Apartment wiring issue, Cork Ireland

[CMolloy1]

Hope someone can help me with this as I don't know very much about circuitry :

Does every house/apartment have a cable running somewhere from the last socket on the circuit - from a socket near an outer corner, and is it essential to keep this connected?

A fault developed in the bedroom sockets of our apartment while I was installing an electric heater - I had installed one with a wall switch previously in a different room with no problem.

The double socket in the corner of the apartment, in one of the bedrooms, is connected by a cable running horizontally from the socket at the other end of that wall, and also from that corner socket, it looks like there's another cable going down into the floor in the corner.

I disconnected the power to the corner socket where this is, and now have the power back for all the other bedroom sockets - the switch is no longer tripping.
I'll have to get an electrician out at some stage anyway as we are having a few new lights and things installed - and will ask for this to be looked at . just wondering if it ok to leave this like this temporarily or is that cable running down into the ground and back to the power company or something?

I'd be very grateful if anyone can tell me.

Many Thanks.

 

[ColJack]

//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:a1-ring-final-circuit

 

[solair]

I am quite confused by your post.

Socket outlets in an Irish home are wired one of two ways:

Most commonly :
Radials:

Typically a 20A circuit breaker (MCB) will feed a circuit which feeds all the sockets in one room, or where loads or light, may feed a couple of rooms.

Kitchens and utility rooms often have several 20amp circuits feeding the sockets as heavy loads like dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, kettles etc are expected.

Sometimes the radials may be protected by 16Amp MCB.

Sockets may be 'daisy chained' i.e. one set of wires coming in and another set going on to the next socket in the circuit. Or, sometimes they may be connected to a junction box in the attic above and there might only be a single cable entering the socket box.

Rings (much less commonly used than in the UK)
These are as described by the previous poster.

A 32Amp circuit breaker is connected to both ends of a circuit which feeds a large number of sockets, e.g. it might cover several rooms or an entire floor of a smaller home.

In a ring circuit, because power is coming from both ends, it is very important that you do not break the ring as this splits the ring and can cause the circuit to become overloaded.

I would suggest that you do not disconnect any wires that are connected to the back of the socket, as it is possible it's a ring.

Also, in any installation after 1979, the sockets will all be protected by a 30mA RCD (previously called an ELCB).

Also, it's important to note that ring circuits are no longer allowed in kitchens or utility rooms in Ireland due to the high loads that are used there, several radials should be installed.

Check your circuit board:

If the circuit beakers for the sockets have '32' printed on them, they're rings.
If they're 16 or 20 you've got radials (most likely)

From your description, I can't really tell what's going on, other than you've disconnected something and isolated part of the circuit.

I would suggest that you should either get a registered electrician to install these heaters, or simply plug them into a socket.

It is also important that if you are hardwiring anything to a ring circuit that you use a 13amp fused spur, and do not just connect the heater directly to the circuit. Otherwise, you are creating a serious fire hazard as the heater will only be protected by a 32A circuit breaker and its cable and some internal components could catch fire if it were to overload / short circuit.




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[CMolloy1]

Thanks very much Solair and Coljack for the info.
I connected it back up, as I think it must be a ring, and now for some reason its fine - all the sockets are working, and it hasn't tripped back down again.
Also thanks for the advice about the radiators. The one I've already installed is hardwired to a switch that used to be used by a Dimplex heater we removed, which had a slightly higher wattage,
but I'll bear your advice in mind regarding the other radiators to be installed.

 

[solair]

If you want to be 100% sure whether it's a ring or a radial, just check the circuit breaker rating.

16 or 20 Amps = Radial
32 Amps = Ring.

Simple as that!

 

[plugwash]

If you want to be 100% sure whether it's a ring or a radial, just check the circuit breaker rating.

16 or 20 Amps = Radial
32 Amps = Ring.

Simple as that!

Hmm In the UK you can also have 32A radials with larger cable (usually 4mm) is this not the case in ireland?

 

[solair]

Typical Irish house wiring:

(New regs add RCD protection to the bathroom lighting circuits)

Most installations have several 20A radial circuits, and no rings.

Also, 2 radials minimum are required for kitchen sockets, rings are not permitted in this area.

Also, under new regs, any freezer should be supplied with a dedicated 16A RCBO to a single socket, this is to prevent food spoilage in the event of an RCD trip on the main RCD.