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  1. R

    Earth funnies and phantom voltages on lighting circuit

    Induction requires large currents to give a noticeable effect, while capacitive effects only require voltage to be present, at least that’s what I‘ve been taught regarding this glowing/flashing LED business. Earthing the circuit only fixes the other issue of potential tingles.
  2. R

    Earth funnies and phantom voltages on lighting circuit

    I think we‘re looking at two different issues here. The lack of earth continuity, possibly combined with mains filter capacitors, explains the tingles, while the glow of the LED is caused by capacitive coupling between parallel wires, which is quite a common issue. There are store-bought load...
  3. R

    What is this please, and can it be used to add an electrical socket in some way?

    Why would the socket need to have a double pole switch? Surely any heating engineer working on the boiler could isolate it safely by simply unplugging it.
  4. R

    Question on sub-distribution boards

    That makes going from the feed into the garage straight to the shed a fairly reasonable idea I‘d say.
  5. R

    Question on sub-distribution boards

    Depending on what you want to power in the shed, the easiest way might be an RCBO in the garage CU (20 A), sockets in the shed powered directly, light via a 5 A FCU. Just something to suggest to your electrician.
  6. R

    If the electricity company's neutral gets disconnected at the meter or somewhere outside the house

    If the neutral happens to break somewhere in the three-phase part of the distribution you‘re in a world of pain because single-phase supplies or circuits end up effectively in series between two phases, with fairly unpredictable voltages depending on resistance.
  7. R

    4 gang 1 way switch

    Early 90s Legrand MCBs definitely have a trip position.
  8. R

    4 gang 1 way switch

    You need to figure out which wire is the incoming permanent live. I‘d probably do that by putting each grey single into its own choc block, turning the electric on and measuring between each wire and earth. The one that gives you 230 V-ish is the one you need. Connect it to one of the COM...
  9. R

    Disconnected cable inside garage fuse box

    We can’t tell without pictures but the solution might be as simple as an adaptable box with a gland and a piece of conduit.
  10. R

    what size cable - Garden consumer unit

    Most sauna heaters I‘ve seen were 6 or 9 kW. Smaller ones are available too.
  11. R

    Disconnected cable inside garage fuse box

    Also the fact that pulling on the cable while moving stuff suggests that the cable needs to be fixed to the wall.
  12. R

    The French supply Ireland with power

    I was talking about the sockets, French houses are only supposed to have type E sockets. Rewirable plugs are still frequently E or F rather than hybrid, moulded ones are almost exklusively hybrid (CEE 7/7). France has plenty of old CEE 7/1 sockets, probably more than Germany, where non-earthed...
  13. R

    The French supply Ireland with power

    The relevant French standard does require type E sockets though, so type F doesn‘t conform.
  14. R

    Am I on ring or radial sockets (test results included)

    As I mentioned, I spend most of my time in Austria. 1.5 mm2 singles in conduit, by far the most common installation method, user to be limited to 12 A before the modern B/C curve MCBs were introduced, as the old L and U curves had much poorer overload protection. With modern MCBs you could go up...
  15. R

    Fan has two pin plug

    Most plugs are considered double insulated, or so I‘ve been told. Some are only suitable for supplying power to double-insulated appliances while others may also supply earthed appliances. And yes, there are several non-polarised earthed plugs in the world. Belgian ones are used in a number of...
  16. R

    Am I on ring or radial sockets (test results included)

    If the electrics have been installed in a sensible manner, you can plug in a heater in every room without tripping anything, probably even with just one 16 A radial per two bedrooms. I‘ve managed to trip a B13 with two heaters but that’s only 3 kW, 16 A is 3680 W and 20 A is 4600 W.
  17. R

    Is this JB safe?

    Testing is the only way. Not a real DIY job as it involves opening the CU and testing between the earth bar and the wire at the FCU.
  18. R

    Fan has two pin plug

    Seems so to me. Adaptor £1.59, three plugs £2.65.
  19. R

    Am I on ring or radial sockets (test results included)

    Let‘s assume the typical UK home has one upstairs socket ring. That‘s three heaters on a B32/2.5 mm2. Splitting that very same ring into two 20 A radials gives you four heaters with slightly less cable. A 2 BR would work with just one 20 A radial.
  20. R

    Am I on ring or radial sockets (test results included)

    Same category as an electric fire I‘d say. All the portable electric heaters I‘ve seen are below 10 A, so you could run two of them on a 20 A radial. In reality you might even be able to run three, both because many electric heaters are on thermostats and won‘t be on all the time and because a...
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