Isolation switches

[flyingsparks]

having seen what happens when a weight becomes lose I would always fit one myself

or a tumble drier when the OFF switch failed to turn the appliance off.

Surely all tumble driers (at least anything half modern) would have thermo cut outs so if they got too hot after the off switch got stuck on, they would cut out anyway?

 

[bernardgreen]

By co-incidence there is a news item on local BBC TV about a house fire in West Norfolk caused by a tumble drier catching fire over night. Family escaped through first floor window after being woken by smoke alarm.

The case I refered to meant the owner had to turn the main switch OFF to stop the drier running until a neighbour could come and pull out the drier to get to the plug

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If you want a plug & socket to be your means of isolation then obviously it has to be accessible.

Having to "turn the main switch OFF to stop the drier running until a neighbour could come and pull out the drier to get to the plug" could just as well be having to "turn the main switch OFF to stop the drier running until a neighbour could come and pull out the drier to get to the isolation switch which some t**t had hidden behind the appliance".

 

[JohnW2]

having seen what happens when a weight becomes lose I would always fit one myself

or a tumble drier when the OFF switch failed to turn the appliance off.

One obviously wants/needs to have a 'means of isolation' for these kitchen/utility room appliances, but in many houses the CU will be very near to hand, and usually very accessible. In fact, with a good few 'incidents' (e.g. fire etc.), trying to operate an isolator which was close to the appliance might not be a good idea at all!

Kind Regards, John

 

[viewer]

May have misunderstood the thread, but I think that the OP is talking about switching rather than the electrician's idea of isolation. Should it be possible to turn off the supply to, say, a washing machine without pulling it out to reach the 13A socket? Answer is yes, but a number of ways to achieve this. Is this what you meant?

 

[JohnW2]

May have misunderstood the thread, but I think that the OP is talking about switching rather than the electrician's idea of isolation. Should it be possible to turn off the supply to, say, a washing machine without pulling it out to reach the 13A socket? Answer is yes, but a number of ways to achieve this. Is this what you meant?

What the OP said was that (s)he understood the purpose of an 'isolating switch' was so that one could disconnect the electricity before 'touching' the appliance, and asked whether unplugging a plug would be an acceptable alternative. My reading of that was that (s)he probably was talking about something fairly close to an electrician's idea of isolation. However, I may have misunderstood.

Kind Regards, John

 

[pred]

May have misunderstood the thread, but I think that the OP is talking about switching rather than the electrician's idea of isolation. Should it be possible to turn off the supply to, say, a washing machine without pulling it out to reach the 13A socket? Answer is yes, but a number of ways to achieve this. Is this what you meant?

What the OP said was that (s)he understood the purpose of an 'isolating switch' was so that one could disconnect the electricity before 'touching' the appliance, and asked whether unplugging a plug would be an acceptable alternative. My reading of that was that (s)he probably was talking about something fairly close to an electrician's idea of isolation. However, I may have misunderstood.

Kind Regards, John

I understood it was electrical regs. All the new Wimpey houses etc. have isolation switches for everything.

 

[EFLImpudence]

All the new Wimpey houses etc. have isolation switches for everything.

You'd be surprised how much influence fashion has in electrical installations.