In fact I noticed quite a few errors in ericmark's post, but I simply couldn't be bothered going through it bit by bit.
EICR - please advise
- Thread starter chocolate.chip
- Start date
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Well, I would say that it's fairly obvious (from context) that it was meant to be a (numerical) current - but whether 15A or 16A is less certain. 15A would be more easily misread as "ISA", but I very much doubt that they are 15A MCBs!
Kind Regards, John
It wouldn't surprise me. It seems that a good few 'electricians' (not to mention a substantial proportion of the general public - some of whom believe the same of lighting circuits) don't realise that a sockets circuit doesn't have to be a ring final!
Kind Regards, John
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Type 1, 2, 3 & 4 MCBs were 15A. OP could still have them.
J
jg321
My ideal setup for my 3 bed semi would be
Upstairs socket radial (20A)
Downstairs socket radial (20A)
Kitchen ring (32A)
(plus of course radials for lighting etc).
Upstairs socket radial (20A)
Downstairs socket radial (20A)
Kitchen ring (32A)
(plus of course radials for lighting etc).
It's not usual to use a 20A radial for an entire floor. Typically each 20A radial serves two rooms. (Or if used in a kitchen it only serves half of the socket outlets, with a second 20A radial for the rest.)
You can have a 4mm², 32A radial for the kitchen.
The only time a ring is preferable is IF the sockets and cable route actually are in a ring formation.
J
jg321
Downstairs is actually only two rooms, apart from a couple of singles in the hallway. Granted in a bigger house you'd probably want more individual circuits.
J
jg321
Which in my case they are!
True, I hadn't thought of that - but were they still being installed in the 80s?
Kind Regards, John
As I stated earlier, it is possible that they are 15A but more likely that they are 16A. (Which could still be read as "ISA" if the curve is missing from the bottom left of the "6" - whether a printer ink issue or pen ink issue.)
I'm certainly no opponent of radials, but I'm less 'happy' with multi-socket 20A ones - after all, one technically can overload it with just two 13A loads (or three 7A ones). It's not so much that I fear the OPD would operate (a B32 should take best part of an hour to trip at 32A, and sustained 'overloads' would be unlikely), but rather that I would prefer not to risk pushing MCBs beyond their rated current.
32A radials are fine, and, give or take CPC redundancy, are often arguably preferable to rings. ... but all this is obviously 'personal opinion'.
Kind Regards, John
There's nothing wrong with 20A radials, but as I suggested it's more sensible to only serve a couple of rooms with each (or half a kitchen).
Personally, for a house, I still prefer ring final circuits where they make sense. Where they are pointless I will opt for radial final circuits.
As I said, it's just a matter of personal opinion.
I would personally only ever use 20A radials to supply rooms/areas where I believed that 'large loads' were fairly unlikely. A circuit with multiple double sockets which can theoretically only support about 1.5 'fully-loaded' 13A outlets just feels a bit 'tight' to me.
Kind Regards, John
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