part rewiring

[gregd72002]

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice in getting my flat partially rewired. It has modern fuseboard including RCD (30mA) for bathroom. All the cables in the flat (sockets, lights, etc) are brown, blue, green-yellow and are going up the attic and this is where the mess begins.

Got two main issues I noticed:
1) bathroom fan is somehow chained with kitchen's boiler. So disconnecting the fan also disconnects my boiler. The fuseboard is connected to my bathroom fan and from the bathroom fan there is a wire that supplies kitchen boiler. So, there are two cables in my bathroom's fan - one in (from fuseboard) and second out (from the fan to kitchen boiler)

Should this not be done in a junction box properly up in my attic instead of making my fan being mini junction box and chaining my fan with boiler?

2) it looks like there is no junction box at all in the flat; the sockets in each of the rooms seem to be chained together - being mini junction boxes themselves; so it has two wires - one wire supplies the socket, second wire goes back up the attic and then down again to the same room to supply another socket, etc.

What would you recommend to do in the situation? I do not want full home rewiring for the reason that the fuseboard is new so are the cables/wires. The only problem is missing proper junction box(es) up the attic and some things are chained together that I think are not supposed to be...


Thanks a lot!

 

[yorkspark]

Point 1. Are you saying that the bathroom fan has to be running in order for the boiler to fire? Can you upload picture

Point2. From your description the sockets are wired correctly, no need for joint box's. On a new install as yours joint box's are only used by readers digest diyers

 

[gregd72002]

Right, got time to look closer into this and what is then worrying me is that both the kitchen combi boiler and bathroom fan are on the same circuit.

Moreover, boiler, bathroom fan and bathroom lights are protected by the same RCD.

Is this actually possible that there are 2 separate circuits (supply and RCD) for the same things (boiler, fan, lights)?

 

[securespark]

Is the bathroom fan connected to a lighting circuit?

IE does the fan go off when you isolate all the lighting circuits?

If so, just refeed the boiler from its own circuit in the CU, then it is independent.

Not sure what you are saying about 2 circuits....

When you say modern board, is it a dual RCD? Does it have RCBO's?

Post some pictures.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Right, got time to look closer into this and what is then worrying me is that both the kitchen combi boiler and bathroom fan are on the same circuit.

Nothing wrong with that.

Moreover, boiler, bathroom fan and bathroom lights are protected by the same RCD.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[securespark]

Well, you could argue that the regs demand segregation of circuits.

If the fan is on the lighting circuit, I would argue a boiler is not a suitable addition to that circuit.

 

[gregd72002]

Well, you could argue that the regs demand segregation of circuits.

If the fan is on the lighting circuit, I would argue a boiler is not a suitable addition to that circuit.

Fan is on the same circuit for RCD. So, when testing my RCD all 3 things go off - fan, bathroom lights and kitchen boiler.

Also, fan and kitchen boiler are fused together - so i have a single fuse in my switch box that switches off kitchen boiler and bathroom fan.

On top of it I've got another single fuse in my switch box that switches off bathroom lights.


EDIT: this is just my observation.. maybe I should spend more time on it and check what else if anything, is on the circuits. But the above is still true when it comes to testing RCD switch and testing the fuse switch

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Well, you could argue that the regs demand segregation of circuits.

I think you mean division, but IMO you'd be hard pressed to show that the arrangement contravenes 314.

If the fan is on the lighting circuit, I would argue a boiler is not a suitable addition to that circuit.

Why did you not argue here that it should not be added to an existing circuit?

It should also have a 3A fuse in the plug top.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Fan is on the same circuit for RCD. So, when testing my RCD all 3 things go off - fan, bathroom lights and kitchen boiler.

So?

Also, fan and kitchen boiler are fused together - so i have a single fuse in my switch box that switches off kitchen boiler and bathroom fan.

So?

On top of it I've got another single fuse in my switch box that switches off bathroom lights.

So?


I am really struggling here to see anything wrong...

 

[gregd72002]

ban-all-sheds, thanks for you answers. This is exactly what i was looking for.

The problem I had is that I never came across similar setup before, thus - just asking.

If this all sounds ok, then grant!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Fan is on the same circuit for RCD. So, when testing my RCD all 3 things go off - fan, bathroom lights and kitchen boiler.

When I test my RCD the whole house goes off.

Also, fan and kitchen boiler are fused together - so i have a single fuse in my switch box that switches off kitchen boiler and bathroom fan.

My boiler is on the same circuit as half the sockets in my kitchen.

On top of it I've got another single fuse in my switch box that switches off bathroom lights.

I have 2 MCBS - one does the upstairs lights, including the bathroom lights and fan, the other does the downstairs.

 

[securespark]

Well, you could argue that the regs demand segregation of circuits.

I think you mean division, but IMO you'd be hard pressed to show that the arrangement contravenes 314.

If the fan is on the lighting circuit, I would argue a boiler is not a suitable addition to that circuit.

Why did you not argue here that it should not be added to an existing circuit?

It should also have a 3A fuse in the plug top.

Would you wire a boiler - a system including a motor - into a lighting circuit?? That was my issue.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Fans have motors.

 

[securespark]

Bathroom fans have smaller motors.

With the total current draw on a CH system, it is sensible to separate it from a lighting circuit.

In terms of segregation, I mean division (splitting hairs), you would not be hard-pressed at all to show that it contravenes the regs.

A lighting circuit is one of the circuits most prone to outages. That would not prove convenient if the boiler went off every time the breaker tripped.

Anyhow, Mr Avoidance - would you wire a boiler into a lighting circuit?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

A lighting circuit is one of the circuits most prone to outages. That would not prove convenient if the boiler went off every time the breaker tripped.

Not if you didn't reset the breaker, which you probably would.

Anyhow, Mr Avoidance - would you wire a boiler into a lighting circuit?

Not by choice.