Vynco electrical gear quality ok?

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timmmay

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#281521 22-Feb-2021 19:42

Two electricians have quoted for a switchboard replacement for us. Just want to check up on the quality of Vynco gear. Any opinions? Second electrician hasn't specified brand.

Quote includes:

40 Way Vynco Flush Distribution Board
Vynco RCCB's / MCB's

Just want to make sure it's quality that will last. Any opinions on quality vs PDL?

Our current switchboard is extremely old, a board made of asbestos with holes drilled for things to be mounted, and is quite large partly because it has a few timers and such on it already. I suspect they may be trying to find a large board to fill the gap as much as practical.

Tagging people who have mentioned them before... @rickw @sparkz25 @Disrespective

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#2661355 22-Feb-2021 19:57

All the plastic boards are average if you ask me. I can't speak for the metal Vynco ones but the plastic ones i've seen are the same quality as all the others...

My house actually has a Teubel brand indoor meter board. I think it ran something like $450 or so. Nice enclosure when needing to use it, the sparky seemed to find it easy enough to wire into and has plenty of room for an average house.

As for any particular brands hardware I have no clue i'm afraid.

Jase2985

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#2661357 22-Feb-2021 19:57

its a switchboard why wouldnt it last? it doesnt get used much.

it has SDOC which means it should meet AS/NZS standards.

Make sure 40 way will be enough for what you need it for + make sure there are a few spare spaces for future circuits.

i have the same 40 ways board in my garage and its ok the doors are just a pain to close sometimes. i think the back box might be slightly warped when it was put in

sparkz25

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#2661359 22-Feb-2021 19:59

I have used Vynco boards for this exact reason in the past because it would fill the hole, the last one I used was a V40, they are slightly cheaper and the quality is about the same as Schnider.

Their breakers are fine, they are there to do a job and they work, the only real difference is the looks, the Schnider acti 9 looks more appealing than the GE.

One benefit about the GE is that you can wire the breakers off, whereas with the new acti 9 range you must either the Acti9 lockout or a third party lockout, you cant just use a bit of wire anymore.

I use both brands and have never had any issues with either yet.

mrdrifter

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#2661362 22-Feb-2021 20:03

They used Vynco kit when they replaced our meter board last year and it does the job fine. We've had new circuits added since and the job was straightforward. The actual replacement job took all day ~12 hours, but that was due to the equipment.

timmmay

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#2661366 22-Feb-2021 20:08

Thanks all, that's really useful. We have some timers in the switchboard so we open and close it a bit more than average, maybe once a month. I expect most people never touch theirs. I'm mostly thinking things like doors snapping off, plastic discoloring, that sort of thing.

I guess we've been quoted the 40 Way 2 Rows, Plastic, model V40.

@Disrespective is a metal switchboard a good idea?! Are they more robust? Would the metal ones look ok in a residential home? Currently we have one that's not flush at all, it sticks out about 5cm, and has a wooden box over it that's probably 10cm deep painted the same color as the wall. Wife does not like.

Jase2985

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#2661367 22-Feb-2021 20:11

metal boards are fine, and they are powder coated white so look fine.

how much the board sticks out depends on how deep the cavity is in the wall and how deep a board you get

mrdrifter

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#2661414 22-Feb-2021 20:19

Oh yes, our one was the metal enclosure, it's nice and sturdy with a magnetic closure.

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timmmay

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#2661418 22-Feb-2021 20:25

Thanks all. Sounds like Vynco is a decent enough brand, about average price / quality is what I'm hearing. I'll ask the electrician about a metal board instead of plastic.

compound

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#2661419 22-Feb-2021 20:29

We have a Vynco 60 way and it bulges in the centre, making it slightly hard to open unless you coax the middle round at the same time as the ends. That was really down to the installation rather than the board being poor. I have no concerns with Vynco as a brand.

snnet

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#2661422 22-Feb-2021 20:31

The board enclosure is fine, I steer clear of GE/Vynco breakers and RCDs because they tend to internally trip but not externally trip if there is a fault sometimes. My go to is Legrand breakers or Schneider if I have to. Your electrician should be able to get Schneider stuff at the same price as Vynco if the wholesaler is any good.

Given the choice, especially if it's a combined meter/switchboard I go for the Teubels (now under Trical) combined meterbox switchboard series.

RickW

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#2661497 22-Feb-2021 21:12

I’ve had absolutely no issues with any of their gear. I’ve been into the switchboard a few times to wire other circuits in and the quality is ok.

snnet

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#2661533 22-Feb-2021 22:09

RickW: I’ve had absolutely no issues with any of their gear. I’ve been into the switchboard a few times to wire other circuits in and the quality is ok.

My experience is over several years returning to jobs where I have used it, over 5 years or so I would have had it with about 5 -10 clients' switchboards, so not a huge amount considering I would have done hundreds of switchboards, but I dropped the brand all the same for the hassle of having to go there or tell the client to flick all the breakers down and back up each time it happened

I questioned their sales reps at the suppliers when I saw them and the guy said "shhhh" and the lady said "I'vE nEvEr HeArD oF tHaT bEfOre!" which goes hand in hand with a caertain lighting shop asking me how high the lights were installed when I returned the drivers as faulty

SomeoneSomewhere

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#2661550 23-Feb-2021 00:34

40 ways is honestly on the small side for replacing an existing board, especially given you have stuff like multiple timers. It's not 40 circuits; you need to allow space for the RCDs, timers, main switch etc., and the plastic shallow boards are small enough that you basically can't actually fill them with gear, fit cable around them, and close the lid.

The plastic boards are *awful* to close up and I regularly see the hinge pins broken off on the doors. This goes for both the PDL and Vynco ones.

My experience with the Vynco breakers has been pretty good; they're re-sold GE. My understanding is that there's a *significant* price difference to Schneider when bought in volume.

Honestly the Teubels ones aren't much better for getting the door on. The modern commercial boards spoil me; I need to hunt down some good cheap domestic ones.

Handle9

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#2661551 23-Feb-2021 00:48

timmmay:

Thanks all. Sounds like Vynco is a decent enough brand, about average price / quality is what I'm hearing. I'll ask the electrician about a metal board instead of plastic.

Why would you bother? Unless it's exposed to sun light a well installed plastic board will last as long as a metal board.

As an added bonus there is no way for it to become live.

Edit: To answer your question I had a Vynco board and switchgear in my last house. It was fine.

pauls25

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#2661558 23-Feb-2021 05:22

The main advantage of a metal over a plastic switchboard is that metal doesn’t burn in the unlikely event of a fault. In the UK, plastic switchboard enclosures are not permitted anymore for this reason.

Loose connections are usually the cause of switchboard fires so as long as everything is tightened correctly there won’t be an issue. Not sure if it is common practice here to use a torque screwdriver and tighten everything to manufacturers specifications but that appears to be the best way to guarantee everything is tightened correctly.

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