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Also be aware that the DNO will charge a LOT of money to move the supply - probably significantly more than you expect... Difficult to know without seeing it, but could you e.g. box in underneath the window and then just have a small opening door to access the meter etc?

Perhaps that's just the labelling as to what the terminals are capable of handling?

That's fine - the reason that normally you run a wire to the backbox is to earth the backbox, but as it's plastic it doesn't need it, so as long as the earth goes in to the faceplate that's all that's required...

It depends what you want to plug in (and how much is currently on your lighting circuit) - if it's just for a mains radio, aerial amplifier or something simple like that, then it should be fine, if however it's to run a high power appliance (big power tools, fan heater or something like that)...

It's not as simple as just grabbing an RCD, there may already be one on the circuit, and it also depends on what other protection measures are in place - to do this yourself will end up expensive as you have to notify the LABC before doing the work and pay their fee under Part P of the building...

If you can upload a picture of your CU, and this extra 'trip', and also any pictures of the service head (the bit that sits on top of the cable coming in from outside that then goes to the meter etc), we can probably tell you if it's required or not...

1) Horizontally or vertically from an accessory is in a safe zone, so there is no requirement from that point of view to bury it >50mm. However, the other requirements apply, such that if it is just T&E or similar, you need to ensure it is protected by an RCD, so if there is no RCD on the...

The only possibility that comes to mind is a loose connection, that when a high enough load gets on it and it heats up, it then moves slightly or whatever and disconnects. It then cools back down, and reconnects...

For lighting wiring it's *generally* fine (1mm T&E can still carry enough for a lighting circuit even when under >100mm of insulation iirc), the problem comes with higher current draw appliances, in particular electric shower cabling, as the derating factor of the insulation may mean the cable...

You can, but it will be notifiable under Part P of the building regulations (as you're adding new final circuits) so you'd have to tell your LABC in advance and pay their notification fee, which may end up costing more than getting a professional spark (who can self certify) in to do the work...

Oh, I had assumed it was some sort of e.g. crocodile clip thing that plugs over so has enough metal in it to be picked up by a magnet...

Could you retrieve it with one of those telescopic magnetic things - just extend it, poke it down and it might be able to grab the tip?

Are you measuring the outer circumference, or the circumference of the actual copper - as if you're using the outer one then you're mistakenly including insulation in your calculation. Also, your calculation would only be valid if the tail was solid copper, as it is almost certainly a number...

If you can swap the current MCB (assuming it's actually got breakers and not rewireable fuses at the moment) for an RCBO, that would be ideal, but as you say it's an old board it's unlikely you can get an appropriate RCBO. The next easiest option is probably to put in an RCD FCU outside the...

Indeed - while putting in some data cabling I discovered a bit of T&E sitting on top of one of the flow/return pipes to the boiler, with the insulation starting to blacken - I suspect the previous owner did it when he re-did the kitchen...

I suspect someone terminated an already slightly damaged bit of copper in to the new switch, at which point it's capacity is reduced, so it just melts again - you need to make sure that you strip it back to nice clean copper, and terminate that in to the switch. Also, make sure the terminals...

If everything is out, then that helps you narrow it down - start at the first point you have power (the house by the sound of it), and visually inspect all the connections along the way to your shed - if you have a multimeter you can also test for power at each point. Note that once you've...

The other thing that's useful to know is you can plug an RJ11 (modem type connector) in to an RJ45 socket - they are designed such that this will work, which means you can in a lot of cases avoid using adapters...

Any new sockets they installed, and any cabling buried at less than 50mm in a wall (unless in earthed steel conduit or of an appropriate type of cable) would need RCD protection to comply with the regulations. It's possible you already have it (if you upload a picture of your CU we can tell...

It should be easy enough to narrow down the problem, by using a multimeter you should fairly easily be able to check if power is getting to the isolator switch, and then the shower. If it's getting to the shower, then either some component in the shower itself has died, or there's some problem...