Electric Cable in bathroom

[spidermonkey123]

My bathroom has a very large bricked enclosure, in it, a grey electric cable runs up the wall.

This cable exits the enclosure at the top of the inner wall and enters the bathroom side. On the bathroom side there is a plastic switch box that has one big button, like the old immersion switches (?).

I need an extractor fan for my bathroom about 2 meters away from this 'socket'. There are zero obstacles in the way.

Would lagging be appropriate or does the cable need to be in the wall?

Thank you.

 

[JohnD]

Photos please.

Put something in to show scale.

What do you mean by lagging?

 

[spidermonkey123]

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[JohnW2]

Untitled

• spidermonkey123
• 29 Sep 2014
• 1

Kind Regards, John

 

[spidermonkey123]

lagging, i meant trunking. plastic enclosure for the cable

 

[JohnW2]

lagging, i meant trunking. plastic enclosure for the cable

Unless you want to enclose it in something for aesthetic reasons, the cable is fine just clipped to the wall. Whether or not the cable is suitable to use for your extractor fan depends up where it comes from.

Kind Regards, John

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I close up of the actual isolator/switch plate would be a great help to help identify the purpose of this switch.
Could possibly be for shower isolation, whether it could be used for an extractor fan would depend on a number of factors.
1) Is it already used for something that the ex fan will affect the loading capacities?
2) What condition is the cable/circuit in?
3) Is there RCD protection on the circuit?
4) is there a path to earth supplied via the cable?

 

[spidermonkey123]

I close up of the actual isolator/switch plate would be a great help to help identify the purpose of this switch.
Could possibly be for shower isolation, whether it could be used for an extractor fan would depend on a number of factors.
1) Is it already used for something that the ex fan will affect the loading capacities?
2) What condition is the cable/circuit in?
3) Is there RCD protection on the circuit?
4) is there a path to earth supplied via the ?

Thanks for the reply.

1. Not used for anything, its been painted over a good couple of times.
2. Condition good, a spur has been taken from it, which previously connected a tumble dryer
3. I believe so
4. Do you mean is there any Earth wire?

Attaching a photo of switch now.

 

[spidermonkey123]

Untitled

• spidermonkey123
• 29 Sep 2014
• 1

 

[bernardgreen]

Standard method to power an electric fire / heater mounted on the wall close to the ceiling.

The earth wire is the most important wire as when connected it ensures the unit is safe. The other two ( Live and Neutral ) are only needed if the item is required to work.

 

[JohnW2]

The earth wire is the most important wire as when connected it ensures the unit is safe. The other two ( Live and Neutral ) are only needed if the item is required to work.

Whilst that is true as a general statement, and whilst I certainly would not advocate using a circuit without an adequate earth for anything, it's all but certain that the extractor fan the OP wants to install will be Class II and will not require an earth connection.

I'm not actually sure how this line of discussion arose since, although it theoretically could be true of any circuit in any house, we have no particular reason to believe, or even suspect, that the cable in question will not have an adequate CPC/earth.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnD]

the painted over thing looks very much like an FCU with flex outlet. So it might be connected to the upstairs socket circuit. However it might have been used for an immersion heater, if there used to be a hot water cylinder in that alcove, in which case it ought to be on a dedicated circuit. It will need more investigation.

However, if what you want is an extractor fan, it would be much more usual to supply it from the bathroom light.

 

[JohnW2]

I need an extractor fan for my bathroom about 2 meters away from this 'socket'.

It's probably worth noting that the most common arrangement for bathroom extractor fans is to run them from the lighting circuit, so that the fan comes on when the light is switched on. If you supply the fan from the cable we're discussing, you will need to have some sort of manual control, probably a ceiling-mounted pull switch.

Kind Regards, John
Edit: a bit slow, again!!

 

[spidermonkey123]

the painted over thing looks very much like an FCU with flex outlet. So it might be connected to the upstairs socket circuit. However it might have been used for an immersion heater, if there used to be a hot water cylinder in that alcove, in which case it ought to be on a dedicated circuit. It will need more investigation.

However, if what you want is an extractor fan, it would be much more usual to supply it from the bathroom light.

Good shout JohnD, there was a hot water cylinder there at some point.

The cable does come from the floor, so I am confident that you are right in assuming it was a dedicated circuit.

Because this socket/cable is available I thought it easier, and cheaper, to utilize it. Also with a lot of research i was hoping to do the job myself with a mate.

 

[spidermonkey123]

I need an extractor fan for my bathroom about 2 meters away from this 'socket'.

It's probably worth noting that the most common arrangement for bathroom extractor fans is to run them from the lighting circuit, so that the fan comes on when the light is switched on. If you supply the fan from the cable we're discussing, you will need to have some sort of manual control, probably a ceiling-mounted pull switch.

Kind Regards, John
Edit: a bit slow, again!!

Thanks JohnW2,

I appreciate yours and everyone's assistance.