radial

[AnonymousImport]

my kitchen is wired in a radial and under the floor the is a 30A junction box it has a supply cable coming in. it then has 2 cables going out to 2 sockets is it possible to connect up a other socket to the junction box the cable used is 4.0mm

 

[breezer]

idealy you should rewire it, as with most kitchens you are likely to have say the washing m/c on toaster and kettle all at the same time. (draws a lot of current)

I would say the answer to your question is no.

 

[spark]

I agree with breezer, ideally you'd be better to do the job properly and rewire it. But it may be possible to do depending on several factors. What size fuse is protecting the circuit? If the cable supplying the JB is 4mm, what size are the legs of cable coming off the JB to supply the sockets? If they are 4mm as well(and they probably should be depending on the rating of the fuse protecting the circuit), then you're unlikely to be able to effectively terminate another cable safely into this JB because the terminals will be tight already. Generally your fuse should be rated to protect the smallest cable in the circuit, so regardless of whether it leaves the fuseboard as 4mm, if it arrives at a socket as 2.5mm then a 30A fuse is unacceptable. Is the kitchen all on the same circuit? Get some more info. Working on the basis that it is safe and correctly fused, you're more more likely to encounter nuisence overload trips than anything else, which is irritating to say the least if you've got rewirable fuses (if it ever blows at all!). Any circuit which suffers overload trips is badly desigined, and as such should really be rewired, bringing us back to the original answer [/i]

 

[spark]

I agree with breezer, ideally you'd be better to do the job properly and rewire it. But it may be possible to do depending on several factors. What size fuse is protecting the circuit? If the cable supplying the JB is 4mm, what size are the legs of cable coming off the JB to supply the sockets? If they are 4mm as well(and they probably should be depending on the rating of the fuse protecting the circuit), then you're unlikely to be able to effectively terminate another cable safely into this JB because the terminals will be tight already. Generally your fuse should be rated to protect the smallest cable in the circuit, so regardless of whether it leaves the fuseboard as 4mm, if it arrives at a socket as 2.5mm then a 30A fuse is unacceptable. Is the kitchen all on the same circuit? Get some more info. Working on the basis that it is safe and correctly fused, you're more more likely to encounter nuisence overload trips than anything else, which is irritating to say the least if you've got rewirable fuses (if it ever blows at all!). Any circuit which suffers overload trips is badly desigined, and as such should really be rewired, bringing us back to the original answer [/i]

 

[AnonymousImport]

thanks for your help guys i looked at a couple of sockets in different parts and was suprised that they were wired in a ring why would the kitchen be on a radial?

 

[spark]

How do you know they are all on a ring? The reason I asked if your kitchen sockets are all on the same circuit is that the 4mm may, at some point, have been used to supply an electric cooker and they've fitted a gas cooker and used the redundant supply to power more sockets. Which means you may have a conventional ring to supply some of the sockets and a redundant cooker circuit to supply the additional sockets. The other reason why this may be a possibility is because the 4mm goes to a JB, which would indicate that the 4mm was never wired to a socket, but was instead wired to an appliance at some point.

 

[AnonymousImport]

i think this might of been what happend because the people before did have a elctric cooker and then changed it for gas if this is the case would i still need to rewire

 

[breezer]

yes, that way you can put in as many sockets as you like on the new ring

 

[spark]

From the sound of it, it would be beneficial if you did. If the current wiring is safe, then it's not absolutely necessary; it depends on your situation. I would say it needs rewiring as soon as practicable, rather than immediately because from the sound if it, it doesn't pose an immediate risk. If now is a good time then do it now, if it's not then start planning when you are going to do it. Be absolutely sure that all your fuses are rated at less than what your cables are rated at. You may find that the 4mm cable is on a 30A fuse and if those sockets are wired in 2.5mm cables from the JB, then that is too large. If it is 30A (or more) then either rewire it now or down rate the fuse until you can.