DIY removal of shower circuit...?

[robinbanks]

considerations of personal safety

If I said to you "I've stood on the plug on this TV, and broken it; can you change it?" would you say yes? There isn't anything more to this job than that; you're putting somewhere between two and three wires into holes and turning screws so as to trap them

Of the two options offered I would opt for the "disable the circuit by putting the live and neutral cores into the earth bus bar in the CU" route, as the cable will likely be a 6 to 10mm cross sectional area and wiring a socket onto the end of it would be a little tricky.
If you're patient and willing to mess about a bit getting things bent into the right shape in preparation then putting a socket on is possible

putting my hands anywhere near the CU does feel like a step up

It shouldn't, for the logical reason that:

There is a master switch on the CU that when flipped makes everything inside it dead. Forget to flip that and everything inside it, as well as the end of the cable you're planning on working on, could make you dead instead .. there isn't really any difference between the near end and the far end of the cable in terms of danger (aside from touching the busbar in a full RCBO setup), but there is a heck of a lot more room to work inside the CU than inside a back box

If you do go for a socket, get the deepest back box you can get. If you struggle to get the strands of the wire cores into the socket terminals, clip one or two of the strands off at the sheathing. Do any bends necessary before you do this

 

[amfisted]

If I said to you "I've stood on the plug on this TV, and broken it; can you change it?" would you say yes? There isn't anything more to this job than that; you're putting somewhere between two and three wires into holes and turning screws so as to trap them

Of the two options offered I would opt for the "disable the circuit by putting the live and neutral cores into the earth bus bar in the CU" route, as the cable will likely be a 6 to 10mm cross sectional area and wiring a socket onto the end of it would be a little tricky.
If you're patient and willing to mess about a bit getting things bent into the right shape in preparation then putting a socket on is possible



It shouldn't, for the logical reason that:

There is a master switch on the CU that when flipped makes everything inside it dead. Forget to flip that and everything inside it, as well as the end of the cable you're planning on working on, could make you dead instead .. there isn't really any difference between the near end and the far end of the cable in terms of danger (aside from touching the busbar in a full RCBO setup), but there is a heck of a lot more room to work inside the CU than inside a back box

If you do go for a socket, get the deepest back box you can get. If you struggle to get the strands of the wire cores into the socket terminals, clip one or two of the strands off at the sheathing. Do any bends necessary before you do this

Appreciate the trouble you've taken to explain all that, thanks. I'm going to go for the socket solution: after all, I've managed to get all three wires into a relatively modest sized connector block so I'm pretty sure they'll fit into the terminals of a socket. But thanks again, and in particular for the comments about the depth of the socket box and clipping off some of the strands if space is tight in the terminals.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yes, having originally dismissed that solution then literally within the last few minutes having thought about it again, I’m now more rather drawn towards the idea. Is it legal to mount a socket on timber, or would it need to be installed on the brick wall of the gable end?

You can mount it absolutely anywhere, but obviously, avoid anywhere where it be at risk of damage. You would need a twin 13amp socket, and a deep surface back box, to accommodate the larger cable. Try, if you reasonably can, to avoid shortening the cable - then, if someone later decides they want an electric back, the cable is there to reuse.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

There is a master switch on the CU that when flipped makes everything inside it dead.

Actually, it doesn't. The thick meter tails entering the consumer unit, and connecting to the top of the main switch, and their terminals, will remain live.

It has become more and more common these days, to include an isolator, mounted in the tails between meter, and consumer unit, to enable the consumer unit to be entirely isolated.

 

[Taylortwocities]

If it's an electric shower supply isn't the cable likely to be too thick for a normal 15A socket.

No. It’s fine. By the way, where we are we don’t have domestic 15amp sockets, maybe that’s where you are mistaken?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Must admit, the neutral wire is pretty hefty, though the live and earth less so.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Must admit, the neutral wire is pretty hefty, though the live and earth less so.

Both the live and neutral are the very same size, the earth wire will be somewhat smaller.

But putting my hands anywhere near the CU does feel like a step up. I'll stick with the socket idea, but thanks.

Very sensible! Just turn off the main switch, and you should be perfectly safe, but everything will go off, so working in a dark loft, you will need a torch. Or even better, a head torch.

 

[ebee]

If you to be pedantic you could argue that removing the shower then adding a socket is adding a circuit which would make it notifiable. In practice no one would know unless you tell them.
The important thing is doing it safely.
If you do intend to do it then check the conductors can happily fit the terminals and leave yourself as much room as possible for the conductors for bending. Using a decent make of twin socket and get the deepest possible box (that will probably be 48mm depth - equivalent to a 45mm metal box) say one that is used for a cooker control switch with a single socket as intended. Mount the socket in a sensible place and ensure Bonding and RCD present and , preferably, test it with proper test meters.

 

[amfisted]

Both the live and neutral are the very same size, the earth wire will be somewhat smaller

Admittedly I was working in poor light, but the neutral wire did seem considerably heftier than the others. No matter: they all fit in a block, so they’ll fit the terminals of a socket.

 

[sparkwright]

I'm trying to think why the neutral wire would be heftier than the live wire.
Has the cable/wire been joined somewhere?

 

[JohnW2]

Must admit, the neutral wire is pretty hefty, though the live and earth less so.

I think you must have got that wrong - neutral and 'live' will be the same size, with earth a bit smaller

But I'll give the double socket plan a shot, if only for reasons of cost.

Particularly if you use a decent brand, you shouldn't have a problem getting the wires of the one cable into the terminals of a double 13A socket. However, if you did have a problem, as suggested you could connect something with larger terminals, like a cooker control unit, 45A switch (e.g. 'shower isolator') or even a 60A junction box - after all, you're just looking for something that you can safely connect the cable to, to keep it 'out of the way' (unless/until subsequently needed for something)

 

[CountryFan]

If you to be pedantic you could argue that removing the shower then adding a socket is adding a circuit which would make it notifiable.

Would it though? I would see it as the circuit already exists and it's a minor alteration to that existing circuit.

 

[amfisted]

I'm trying to think why the neutral wire would be heftier than the live wire.
Has the cable/wire been joined somewhere?

Not that I'm aware of, though I haven't followed the cable through the loft and all the way back to the CU. When I connect the cable to the new socket I'll take a pic, though having been told by so many posters that it can't possibly be true I'm beginning to doubt whether the neutral wire is so immense after all.

 

[amfisted]

I think you must have got that wrong - neutral and 'live' will be the same size, with earth a bit smaller

Particularly if you use a decent brand, you shouldn't have a problem getting the wires of the one cable into the terminals of a double 13A socket. However, if you did have a problem, as suggested you could connect something with larger terminals, like a cooker control unit, 45A switch (e.g. 'shower isolator') or even a 60A junction box - after all, you're just looking for something that you can safely connect the cable to, to keep it 'out of the way' (unless/until subsequently needed for something)

Thanks. As stated above I can get all the wires in a block, and not a huge one either, so I'm pretty sure they'll fit into the terminals of a socket, though the planet-sized neutral may require some additional manipulation ;0).

I've ordered a 47mm back box for the socket so there should be plenty of room.

 

[amfisted]

Just confirming that I’ve had a good look at the cables again and the neutral wire is NOT much bigger than the live or earth. No idea where I got that notion from.

I’ve screwed a 47mm back box to the gable wall, fed the cable into the box and connected the wires to the socket. Unfortunately I was a bit rough with the box when making the entry hole for the cable, and the housing for one of the screws that secures the faceplate disintegrated. So I need to buy a new box.