Switched Live Sleeving

knightstyle

I used to use red nail varnish!  Worked a treat and did not fall off.

fenwick458

grumbler said:

Why yellow?

anything to make it stand out and say "not a neutral" 

grumbler

fenwick458 said:

grumbler said:

Why yellow?

anything to make it stand out and say "not a neutral" 

But it's better to be brown or red, correct?

Yellow looks confusing to me as it resembles yellow+green.

Mickey666

Risteard said:

grumbler said:

Generally, you don't need any sleeves unless too much insulation was removed and you want to cover exposed copper. In this case IMO it's better to use brown.

This is not correct. Sleeving is not rated as insulation. Furthermore, it is a requirement of the Wiring Regulations that line (phase) conductors be correctly identified by colour, which for a single phase circuit must be brown (previously red). In this country we use twin brown for switch drops (and previously twin red). It's a poor practice in my opinion how England uses brown and blue for these.

Where is 'this country'?

I'm guessing not England because I've never lived in a house in England that had twin brown or red cables for switch drops.

Sounds like a good idea though, so why is it so rare in England?  Perhaps because sleeving is permitted, meaning that fewer types of cable need to be stocked?

FaceHead

Buying a 100m tangle of sleaving, I find is a bit of a nightmare to handle, store etc if you're not doing this as a day job. For a dozen switches I think tape is the way to go. Once you've used <1m, you'll be left with 99m of a roll of sleaving.

I'd propose buying a roll of red and a roll of brown tape, and using that to mark the switched lives. Agree that red makes more sense in a red and black situation. You'll likely come across some post-harmonisation switches and want the roll of brown tape.

At least earth sleaving is used in other places than ligh switches too, so you'll get through a few metres of this if you bought a 100m roll

Jeepers_Creepers

Mickey666 said:

In this country we use twin brown for switch drops (and previously twin red). It's a poor practice in my opinion how England uses brown and blue for these.

Where is 'this country'?

I'm guessing not England because I've never lived in a house in England that had twin brown or red cables for switch drops.

Sounds like a good idea though, so why is it so rare in England?  Perhaps because sleeving is permitted, meaning that fewer types of cable need to be stocked?

Twin brown (or red) surely wouldn't tell you which one was permanently live? So perhaps not such a good idea?

Jeepers_Creepers

fenwick458 said:

by the book answer, it should be brown as per the EU colours harmonisation rule that's been happening since 2005 ish

I stand corrected.

I'd still use red, though :-)

grumbler

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Mickey666 said:

In this country we use twin brown for switch drops (and previously twin red). It's a poor practice in my opinion how England uses brown and blue for these.

Where is 'this country'?

I'm guessing not England because I've never lived in a house in England that had twin brown or red cables for switch drops.

Sounds like a good idea though, so why is it so rare in England?  Perhaps because sleeving is permitted, meaning that fewer types of cable need to be stocked?

Twin brown (or red) surely wouldn't tell you which one was permanently live? So perhaps not such a good idea?

Still better that  brown&blue or red&black? And, AFAIK, such cable is used to connect a single light fitting (or a series) and in this case it doesn't matter which wire is switched.  Neither does it matter where the wire is connected to the switch or to a junction box.

ETA: Well, for wiring E27 or E14 it does matter.

fenwick458

grumbler said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Mickey666 said:

In this country we use twin brown for switch drops (and previously twin red). It's a poor practice in my opinion how England uses brown and blue for these.

Where is 'this country'?

I'm guessing not England because I've never lived in a house in England that had twin brown or red cables for switch drops.

Sounds like a good idea though, so why is it so rare in England?  Perhaps because sleeving is permitted, meaning that fewer types of cable need to be stocked?

Twin brown (or red) surely wouldn't tell you which one was permanently live? So perhaps not such a good idea?

Still better that  brown&blue or red&black? And, AFAIK, such cable is used to connect a single light fitting (or a series) and in this case it doesn't matter which wire is switched.  Neither does it matter where the wire is connected to the switch or to a junction box.

ETA: Well, for wiring E27 or E14 it does matter.

It's used between the light fitting and the switch. the type of bulb in the light fitting is irrelevant. 

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Mickey666 said:

In this country we use twin brown for switch drops (and previously twin red). It's a poor practice in my opinion how England uses brown and blue for these.

Where is 'this country'?

I'm guessing not England because I've never lived in a house in England that had twin brown or red cables for switch drops.

Sounds like a good idea though, so why is it so rare in England?  Perhaps because sleeving is permitted, meaning that fewer types of cable need to be stocked?

Twin brown (or red) surely wouldn't tell you which one was permanently live? So perhaps not such a good idea?

you could always do a simple test to tell you which was permanent live if needed, I really can't think of a common scenario where you'd need to do this though

fenwick458

Risteard said:

grumbler said:

Generally, you don't need any sleeves unless too much insulation was removed and you want to cover exposed copper. In this case IMO it's better to use brown.

This is not correct. Sleeving is not rated as insulation. Furthermore, it is a requirement of the Wiring Regulations that line (phase) conductors be correctly identified by colour, which for a single phase circuit must be brown (previously red). In this country we use twin brown for switch drops (and previously twin red). It's a poor practice in my opinion how England uses brown and blue for these.

I think its becoming less of an issue in England as we mostly loop the mains into the switches, which does away with the need for twin brown cable altogether