fcu to fcu?

[juz1]

hi there im having a bit of trouble and im wondering if anyone can help?

im currently in the process of installing a 32inch lcd tv on to our wall in the bedroom. im wanting a clean install so im installing a switched socket and a coaxial socket on the wall to hide behind the tv. im having trouble however finding a suitable socket to spur out of. we have two in the bedroom one single and one double and to get a spur from either of these would involve cutting a trace all the way round the wall which is not an option due to the work involved and probably have to re decorate the bedroom. i also cant go under the floorboards as we have laminate flooring in the bedroom. i then thought the easiest way would be to go up into the loft and down the wall to the socket in the bedroom where the tv is going to be plugged into. this has now gave me three options and this is where i need your help.

on the wall in the hall way upstairs i have two sockets one single switch and an fcu next to it. the fcu is a switched neon type and powers the bathroom towel dryer. can i change the sp swiched socket to an fcu and take a 2.5mm twin core and earth from here into the bedroom through the loft? so in effect its going to be fcu to fcu spur

i also i have a similar set up downstairs but the switched fcu unit powers the shed outside can this fcu be spured off of? this would be more work but it is as an option.

my last option is probably the easiest for routing cables through the drywall due to the power sockets been near the tv socket which then goes to the loft. there is two power sockets behind the tv downstairs which from the look of it have been spured from somwhere or one of the sockets is a spur. the previous owners have had these done to re locate the tv to the other side of the room. if the spured socket is a spur can i remove this replace it with a fcu and run the cable up into the loft this way?

while im up there im going to install a twin 13a socket as well then if i ever need a power point up there ive got one.

 

[juz1]

anyone? lol

i know its a long post but i just thought it would be easier to explain the situation im in but the basic jist of the question if i babbled on a bit is can you spur off a fcu? for example fcu to fcu

 

[securespark]

on the wall in the hall way upstairs i have two sockets one single switch and an fcu next to it.

Can you explain a little clearer, please?

 

[Space cat]

can i change the sp swiched socket to an fcu and take a 2.5mm twin core and earth from here into the bedroom through the loft? so in effect its going to be fcu to fcu spur

Yes, you can do this but think carefully about giving up that socket. Where, for example, will you plug in a vacuum cleaner? If the socket and spur are part of a ring, you can spur straight off one of them for your TV socket.

there is two power sockets behind the tv downstairs which from the look of it have been spured from somwhere or one of the sockets is a spur.

You can't spur from a spur. If you aren't sure whether a socket is on a spur or a ring, count the cables. If there's only one, it's a spur. If there are two, it might be a ring but it might also be a spur with a second spur on it. To test this, remove the live cores from their terminal (power off of course) and test for continuity between the two ends. Regardless of what you find, I don't like the idea of an upstairs socket getting its power from the downstairs ring. Someday, someone might get a nasty surprize.

if the spured socket is a spur can i remove this replace it with a fcu and run the cable up into the loft this way?

Yes, but my previous comment still applies.

 

[juz1]

yeah on the wall outside the bathroom is a single 13a socket and next door to this there is a switched fused unit with a neon light in it. this powers a towel dryer in the bathroom. the switched fused socket powering the radiator in the bathroom is spured off the 13a single switched plug. im just wondering if i could change the switched 13 socket to a fcu and take a cable from this up into the loft.? should i still be able to keep the fcu for the radiator by just joining it to the load.

sorry for been unclear

 

[juz1]

ive already thought about the socket situation for a cleaner etc and there is the ones in the bedroom which are sufficiant.

 

[electronicsuk]

on the wall in the hall way upstairs i have two sockets one single switch and an fcu next to it. the fcu is a switched neon type and powers the bathroom towel dryer. can i change the sp swiched socket to an fcu and take a 2.5mm twin core and earth from here into the bedroom through the loft? so in effect its going to be fcu to fcu spur

You could do that, but why? Just take a 2.5mm T+E from the back of the single socket outlet and to the FCU behind the TV in the bedroom. Taking a single spur in 2.5mm from an accessory or JB on a ring final is perfectly acceptable and permitted within the regs. The socket you spur from MUST be part of the ring (unless, of course, the whole circuit is a radial - but then there's no such thing as a spur from a radial) and you must only have one accessory on the end of the spur, be it an FCU, double socket, etc.

i also i have a similar set up downstairs but the switched fcu unit powers the shed outside can this fcu be spured off of? this would be more work but it is as an option.

