tea Bag

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[Tea Bag]

Hi Sorted.
The electrician who did the re-wireing called in while passing,so told him about my worry. He took the front of the new consumer ?unit,(Bit with switches fuses etc ?) Poked a Multi-meter here and there and said 30 Amps Mono phase...Result.
So,Devon Bee Keeper and Gorse Hill,you had better be watching over your shoulders,there is a young Portuguese electrician on the job, who appears to be........... Wait for it............ Wired up right..........LOL .Thanks again for all the replies.
Tea Bag