Need Electrical advice? Click here

MrB_2

Hi Lucid and MisterT2, I've not got a problem, but would like some advise please. In the next few weeks I intend to build a conservatory and the electric points within. Will i be able to tap into the ring that currently exists in the house and feed it back at another point, as this was my plan. Cheers

MisterT2

First point is that a ring should be a ring and so you shouldn't tap in and out at separate points. Not sure why you would need to as its probably easier to run two cables as one. Not sure I fully understand this point.

3 main concerns:

What type of conservatory is it - wood/plastic/bricked to knee height?

Do you have an earth leakage circuit breaker on the main supply or fuse panel (or mcb board)?

Is it attached to the house (some aren't)?

---

If attached, personally, I have always treated these as if they might get wet and only ever put waterproof sockets on the house wall or bricked section. They are a little more expensive, but well worth the safety cost. You can put them elsewhere, but this is usually the best option. Cavity trays/lead flashing might not always be that effective and you might get damp issues - especially in the winter.

If you don't have an earth leakage circuit breaker or rcd then you could consider protected sockets but I generally find that these are more expensive than the real thing (i.e an rcd/elcb with integral fuse box). Unfortunately this will mean running cables. If you don't have a protected ring, then it might be a good idea to protect it anyway. You shouldn't get carried away and protect the whole house as this is a very bad thing to do (some old lady died by falling down the stairs when it tripped and the whole house fell into darkness). This is the reason why they produce split consumer units where part is switched and part protected.

The thing to watch out for when breaking the ring is that it is a ring and not a spur of a spur. You will need to switch off and check continuity through both sets of wires. If you don't have continuty, then you are not on the ring.

If the ring is protected and the conservatory is fixed to the house, don't use chocolate blocks - use a decent 30Amp junction box (Ashley etc) to extend one of the cables (the other will go into the back of the socket) - not that cheap imported trash.

I would never recommend, but if you want to put sockets on a wooden/plastic panel then the cables must be protected - white conduit/box section is the cheapest.

All cables must be protected within 6" (approx) of the floor anyway. You should use 2.5mm cable (you probably knew that bit).

Finally if the conservatory is separate then it will need to have its own circuit so that it can be isolated. It will also need to have its own consumer unit locally so that it can be isolated.

Once you have done it all don't forget to check the ring is continuous, the insulation using a megger and the sockets are correctly wired using a tester.

I presume that you are also going to put a light in. This should ideally come from the existing light circuit, but I have seen several instances where a fused spur has been used. I forget the exact regs that apply suffice to say that its not a good idea for lights to go out if the ring trips.

Hmmm so many if but's and maybe's. Will read through tomorrow and check it makes sense as its pretty late now and I am tired. Probably quicker to do the job by the time you have read to here

MrB_2

Hi MisterT2, thanks for the advise. to answer some of the questions raised, the conservotory is to be bricked at either side and knee hight at the front(some would say this is a verranda, I think it will be more permenant)
Unsure about the earth leakage cb but will check before strting anything else, and the conservortory will join the house in two places. The point of waterproof and rcd protected sockets is a very valid point and I shall be contacting my local Denhams to see if I can get a good price. As the brick walls will be plasterboarded, I thought new regs state that cable has to be run through conduit, or was my leg being pulled.

Cheers, Alan

MrB_2

Hi MisterT2, thanks for the advise. to answer some of the questions raised, the conservotory is to be bricked at either side and knee hight at the front(some would say this is a verranda, I think it will be more permenant)
Unsure about the earth leakage cb but will check before strting anything else, and the conservortory will join the house in two places. The point of waterproof and rcd protected sockets is a very valid point and I shall be contacting my local Denhams to see if I can get a good price. As the brick walls will be plasterboarded, I thought new regs state that cable has to be run through conduit, or was my leg being pulled.

Cheers, Alan

MisterT2

Denhams - Plymouth/West country? Used to deal with them from time to time. Some good deals on their newspaper...... also try Edmundsons. I used to get 80% of my stuff from there.

Personally I can see no point in using conduit if platerboarding - just with paster especially as some of these have thermal insulating properties or are acidic.

However, you will need to clip the cables (used to be 9" vertically = 1 hammer length approx and 6" horizontally = 1 terminal screwdriver length) Probably now some European metric measurement that I really don't think important enough to look up. You will probably see arguements about using channelling/conduit in case you need to change the cable in the future. Personally I wouldn't waste your time.

zebra55

Hello

I wonder if you're able to help with my broken video recorder.

It was perfectly fine on Wednesday morning when I left for work. When I got home, there was no display and it won't switch on or operate at all.

I've put a new fuse in, because I thought it might be that, but no joy.

I've not changed any connections or SCART leads or anything and am at a complete loss as to why it doesn't work.

Any help gratefully received.

Many thanks

zebra

MisterT2

Hi Zebra,

Well if you have changed the fuse then you might be lucky and an internal fuse has gone. Sometimes these will blow when spiked or once or twice, just because they are "old and fed up"

I am not sure if this is something you should attempt or not. Probably not, but if you do, you should see 20mm glass fuses on the PSU. Is it blown? If not then down to the video repair person. Otherwise, you will need to get one that is identical (approx 6p-> 40p). If that blows then there will be a fault condition.

If it isn't blown, then there are other things that can be wrong, like some of the old Fergusons had a lamp which had to be working. Difficult to say without more info. There could of course be something more serious wrong, in which case its back to the video repair person.

I would get a quote before you agree to any repair as these things are pretty cheap nowadays.

zebra55

MisterT

Thank you so much for replying to my message.

I don't think I will attempt mucking about with any electrics as I know nothing about them! I think I will ask someone to look at it (and I will get a quote).

I have looked into buying a new one as I know they're very cheap these days, but just wanted to see if it could be repaired first.

Many thanks again

zebra

MisterT2

Welcome - if you know any hobbyists then they could tell you whether the fuses had blown or not. Its a very simple test and they should only need to take the cover off. (Make sure its unplugged first).

ioscorpio

2 Problems

1) Electric cooker - oven and grill only work occassionally, either will heat for about 45 minutes at a time, then will not work again for weeks, but the hotplates work all the time.

2) Not sure if this electrical or plumbing? My central heating timer switches on and the central heating does NOT work but the hot water DOES work.

Any cheap resolutions welcome.