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Quite right Sir! I think the americans just wire stuff using wet string!!! Never been there, but seen photos of massive tangles of overhead wires. shudder... Seems they aren't so fussy cos of the lower voltage. It's settled then. The brits are the best at Lektrics. Shame about football...

Quite right Gees, I've seen some sockets with no shuttering as well (so people can stick pins in them and stuff). Better be careful here, or we'll start up a pro/anti Europe debate! :-) Thought for the day, an example to highlight the subject: how many people have studied the way a UK plug...

Hi wjm, I agree with the other guys, SWA is always the cable of choice. You can run cables in a conduit, but is is impossible to guarantee that they are (or will stay) waterproof. A DIYer could terminate SWA but it's important to get it right as the armour acts as an earth, either just to...

Hi Chaps, glad you found my waffling essay useful. Masona, sorry to hear about your mate. I have heard of electricians being killed, but I've never known one personally. The truth is, most electricians who get killed on site are not killed by elecrticity, but from falls from scaffolding and...

Interesting debate, can't resist joining in again - My ha'penny worth:-) - Apologies for it being long-winded, but it may explain a few things, and I figure that as avid DIY'ers you would like to understand it in more depth.. If you just think I'm being a smart-alec, tell me and I'll not do...

No, it isn't complicted. However, I would state again that I cannot condone or recommend it. Rather than me just be Mr Whingebag, please let me explain why: I appreciate you want to save the money, but as a professional electrician, I would be very concerned at anyone who is not qualified...

No problem matey. Earth loop of 0.3 is very good if you have an overhead supply, no problems there. Hope it goes well. Cheers Paul

Gees, You would need a Residual Current circuit device (RCCD or RCD as more commonly known) It would need to be Double-Pole (DP), rated 80 or 100Amps current carrying capacity with a 100mA trip rating. You should also check that your external earth electrode (the copper rod in the ground...

xbond: Technically only Southern Electric can break the seals and remove the cut-out. In truth, there are many electricians who would quite happily pull the main fuse, but I guess that's a choice to be made, I wouldn't condone or suggest it. I used to be a sparks for SE so it was never an...

Mark, The way your post is written, you have connected both elements to the one supply circuit - do NOT do this, the circuit cannot cope with two elements running at the same time. You MUST have two independant 15amp circuits from the consumer unit to use two elements. Each element will...

It seems to be becoming good practice to install a single pole MCB after the meter to isolate the supply. This prevents you having to pull the main fuse, and protects the electricity suppliers main fuse from blowing (the single MCB should blow first. The other (much more common) scenario...

Never thought of that - thanks Chris, I'll look into it.. Cheers Paul

Thanks for the response, I definitely won't be dabbling with the gas bit!! This has all been really helpful - thanks again chaps :D Paul

No problem, glad it helped. As a last note, what you said earlier was correct, that a UPS is a very good idea to protect any important equipment, because even good earthing won't prevent power spikes etc. Have a good one Paul :D

Regulation 607 of BS 7671 (the IEE Wiring Regulations) states that if you are using double sockets on a Ring circuit where earth leakage can occur, you must use sockets with twin earths, and connect each earth seperately in the consumer unit. I'm slightly out of date (been off the tools for 3...

Thanks for all this, guys, it's given me some options to consider.. Cheers again Paul

Thanks for this Cog, it makes it a lot clearer to me. Not really sure whether the output is OK. Any idea where the output setting would be? I appreciate it's different for different systems, but just wondered whether there tends to be a common place for it to be. Mine is a Glow-worm...

cool, thanks breezer, i'll give that a go

Hi, Just a quick question. Is it worth balancing the radiators? How much difference does it make? I know all my valves are fully open, so the system is not balanced. I do tend to find that the system is not very good once the weather gets really cold - would balancing the rads help this...

Hi, I have a Glow-worm Fuelsaver Mk2 pumped system with about 10 rads and an annoying problem. The system would be about 16 years old, serviced once a year for the past four years, cannot comment before that, but probably not. Whenever the thermostat cuts out, or the timer shuts the...