Electric supply

[JonB]

Could someone help with a couple of questions.

I live in a 1940`s semi, about 6 years ago I had it rewired new consumer unit etc. It was earthed through the Gas main pipe. I understand this is now unsatisfactory, also the feed into the house comes from the adjoining semi which is only 2 cores of braided cable, is this acceptable.
Also the meter is very noisy even with no load on it.

Who is responsible for these items?

We are supplied by Scottish Power but are they responsible for cabling and meters.

Thanks in advance.

JonB

 

[andy]

Could someone help with a couple of questions.

I live in a 1940`s semi, about 6 years ago I had it rewired new consumer unit etc. It was earthed through the Gas main pipe. I understand this is now unsatisfactory, also the feed into the house comes from the adjoining semi which is only 2 cores of braided cable, is this acceptable.
Also the meter is very noisy even with no load on it.

Who is responsible for these items?

We are supplied by Scottish Power but are they responsible for cabling and meters.

Thanks in advance.

JonB

earthing thru the main gas is not acceptable and should be rectified ASAP. how it is recified depends on what supply you have. check the for reference at the top. there is nothin wrong with the way your power comes into the house. instead of taking 1 feed from the main cable to each house, they often take 1 feed to 1 house and then to the next house.

if your supply is TT, it is your responsibily to provide an earth stake and earthing, if TNC or TNCS, it is the REC's responsibility to provide you and earth upto the MET, from there its upto you

 

[breezer]

it may be the poster has seen the earth bonding cable going to the meter and thought this is how its earthed. i have met quite a few people who think this is the case

 

[JonB]

Could someone help with a couple of questions.

I live in a 1940`s semi, about 6 years ago I had it rewired new consumer unit etc. It was earthed through the Gas main pipe. I understand this is now unsatisfactory, also the feed into the house comes from the adjoining semi which is only 2 cores of braided cable, is this acceptable.
Also the meter is very noisy even with no load on it.

Who is responsible for these items?

We are supplied by Scottish Power but are they responsible for cabling and meters.

Thanks in advance.

JonB

earthing thru the main gas is not acceptable and should be rectified ASAP. how it is recified depends on what supply you have. check the for reference at the top. there is nothin wrong with the way your power comes into the house. instead of taking 1 feed from the main cable to each house, they often take 1 feed to 1 house and then to the next house.

if your supply is TT, it is your responsibily to provide an earth stake and earthing, if TNC or TNCS, it is the REC's responsibility to provide you and earth upto the MET, from there its upto you

Dear Andrew
Thanks for the speedy reply, I dont understand (TT___TNC__or TNCS)
If it boils down to putting an Earth Rod in and joining same to earth cable on Gas Meter Would that be OK I could do that myself quite cheaply.

Thanks again.
JonB

 

[Big_Spark]

Jon, the REC (Scottish Power in your case) is responsible for the supply to your home. They have legal responsibilities to ensure that it is safe and complies with all necessary legislation.

If your meter is noisy and there are issues with it, then call in the REC, Tell them you don't think the meter is charging you enough..(that'll get them there in a flash ) Further, tell them that a Spark has raised concerns about your supply and that he has recommended you call them in to check it out. They will do this free of charge

When they arrive, ask them to tell you what type of Earthing arrangements you need for your supply. As you do not know how to identify your supply type, there is little point in any of us trying to guess.

The Gas Main should be Earthed, however your installation must not rely on the gas supply or the water supply to provide the Earth for your building. Normally the supply entering your building will provide the earth, either via the sheath of the cable (Steel Wire Armour) (TN-S supplies), or as a combined Neutral and Earth Conductor (TN-C-S supplies). This last one can also be configured in a way to give a supply known as PME (Protective Multiple Earthing) and is the most common varient used.

If your neighbour has supply fed via overhead cables, then it is likely either a TT supply, in which case the Earth will be provided by a stake in the ground near his installation, or it could be an adapted TT that incorporates an Earth and will be a TN-C-S, but this will NOT be a PME in the classic sense as described above.

 

[JonB]

Dear FWL
Thanks for the reply, I shall get in touch with Scottish Power and ask for a check over.

JonB

 

[JonB]

Dear FWL.

I have recieved an e-mail from Scottish Power I quote.

"I have looked into your enquiry and I can confirm that I have spoken to Transco who have advised me that your wires are cross bonding and that it is the occupiers responsability to have this checked out by a qualified electrical engineer as we as the supplier only deal with the meter."

They are coming out to check the electric meter.

I can`t see what Transco have to do with the earthing of my house surely they only deal with the gas pipes.

What does cross bonding mean?

Thanks

JonB

 

[Big_Spark]

Cross bonding is the safety electricaL connections that link all exposed and extraneous conductive parts in an installation, so in your case links across water and gas pipes etc, plus the sink and bath if they are metallic.