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What prosecutions? That's the first I've heard that there have been any! Cheers, Howard

I think you're underestimating the power requirements of washing machines and tumble driers, which may be up to 3kW each, so I'd go with a 32A feed to the outhouse in 6mm². As others have said, a separate feed to the fridge/freezer is a Good Thing, as is a separate circuit for the kitchen...

"A bad workman blames his tools" - because a good workman won't use crap tools! While it's silly to spend too much on a tool you'll only use once, spending too little means that you may not get the job done at all, so for something that's going to be used occasionally go for something that's...

That last part needs emphasising! Just one stroke of a jigsaw blade hitting something solid can break the drive inside the saw (guess how I know this :oops: ) I would never try to use a jigsaw to do a blind cut, because the chance of wrecking the equipment is very high (it doesn't break the...

Because the drawback of a wired network is running the wires - once they're in it seems strange to take them out to replace them with wireless, which has a number of disadvantages, not the least of which is the cost of the extra equipment. Some others are lower bandwidth, lower security, and...

While you're working? How do you stay awake??? Cheers, Howard

I don't remember there being anything specifically about fixed equipment (but I've been wrong before!) but if you're not in a special location, you can replace accessories on an existing circuit, but not add a new circuit. Now changing the previous SCUs for the commando sockets comes within...

Yes, that does make sense. I seem to remember my school was rewired in surface-clipped pyro - probably because all the floors were parquet, and the ceilings were about 15' high! As long as bright orange goes with the decor... :) Is there a way to terminate pyro into a plastic box...

It would be nice to know what the three wires are - probably a ring and a radial, but better to know for sure. The garage may be the radial? As for the load when it tripped, a washing machine and dishwasher on at the same time could happen to have 2 x 3kW heaters on at once, so that's about...

Quick conspiracy-theory answer: It was a council place, perhaps the contractors doing the wiring found they could charge the council much more (make more profit) by fitting expensive stuff? (And justify it by telling them it was much safer because it's fire proof) It does seem a shame to...

Are there three separate switches, so you could switch each light individually? That's the only reason I can think of that they'd have a separate cable for each one. If there are three switches, what are you planning to do with the two that now aren't being used? Cheers, Howard

Unfortunately the photo cuts off too high up - it would help to see the whole of the Cutout (the grey unit at the bottom). As it is, it looks like you haven't got any Earth at all! :) I assume the thing disappearing top-right is the CU and that the two larger cables are the L & N feeding it...

I hope you connected the Earth too? :shock: You are trying to run a 13A socket from a 6A MCB - this is a Bad Thing! :) If you draw too much current the MCB is tripping - that's it's job. If you are using only a table lamp you will be technically OK but legally way out... you need to make...

No, the 30A MCB is tripping because you're drawing 9500/230 = 41.3A, so it's doing its job! :) Any thermal contribution from the cable shouldn't make much difference unless the cable is practically glowing... Good! The 10mm² cable makes no sense when you have 6mm² in there - a chain is only...

Switches don't usually have Neutral, so you really need to measure at a light fitting, but it's quite a dodgy thing to do as you are obviously working live. Don't try to poke the two meter probes into the fitting where the bulb would go - the chances of shorting them out are very high, and the...

He did mention that there were two circuits for downstairs lighting, strangely, but it isn't clear whether both of these are involved or only one. If it is just one circuit, what sort of wiring fault could cause bulbs to blow? Cheers, Howard

(This is the second time I've posted this - the first one disappeared in a cloud of "Could not insert new word matches" :( ) I had my gas meter changed a few days ago, and having dug it out of the jun... valuable stuff under the stairs, I found there is no Earth bonding to be seen. I...

There's a good chance it is - I have a 2200VA UPS running 2 PCs, 2 Laptops, a 19" LCD monitor, a label printer, three external disk drives, USB network storage server, KVM switch, network switch and a barcode reader... and the UPS reports the load is less than 30% of its capacity, so about 3A...

Are you talking about the "Could not insert new word matches" message? I posted a number of replies and started a new topic in "Electrics in the UK" yesterday - one of the replies is there, but another is missing, and my new topic didn't appear (dammit - I didn't save the text!). :( Should...

Why is it like this... 4) It was wired by an American electrician? As I understand it, over there they always have the Neutral connected to Earth at the house (it's the centre-tap of a 110-0-110 transformer winding and if it wasn't earthed ("grounded") it would float in relation to Earth)...