Garage Electrics

[Hemsby]

Hi,

I had a socket in my garage connected to the house by a 2.5mm cable spur. I replaced that with a fused spur box with 13amp fuse, then using 2.5 cable I spaced 5 double’s, around the garage.

I use a table saw, band saw, planer/thicknesses, M/T machine, pillar drill, 2 mitre saws & dust extractor. The largest is just under 2kw the rest about 300w Only a max of 2 of these machine are ever used at any one time.

My question is whether this installation is considered safe?

I appreciate a dedicated supply to the garage would be ideal, but for my occasional use of these machines seems an unnecessary expense unless its on safety grounds.

Thanks

Keith

 

[AndyPRK]

Not sure if this is a serious question lol

But yes it's safe as the 13a fuse is protecting it.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It is not electrically unsafe, as you have a 13A fuse protecting the 2.5mm2 T&E cable, you will only be able to load this spur with about 3kW, then you are in danger of overloading the 13A fuse, which should blow when overloaded for a long enough period.

 

[JohnW2]

It is not electrically unsafe, as you have a 13A fuse protecting the 2.5mm2 T&E cable, you will only be able to load this spur with about 3kW, then you are in danger of overloading the 13A fuse, which should blow when overloaded for a long enough period.

Indeed - but the OP seems to imply that the maximum load at any one time would be about 2.3kW, which should therefore be OK.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Hemsby]

Thank you all for your replies

Although I was confident in my installation as it did not seem like rocket science I had some negative replies on another Forum so I thought more opinions were a good idea.

Kind regards

Keith

 

[securespark]

Would be considered safer with a 30mA RCD protecting it...

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Would be considered safer with a 30mA RCD protecting it...

Indeed that is a very good point, new sockets require 30mA RCD protection, so replace 13A FCU, with one that also incorporates the RCD protection.

Untitled

• PrenticeBoyofDerry
• 11 Dec 2011
• 5

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=1...5.6193j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

 

[JohnW2]

Would be considered safer with a 30mA RCD protecting it...

Indeed that is a very good point, new sockets require 30mA RCD protection, so replace 13A FCU, with one that also incorporates the RCD protection.

All very true - but, AFAICS, no-one has told us that the circuit is not already RCD protected.

Hemsby: if the circuit from which this garage supply is spurred is already protected by an RCD in your CU, then you don't need an RCD FCU - but, if there is no existing RCD, then PBoD is right in saying that you need something like he suggests.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Hemsby]

Hi all

We renovated the property 2 years ago and the majority of the property was rewired by a big local electrical company and we have a mega all singing & dancing consumer box, Kitchen, Utility room, Living Areas, Showers, Smoke, Heat detectors each have their own circuits + a few others I do know that the garage is a spur from the living/bedrooms areas which apart from the TV have only a few of table lamps.

So hopefully all is well

Again thanks to all

Regards

Keith

 

[Taylortwocities]

Which should mean the circuit IS protected by an RCD.

There is no definition for an

mega all singing & dancing consumer box

in the wiring regulations. You should be able to check if the circuit is RCD protected by pressing the "test" button on the RCD(s) on the consumer unit and seeing if the power in the garage goes off. (You should be doing this test every 3 months in any case, so now is a good time to check!)

 

[JohnW2]

Which should mean the circuit IS protected by an RCD.

Yes, that would also be my presumptive interpretation of...

mega all singing & dancing consumer box

... even though that term is not yet defined in BS7671

Kind Regards, John

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I suggest looking at the electrical installation cert and trip testing an RCD/RCCB/RCBO or two would hopefully conclude that the circuit does have an RCD device protecting it, but ideally I would suggest that new and extension to existing circuits be correctly tested prior to commissioning, so an RCD test would have then confirmed not only of it's existence but also that it was functioning at the correct parameters.