Fused spur box?

BOMBS · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2002 4:40 pm Post Subject: Fused spur box?

I have just conected a wall lamp (With its own switch)to existing wiring. The cable looks to be 10mm twin core with an earth? After all conection were made, the light did not work. After testing the cable it turns out to dead. Have cecked in the loft to see if the cable is run to a junction box, but it turns out to running down wards, towards a Fused spur box? There is no fuse in the box and it looks like it came out of the Ark. Could anybody throw any light on this (Pardon the pun)
Thanks

Guest · Location: United Kingdom Thanked: 0 times

Surely you tested the cable to see if it was live BEFORE you connected the light fitting - if not you're lucky it was not live!

10 mm sq cable is very heavy for wall lighting - it would usually be used for serious loads electric showers which draw up to 40A. Do you mean the external diameter of the cable is about 10mm? Cable size is denoted by the cross-sectional area of the conductors, not the overall size of the cable.

If in doubt about the condition of the wiring, your best bet is to run in a new supply from the consumer unit, or tie into an existing lighting circuit you know to be in good condition. There is plenty of information about how to do this elsewhere on this site.

If in doubt get professional advice.

Good luck.

BOMBS · Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2002 8:46 pm Post Subject: Re: Fused spur box?

Thanks for your reply,
I did turn the power off and checked that the wiring was dead,( with an Avo) before I worked on it.The cable is 10mm in diameter, the type used for ring circuits. It looks like the fixture was for an old type one bar heater. Could this fused spur box be an old version of a Fused connection unit? If it is then could I do a straight swap with an appropriatly fused FCU and get the wall light working.

Guest · Location: United Kingdom Thanked: 0 times

Did you check the incoming supply to the Fused Spur unit? If it's OK, then there is no reason why you can't use it for your wall lights. A new FCU with a three amp fuse fitted sounds reasonable - assuming it fits the old box. If the wall lights are metal, you will need to have an earth - so make sure that it's connected at the FCU.

BOMBS · Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2002 10:34 am Post Subject: Re: Fused spur box?

Thanks for your time on this one....