I think we need to learn new skills and thats why I am here for advice,
But not
before you went ahead and did things in an area which you say you're not clever enough to understand.
And which resulted in you doing some very bizarre things.
In relation to the socket wiring where you run it in a ring, why is it that you dont with lighting,
Because there's no need to - the circuit cable is not undersized.
and if you have quite a large number of lights possibly exceeding the cable 1.5
Just how many lights do you envisage having? How are you going to exceed the capacity of the cable but not the breaker?
Unless the house is enormous would you have that many lights on the separate lighting circuits that you need to have in order to comply with 314.1?
can you run a 2.5 around the house dropping off the cables for the lights from this
You can use whatever size is appropriate, but you'll really struggle to get 2.5mm² into many luminaires and lighting accessories.
of would you run it in a ring in 1.5.
The only ring final allowed in the regulations is one cabled in 2.5mm² or greater (unless you use MICC), and only for BS 1363 sockets.
You said that the blacks are only linked to reds in power circuits,
I think you'll find that
and some of the blacks are linked to the reds
On circuits
other than lighting ones?
is me saying quite the opposite...
In old houses were the lights and sockets in the same ducting, the reason I say this is that at one of the points the junction box with the light wiring runs down the wall below light switch level to socket level, I cant open it up at the minute because it is behind a radiator but I think it feeds an old blanked off socket, but seems to be linked into the lighting at the top in the loft.
Maybe it used to serve a 5A socket for lighting?
I ran the earth in 6mm because I had a 6mm reel, from fuse box to all the heating and water pipes in the loft,
Not needed, and the fact that you did it shows that you have insufficient knowledge - a situation of which you must have been aware, and therefore a situation which as an engineer you knew you should have remedied before you started work.
What metal stuff?
the earths from all the sockets also ran back to the fuse box,
Well of course they did.
making it ultra safe I thought
Not necessarily. Possibly less safe.
In terms of testing it just in case I have made a mistake a few pointers would help, common faults etc and how they present themselves,
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/8.1.1.htm[/QUOTE]
Thanks for your help mucker, if I wernt retired and an old duffer I would go back to college and do a little bit on electrics but at the minute I'll just potter away on these bits and replace like for like, most of it is done but for some reason the spark left it unfinished with the previous owner, probably too awkward I guess, but I have the ceiling down in my bedroom and the carpets up in the two dormers, only problem there is that daft laminate flooring but I can cut right through that I guess.
Just one thing tho these sockets you talk of running off the lighting, what would they have been used for, and how many was it common to see in an old house. This one at the minute runs right down to skirting board level and its in a bedroom.
