15th/16th

[steve190]

Yes, the radiators are bonded to the hot & cold water pipes (metal bath, soil main, electric shower, shaving socket, heater etc if required) unless they are connected using plastic pipes.

Onsite Guide has a couple of good pictures.

 

[oldspark]

OSG arrived yesterday.
Bonding all done in 4mm ?
If theres no shaver or heater is it linked up to the pull cord or bathroom light and if so do you still use 4 mm
Is there some confusion as to some of the bonding being above or below the floorboards ? I'm sure I read somthing about it somewhere
Thanks.

 

[dingbat]

OSG arrived yesterday.
Bonding all done in 4mm ?

Yup, unless it is run in mechanical protection, such as conduit or trunking.

If theres no shaver or heater is it linked up to the pull cord or bathroom light and if so do you still use 4 mm

Yes

Is there some confusion as to some of the bonding being above or below the floorboards ? I'm sure I read somthing about it somewhere

The rules say screwed connections anywhere in the installation need to be accessible for maintenance. Whilst beneath a marked and screwed-down floorboard section may be accessible now, all too often the bathrom floor gets tiled over. If you can manage it, the best place is behind the bath panel. Naturally almost nobody (owners, that is) will tolerate earth connections on view, so my approach is that when I've finished the job the connections are reasonably accessible and I mention their location on the certificate and explain the regs to the customer. What they do after that is their business.

 

[oldspark]

Thats cleared that up then thanks Dingbat.

 

[plugwash]

other option is to solder the bonding to the pipes which avoids the accessibility requirement

most sparkys seem to have a dislike of soldering stuff though.

 

[dingbat]

most sparkys seem to have a dislike of soldering stuff though.

That's a lot to do with trying to solder to pipes full of water, especially if there are soldered plumbing joints nearby. Plus, unless you have a special wrap-around electric soldering clamp, gas is the only realistic option... which has a knock-on effect on PL insurance.

I have done soldered bonding (blowlamp method) but I'm not convinced it's worth the hassle.

 

[oldspark]

Nose stuck in the Regs and Osg, more questions to follow I bet

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Plus, unless you have a special wrap-around electric soldering clamp

I bought one of those 'cos Antex had a special offer on when I was buying a temperature controlled soldering station. Never used it yet - are they any good? It was a real spur-of-the-moment-rush-of-blood-to-the-head-it'll-come-in-useful-one-day-impulse-buy - still don't know why I did it.

Tool fetish, I guess...

 

[ban-all-sheds]

On a serious note, what if one were to enclose a BS951 clamp in an epoxy-filled box - would it still need to be accessible?

I probably wouldn't bother anyway, but I do have this accessibility problem. The plumber who installed the towel rail in the bathroom used plastic pipe under the floor. Doesn't bother me - I'm not a copper purist, but the runs are quite short (30-40cm), so I really ought to bond to the metal pipes that then emerge from the floor.

But the flooring to go down, whilst not tiles or glued, will be hidden-nailed boards, and won't come back up without damage, so I wouldn't countenance that in a hurry, nor would I try to argue that the clamps were accessible.

 

[dingbat]

Plus, unless you have a special wrap-around electric soldering clamp

are they any good?

I don't know, I haven't got one! I'm talking about the ones designed for 'Yorkshire' fittings... I just thought they might be adaptable for bonding purposes.

As for the whole issue of accessible joints, a resin-filled joint need not be accessible; I don't see why your suggestion shouldn't be good enough.

In any case, let's get real - who is going to dare to take up your floor to check? If you say it's bonded, it's bonded! (And I'd be really interested to know if there is even a single recorded electrical incident that blames a lack of supplementary bonding - almost none of the homes I see have any at all.)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And of course one can always take resistance measurements. If they are good, then either the bonding is there, or it isn't needed....

 

[mapj1]

another option might be these
www.earthcrimp.co.uk thought I'm non-too sure about their status -the example photos show the wrong sort of crimper for my liking.
M.