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  1. R

    Vintage mains light switches

    Are we sure OP‘s question is about the house wiring rather than how to connect an earth wire to the old switches? In the latter case, drilling and tapping a hole for an M3 screw into the back box should do. Do the brass rings unscrew easily without tools? In that case I‘d be slightly concerned...
  2. R

    Old House Mystery: 6-Bell Servants’ Call Box – 2 Still Missing, Any Ideas?

    Yes, that's how they were usually wired, each button connected to one solenoid and the common of all solenoids wired to the bell. Last year I built a working late-20s setup (original transformer, bell, panel) on my bench as a demonstration. The panel was much less ornate than this one, just a...
  3. R

    Old House Mystery: 6-Bell Servants’ Call Box – 2 Still Missing, Any Ideas?

    The wires don’t actually look that ancient, maybe post-WWII. If the insulation doesn’t feel crumbly at the terminals I wouldn‘t worry about that part. In order to use a tone tracer you‘d need to find the wires at the panel. If you can’t find them, I‘d run new wires, pretty much anything will...
  4. R

    Earth question - Shaver socket

    I‘d suspect the only countries requiring shaver sockets these days are those following UK regs to some degree. Unless you insist on having a socket in zone 2, then it needs to be a shaver socket in quite a few places. My gran‘s bathroom in Germany, wired in the mid-70s, had a shaver socket to...
  5. R

    How to safely fill this whole in the wall?

    I paid less than 90 Euros for mine and seem to remember it was the cheapest model on the European market then. It claims to withstand up to 400 V but from what I‘ve read on the internet you should definitely take that with a grain of salt.
  6. R

    How to safely fill this whole in the wall?

    The cheaper Testboy 26 definitely doesn’t work with single wires, which can be quite annoying.
  7. R

    How to safely fill this whole in the wall?

    Yes, tone tracers, at least affordable ones, need two independent conductors, neither of which can be earthed. Not sure about the expensive models.
  8. R

    How to safely fill this whole in the wall?

    I prefer making each conductor safe individually over shorting and earthing them in case someone might want to use a tone tracer to find that cable in the future.
  9. R

    How to safely fill this whole in the wall?

    A neat way of dealing with the situation from an electrical point of view would be fitting a back box with a blank cover and any type of mains-rated connector to each individual wire inside that box.
  10. R

    Earth funnies and phantom voltages on lighting circuit

    It would make a lot more sense if it was „even if the circuit only supplies one or more class II fixtures“. In that case it would be pretty clear that all the fixed wiring needs to have a CPC, in case someone wants to install class I fixtures in the future.
  11. R

    FCU not permitted for immersion heaters, really?

    The load limits the current and 1.5 mm2 flex is good for 16 A anyway. Also keep in mind that a 16 A MCB provides better overload protection than a 13 A fuse and that the FCU is designed to protect the flex rather than the heater.
  12. R

    Earth funnies and phantom voltages on lighting circuit

    Surely earth hasn‘t been green for a long time either, has it? The table seems suggests it still can be.
  13. R

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

    As far as the boiler and its flex are concerned that’s exactly what I wrote. However, in theory the fuse in the FCU could also serve as protection for an undersized spur from a ring final circuit to that FCU or some other bodgery. Only in that case replacing the FCU with a twin socket could...
  14. R

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

    I don't think the flex between the FCU and the boiler gives any evidence on the size of the cable feeding the FCU. Since the flex will be protected by the fuse in the plug, the only concern is whether the cable inside the wall is sufficient to supply a double socket with the boiler and a...
  15. 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.
  16. 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...
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
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