When you've finished being a t**t, perhaps you'd like to explain why circuits designed by DIYers don't have to follow the same rules for current carrying capacity, voltage drop, fault loop impedance etc as those designed by professionals, and also why once designed and installed they don't need the same testing.
I'd be hugely interested to see how you get onI'm about to start my own re-wire in the summer, but it's a re-wire from scratch, so I'm hoping it might be a little easier than patching an existing installation.
- For a circuit to supply a given load, how would you go about deciding what cable and protective device to use?
- Do you know which circuits can be ring finals and which cannot, and what the advantages and disadvantages of each are?
- Do you know what the two main lighting circuit topologies are, and what the advantages and disadvantages of each are?
- How do you calculate maximum demand and how can diversity be used?
- What are the 3 different types of domestic single-phase supplies provided in this country, how would you recognise them, and what differences do each make to the requirements for the rest of the installation, particularly any outdoor supplies?
- Can you correctly identify all components and connections of a circuit by method of testing or otherwise? In doing so can you identify or recognise anything wrong or dangerous with the circuit?
- Do you understand how the way in which you install cables affects how much current they can carry?
- What are the rules concerning cables concealed in walls, partitions and under floors?
- What are the rules for cables run outdoors, buried in the ground or overhead?
- Where cables need to be joined, how should this be done / not be done and in what circumstances are different methods acceptable?
- Can you identify extraneous conductive parts, and do you know the requirements for main and supplementary bonding of them?
- Which circuits should be RCD protected?
- How do you propose to isolate your supply so that you can connect up your new CU?
- LABC will not do proper testing for you, and will not give you an EIC. You have to take responsibility for testing, particularly before you energise.
Do you know what tests you would carry out on the installation - what sequence you'd do them in and at what point you would energise the installation, and for each test do you know what is being measured, why it is important, how you would carry out the test, and with what equipment, and what sort of results you would expect to get if everything was OK?
The thing is, rewiring a house, installing new CUs, possibly outside supplies, submains etc is not a trivial job, and I can assure you that it involves knowing far more than you think it does.
Asking questions here can be a useful part of a learning process, but they are not a substitute for proper structured studying. The key term there is "learning process" - you cannot learn all the things you need to know just by asking questions here. It isn't structured enough - it won't provide you with a way to progress where each step builds on what you learned before.
You can't carry out a job of this magnitude by asking whatever random questions happen to occur to you. What if you get something wrong because you have no idea your knowledge is wrong? What if you miss something because you simply have no idea it even exists, and just don't realise you don't know it?
Summer is only a few months away, and you haven't even got a copy of the Wiring Regulations yet - you've got a steep learning curve ahead of you.
- //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics
- //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:books (Disclaimer - this needs updating re the actual revisions of books, but the essence of it is still sound)
- http://web.archive.org/web/20080213151445/http://www.kevinboone.com/electricity.html
- http://web.archive.org/web/20080213151445/http://www.kevinboone.com/domesticinstallations.html
- http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/1.1.htm[/list]I suggest you get stuck into the last link right away - it won't give you design ideas, and unfortunately it doesn't refer to the current edition of the Wiring Regulations, but it's free, and will still give you a good grounding which you can augment with more up to date publications.
And start looking on eBay for test equipment. You'll need(a & b are often combined)
- Insulation Resistance tester
- Continuity tester
- Earth Fault Loop Impedance tester
- RCD tester
Or a multifunction tester.
I have a family member who's an electrician, and he would be supervising, but he's ~50miles away and you guys are slightly more accessible for quick questions.
Sorry - I think I misinterpreted what you said - I read it as we'd be handy for quick questions when you got to the installation stage because your supervising electrician will be a bit remote.
Yes we do and we should also leave the design, either a drawing of the circit and/or a tabulated version showing the calculations used in determining the cable sizes, MCB ratings etc with the customer and also place one near to the Consumer Unit.
You must inhabit a different world to me - never seen any of that going on !
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