You could come off the load side of that FCU, or if it's on the ring, you could take an unfused spur from the feed terminals. This sounds more work than your first option, and there could be issues with keeping the cable within the safe zones.

my last option is probably the easiest for routing cables through the drywall due to the power sockets been near the tv socket which then goes to the loft. there is two power sockets behind the tv downstairs which from the look of it have been spured from somwhere or one of the sockets is a spur. the previous owners have had these done to re locate the tv to the other side of the room. if the spured socket is a spur can i remove this replace it with a fcu and run the cable up into the loft this way?

If the spurred socket is a spur? What? In any case, you cannot spur off an unfused spur - again, an unfused spur must only feed one accessory. If one of the sockets behind the downstairs TV is already an unfused spur and then the second socket has been taken as a spur from it, then the installation is already non-compliant and adding any more load will make things worse. If one of the sockets is on the ring and the other is a spur from there, you could replace the spurred socket with an FCU, or remove it entirely and run an unfused spur to wherever you need it, which would make more sense than having two FCUs in series.

If you need to keep both sockets behind the downstairs TV, you could have an FCU taken as a spur from (or directly onto the) ring final, fit it with a 13A fuse, and then feed more or less as many sockets as you like from the load side on a 2.5mm radial.

I'm not sure I like the idea of having a socket upstairs fed from the downstairs circuit, though, as more often than not, the sockets in a house will be split into upstairs and downstairs circuits. Someone might isolate the upstairs circuit in the future and assume all upstairs outlets will be dead, which wont be the case.

 

[electronicsuk]

yeah on the wall outside the bathroom is a single 13a socket and next door to this there is a switched fused unit with a neon light in it. this powers a towel dryer in the bathroom. the switched fused socket powering the radiator in the bathroom is spured off the 13a single switched plug. im just wondering if i could change the switched 13 socket to a fcu and take a cable from this up into the loft.? should i still be able to keep the fcu for the radiator by just joining it to the load.

sorry for been unclear

OK, you posted this while I was typing my reply. As you already seem to know, you can't take two unfused spurs from a single point on the ring. You can change the socket for an FCU as you suggest. Alternatively, you can add another single socket next to the original and break it into the ring, then this will give you another point from which to take an unfused spur.

 

[juz1]

sorry lol yes i know about not spuring off a spur im just basically looking for a easy route up there. behind the tv now at the moment is a chanel in the drywall where sat and tv ariels go up into the loft. if i could just bump off one of these sockets and go up the channel with some 2.5mm T&W then this would the the easiest for cable routing.

as mentioned before about the socket upstairs that would again be easier still but to get into the drywall i think a support beam runs directly over the drywall in the loft so this might be difficuilt.

You mentioned just spuring from the socket upstairs i the hallway? from looking at the socket it is already supplying the radiator in the bathroom as there is a cable that goes into a switched spur socket. this is why is asked if you could have a fcu to a fcu spur.

the reason i want to add a fused spur is i want to add a power point also in the loft, a double socket in the loft and a single in the bedroom on the wall

 

[electronicsuk]

You mentioned just spuring from the socket upstairs i the hallway? from looking at the socket it is already supplying the radiator in the bathroom as there is a cable that goes into a switched spur socket. this is why is asked if you could have a fcu to a fcu spur.

the reason i want to add a fused spur is i want to add a power point also in the loft, a double socket in the loft and a single in the bedroom on the wall

Ok, so in the hallway you have a single switched socket on the ring, with an FCU located next to and spurred from the socket, the load side of which feeds the bathroom towel warmer. Either that or the FCU is on the ring, and the socket is the spur, but your description makes it hard to tell.

Either way, you can change the single socket for an FCU with 13A fuse, and then take a 2.5mm T+E from the load side onto your socket in the loft, FCU behind the TV in the bedroom, etc etc. The only limitation is that the combined load of everything on this branch circuit must not exceed 13A, although this is unlikely ever to occur if it's going to be feeding a socket in the loft for occasional use along with a TV.

 

[Space cat]

If the upstairs hall socket really is on a ring (use the continuity test) and the FCU is spurred off it, can you take one of the ring cables out of the socket and put it into the FCU instead. The FCU will now be part of the ring and, as an added bonus, you will have two points on the ring from which to take unfused spurs: one for the towel rail and one for the TV.

 

[juz1]

Sorry, the fcu is a spur from the socket from what i can see, this is why im wanting to change the socket to a 13a fuse


Thanks this is all i needed to know is that i can change it. i do think though this will be the hardest option for cable routing. The load wont exceed 13a its only a tv that will be run off it no heaters or anything either in the loft lol

 

[ban-all-sheds]

hi there im having a bit of trouble with the shift key on my keyboard.