Ring floodlight camera wiring

[Magrah]

Hi there

We had some unwanted scum which was picked up on my Ring doorbell. Looks like the lead guy had some sort of gadget and was trying near my front door. We have two cars with comfort access and my sons think they were trying to hack the keys. My car, the keys go to sleep after 5 mins of none movement and both are also in Faraday pouches. My son was up at 2am and saw the Ring signal, put his light on, one of the guys pointed to it and all three walked off. Neighbour opposite also clocked them and said they walked up and down the road then a car picked them up.

Very long way of saying, bought a Ring floodlight camera for the drive. I know you ideally need a spur but could I put it next to my 2.5 ring main socket, connect it and use a 3amp fuse on the spur or must it go through a lighting circuit, which would be a pain. I'd have to run a cable from the loft down the outside wall which will look unsightly, in conduit of course.

Thanks

 

[pete01]

You can come off the ring via an fcu no problem.

Just make sure the original socket isn't already a spur.

 

[Magrah]

Thanks, it isn't, it's part of the bedroom ring main.

 

[ebee]

So long as you`ve done the proper sequence of tests it will be ok but do you know the proper sequence of tests? Probably not - dont take offence it is diificult fo a DIYer to understand that and is so easy to be foiled, a spur on a spur on a spur for example can easily mislead you to thinking some are on the ring and actually they are not.
Having said that and if it is not then adding one ring etc doorbell and the additional current it draws is never going to add much to whatever is there anywhere .

In brief - what you have added is going to make almost no difference to what was already there.
and its on a 3A fuse , so good.

What was there already might be perfectly OK, but your examination itself might not actually be confirming this.

 

[Magrah]

The 1st floor was rewired in 2011, as the whole lot was remodelled. Complicated to explain but it was a 3 bed which we turned into 4. The main bedroom was huge and so was the bathroom with his and hers sinks. The wiring was awful with live wires buried in the wall with a bit of masking tape wrapped around them! So had the whole lot redone to the consumer unit so the ring main is good, no spurs.

 

[ebee]

OK. If you are confident to the point of certainty then adding a spur onto a ring final circuit and terminating it into a Fused Connection Unit (FCU) switched or unswitched and the fuse in it will protect the cable it feeds (such as a lighting circuit) then no problem, if you have then fed some equipment with it (such as a doorbell or a CCTV) and the manufacturer advise a 3A fuse then again no problem.

With what you have before you (compliant or not) your addition is going to make almost no difference anyway because it is an extremely small additional load therefore extremely unlikely to be the last straw that breaks the camel's back under almost all circumstances.
(Get enough straws and you might break the camel`s back).

The point of my caution was to prevent, as far as reasonably practicable, to applying this again and again and again or adding some extra sockets that could, under unfavourable circumstances, cause problems.
To be absolutely certain, before such additions, there is a sequence of tests that must be done properly and with the proper test equipment.

Electricians, over a working life, do see many things that are not done correctly , not only by DIYers but sometimes by "Electricians" , In the minority yes thankfully but still adding up to a large number.
That is why any Electrician, such as me, will warn you of theses possibillities in the same way that any car mechanic will do so if telling you how to fix your cars brakes etc etc etc. plugged into the existing

A prime example of things we sometimes see is a device often known as a "Widow Maker" .
A length of flex and a correctly wired plug on each end. A twin socket fixed to a wall without any cables supplying it.
An existing socket on a working circuit.
One plug end of the flex into your new twin socket and the other plug on the other end of the flex plugged into the existing socket.

Hey presto the free socket space on your new twin socket has useful power. Result.
Until someone unplugs the plug from the new twin socket and hold it in their hand - they have the risk of suddenly becomming startled by their own mortallity!

 

[Magrah]

Thanks, give you a great example, we bought the house in 2010, the 9.5kw electric shower was wired to the consumer unit with 2.5mm cable. When the electrician took the ceiling pull cord out he showed me. It was completely black inside! Noted, no more spurs, just the one for the Ring camera / flood light.