Earth Wire

[goneleft]

A lot of the wiring in my house was done by the bloke who used to live here and its abit, shall we say, lacking. Basically i'm replacing an old plastic ceiling light fixture with a new metal branch light. But there is no earth wire for me to attach to the new light. If i were to still fit the light where would i have to run an earth from? Alot of earth wires seem to run to copper pipes is it ok for me to do that?
Any advice is welcome.

 

[davy_owen_88]

It is NOT acceptable to earth a light fitting by connecting it to a copper pipe.

A lack of CPC in the lighting circuit usually means that there are many other problems too: undersized or non-existent main equipotential bonding, undersized main earth conductor, lack of supplementary bonding in the bathroom and no RCD protection. These are all things that are there to make sure you stay safe so for your own safety, and that of your family, I suggest you seek the advice of a qualified electrician regarding a complete or partial rewire.

 

[equitum]

If there is no earth wire, and the wiring is not within metal conduit that is earthed, and therefore providing the CPC (circuit protective conductor) then you must run a new cpc (earth wire, green&yellow) back to the consumer unit/fuseboard. You cannot use the water or gas pipes. Alternatively replace the fitting with a class 2 (double insulated) fitting.

 

[Steve]

Or rewire the circuit in twin and earth.