Any SPARKIES out there? Light Question

ploppy

Just thought I'd mention it but this is only in England and Wales from 1st Jan 2005.
People in Scotland and Northern Ireland are free to do as they have been doing until further notice. :P

raeble

There's a guide on the new rules here.
Personally it seems like a good idea, of course it remains to be seen if implementation is carried out correctly.

robby-01

I'm an trained electrician but have not done any electrical work for years (apart from the occasional DIY in both my and others houses). Since I'm not certified does this mean that my City and Guilds certificates are now useless ?[/QUOTE]



If you read the document(part p).It dosent make yours or anyone elses qualifications useless.What it does ask is that work covered under the new regulations be registered with building control.If you wish to carry out electrical work in yours or any one elses home you may still do so.To show that the work complies with the EXISTING wiring regulations that work must then be inspected by building control.
To get round this electrical contractors can self certify their own work provided they register under one of the approved competent person schemes ,undergo an annual inspection of their business,offer a warranty scheme to all their customers and provide certificates for each job they do and then regester that job with building control.
These measures have been put in place to protect consumers .

Many people who undertake electrical work in their own home have little or no knowledge of what they are doing as do many other tradesmen who carry out electrical work in addition to there regular business eg kitchen/bathroom fitters.All this new regulation is trying to do is ensure that electrical work in dwellings is carried out correctly.

robowen

Going back to the downlights for a moment if you guys don't mind..... I bought a pack with 3 in it and a transformer.
I only need two lights in the ceiling. Doesnt say anything about only using 2 in the instructions, however, it says replace any blown bulbs straight away.

Is it ok to use just 2 lights and tape up the 3rd connection ?b

quoia

beefster wrote:

And get an RCD fitted, it will trip upon any fault and save the house burning down or you getting a shock.

EXCEPT in this situation where it will almost certainly make no difference.

Low voltage lights like this usually use double insulated transformers that are not earthed. A short circuit on the 12V side will not trip an RCD and often not blow the fuse either.

mepone9

I am an approved electrician and yes it will be OK to do that, you do not need to have an RCD covering lights only fixed appliances ( sockets, showers ) so don't worry about that.

beefster

"I am an approved electrician and yes it will be OK to do that, you do not need to have an RCD covering lights only fixed appliances ( sockets, showers ) so don't worry about that."

Agree that you do not "have to" but......... would you not agree that an RCD covering the whole board not just Sockets and fixed apps is to ensure 100% safety with regards to electrical shock protection?

beefster

quoia wrote:

EXCEPT in this situation where it will almost certainly make no difference.

Low voltage lights like this usually use double insulated transformers that are not earthed. A short circuit on the 12V side will not trip an RCD and often not blow the fuse either.

Your right of course but the original post did say "main cable" which I took to mean the 240v feed. Upon 2nd reading the " via the transformer" bit could possibly mean I got this wrong and it in fact means the 12v side............ and there was me thinking I was perfect!

Either way getting an RCD fitted will add to your overall protection from shock .

Aussie

I can see where everyone's coming from and RCD's were originally intended to for power supplies and not lighting.

Before I left work in Australia there were new rules/regs coming in about how it could be good practise to put RCD's on lighting circuits, but I've not worked there for over 6 years so I don't know if it is being used/enforced.

I would like to know that when I'm at work everything is covered by an RCD but I know very little is, sometimes it can't be used in every situation, especially in house lighting where a full house lighting re-wire may be required and/or some fittings being changed.