External power socket

[exiled in leeds]

Can anyone help?

Firstly, I'm new to the site so apologies if this topic has already appeared.

I want to fit an external socket to the rear of the garage (the grief I get for trailing an extension cord through the house to cut the lawn is too much! ) but I am unsure where to take the power from.

It's a newish property (3 years old) and in the garage their is a double socket and a light switch, all in plastic ducting (easy access). but I am assuming the socket is already a spur (only one duct going to it) so I can't take a feed from there. Can I intercept the cable before it reaches this socket and put in a junction box? What about taking a feed from the cable going to the light switch or the light fitting itself?

Many thanks for any help.

Exile

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

If you look in the ducting do you have 1 or 2 cables? If one this is a spur so no, technically you cannot run another spur from this. Your lighting should be totally seperate. How close is the garage to where you want the socket? You could always use a junction box and put in an outside socket, You don't really want it on your house ring main so find a spare place in the c/u and devote it to the great outdoors.

 

[paulfromswindon]

...and remember if you put a sprocket outside, it must be protected by an RCD. Very highly recommended even if inside the garage - you should never use equipment outside that is not protected with an RCD (and a fixed one is better than a plug-in one, cos there is no risk that they have been dropped or bashed about in some way).

If you do wire an outside socket it should be able to be isolated easily from inside - a good way is to use an RCD switched-fused-spur, wired from thee ring (or a seperate circuit), feeding the outside (weatherproof) socket. Unless your fuseboard is already fitted with a 30mA RCD, then just use a switched-fused connection unit inside.

Adios
P

 

[breezer]

you could go the whole hog and have

its a combined rcd and twin socket

 

[spark]

You may have only one length of mini-trunking going to the socket, but that doesn't automatically mean that it's a spur, take the lid off and have a look.

Just so you are aware that you do have another option in the event that the socket in your garage is a spur, depending on certain conditions. You can change the socket in your garage for a fused connection unit and connect your socket for outside on the load side. If you don't want to lose your socket in the garage, you can connect both a socket in the garage and your new socket for outside on the load side of the FCU. You are permitted to this because the over current protection for the two sockets is provided by the FCU. Generally a fused-spur is wired so that both legs of the ring are connected into the supply terminals and the spur leg is connected into the load terminals. This FCU then protects the load leg of cable. Regulation 473-02-02 permitts the fault current protective device (fuse) to be placed at a point on the load cable of an un-fused spur from a ring. This rule is subject to certain conditions which minimise the risk of damage to the cable between the point at which the cross sectional area of the cable is reduced (the point at which it was spurred from the ring) and the position of the protective device (the FCU). Let me know if you find you are in this position and I'll be more specific.

As Paul said, you must incorporate an RCD for any socket 'that may be reasonably expected to supply portable equipment outdoors'. That includes the socket in your garage. Being 3 years old means that you probably have got a split load board with RCD protection, but check to be sure.