Power from an outside Socket to a shed.

[maverickone]

A while ago an electrician fitted me an outside double waterproof wall socket IP66 rated. He took the power for it from the washing machine socket in the kitchen. I believe this is referred to as a spur connection.

Its been great for plugging in hedge clippers, power tools etc but we now have other needs.

We have just had a small shed erected close to the house where the socket is installed, and my daughter wants a power socket inside the shed so she can charge my Granddaughter's new electric car which she has just had for Christmas.

Is it possible to plug a wire into the socket which would then be run through some conduit and buried under ground for the short run required. It would then come up through the shed floor and have a double plug socket attached to the other end.

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Woah there

1. This electric car, is this a Tesla, or is it a toy thing? What is the current draw for the charger?

2, re....

Is it possible to plug a wire into the socket which would then be run through some conduit and buried under ground for the short run required. It would then come up through the shed floor and have a double plug socket attached to the other end.

The size/type/requirement for the cable size and wether it is appropriate for the existing socket arangement will depend largely on your reply to 1. above. BUT you cannot just bury pvc cable (even in "some conduit"). You would need Steel Wire Armoured cable buried to an appropriate depth and with the requirded markers, etc. Oh and you cannot put a plug on the end of armoured cable.!

 

[Michaelsf90]

Technically you can't spur off a spur. As taylortwocities says it depends on the load of the charger. What does it say the wattage is of the charger. Also it should be done in steel wire armoured which you would more than likely need a qualified electrician to gland off

 

[Taylortwocities]

He’s planning to plug the new cable into the socket, so not a spur. But there’s other answers needed first.

 

[Michaelsf90]

Oh I see. To be fair it's fused at the plug top so it isn't too bad. But you need to use galvanised steel conduit to give it the mechanical protection

 

[Taylortwocities]

We need more info. A fast-charge EV charging station is 32amp.
A bit more than a plug top (plus it’s bottom) can provide.

Earthed steel conduit may be one solution, but SWA is much easier!

 

[Michaelsf90]

If it's 32A then it needs to be 4mm swa minimum. Which means the socket needs adding to the ring main to spur the armoured off or it'll have be a complete new circuit on its own

 

[Taylortwocities]

Eh? If its off the socket the max will be 13amp. You cannot put a 32amp load on a spur from a ring final.
But probably not needed. I'm still waiting for the OP to reveal the estimated max demand. This car could be a Tesla Model X, or it could be an electric kiddies Noddy car.

As usual, my breath is bated and it's not worth adding any more until we have at least some information.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I'll put a soapy tenner on it being a kiddie car in the shed rather than a Tesla .
Best get your electrician back, depending on distance and geography there may be several ways to safely achieve your requirements, not all involving SWA and trenches

 

[maverickone]

Thanks for the replies and sorry for the delay getting back, yesterday was a bit hectic. Yes its a kids 12v electric car. The charger is AC Input: 240V 50Hz; DC Output: 12V 1000mA.

Had another look and there is a 13A fused spur off a kitchen socket. This has an on/off switch so the single washing machine socket under the worktop can be isolated.

The washing machine is NOT plugged into this though and the socket was previously unused. The electrician has taken a short piece of 2.5mm Twin & Earth from the back of this socket and used it to power the IP66 box outside.

The distance from this IP box to the new shed is 3 mtrs of flat ground. This is the back of the house. The fuse box is at the front of the house and trying to run a cable from there would be a none starter.

My plan was to fit a double socket in the shed powered from one of the sockets in the IP box. One side would be purely for the car charger. The other side for the odd power tool.

 

[Michaelsf90]

The loading will be fine. With it being outside I would check you have rcd protection at the board as this is safer. Maybe getting the electrician back is better because he could do it in armoured and do a proper job of it. If you plan on doing it yourself my advice would be to give it metal mechanical protection and make sure it's on an rcd at the mains board. The problem with outside is being exposed to the elements and a lot of wildlife likes chewing through cable sheathing

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Good news is thanks to that internal FCU you can spur off that outside socket to the shed.
Bad news, you still need to use the correct cable and it still needs mechanical protection. SWA ticks all the boxes, a 3 metre trench won't be much of a hardship

 

[maverickone]

That's good news thanks. So I need SWG and galvanised Conduit in order to bury it.

Now do I need to remove the existing outside IP66 box from the wall and replace it with maybe this https://www.screwfix.com/p/bg-13a-switched-weatherproof-rcd-fcu/20523#_=p in order to connect the SWG cable ?

 

[Michaelsf90]

If your doing it in swa then it doesn't need any mechanical protection but swa needs glanding off. I'd YouTube how to gland off a steel wire armoured. For me you don't need to change the outside socket. I'd just connect the swa into the back of the double socket so instead of their being three cables in the back of the socket their would then be six

 

[Taylortwocities]

You do not need to put SWA in conduit. It is designed to be buried in the ground, providing it is done properly.

Do you already have an RCD protecting the circuit? If so, you do not need another one!
Why do you think you need an FCU at all?, you already have one, inside.
You need a suitable box with a 20mm hole, to suit the SWA gland. Maybe the existing socket has one, in the bottom?
You will need something to terminate the SWA at the shed end. Suggest a metal double socket. That will provide the proper connection for the SWA gland at that end.