Its rather academic. The circuit has to be RCD protected so a separate shower unit with nice new RCD and CB, or an RCBO is the way to go. Unless the old neighbour wants to stump up for a new consumer unit.
Shower for old neighbour.
- Thread starter barcelona
- Start date
Sponsored Links
I stand corrected it has been a few months since i handled a bit of 10mm, but as we do not know the age of the cable or even if it is a copper cable then there is still the possibility that the cable is larger than its modern day counterpart, Remeber older twin and earths with stranded tinned conductors and aluminium conductors had considerably thicker sheaths on them.
Nick
Nick
P
PrinceofDarkness
Barge pole my arse! This chap is more or less on about swapping like for like as a good deed for an elderly neighbour. So, he should be given every encouragement by this forum to do just that.
The Golden Rule is that the installaion should not be less safe than it was prior to the alteration. TTC is quite correct,of course, about planting a separate RCD enclosure adjacent to the existing fusebox - but there's no absolute imperative to do so.
That old boy doesn't seem to have perished so far with his basic installation, and I doubt that a new shower unit fitted by a kindly neighbour will be the undoing of him.......
Lucia.
The Golden Rule is that the installaion should not be less safe than it was prior to the alteration. TTC is quite correct,of course, about planting a separate RCD enclosure adjacent to the existing fusebox - but there's no absolute imperative to do so.
That old boy doesn't seem to have perished so far with his basic installation, and I doubt that a new shower unit fitted by a kindly neighbour will be the undoing of him.......
Lucia.
Sponsored Links
Sorry for late reply, busy at work. Thanks for the advice. I think the fault to the shower and the pull switch was down to the fact that the live and neutral had rubbed together behind the shower unit, to the point where it had shorted. His new shower is 8kw, So I was thinking about getting a 40A rcd to mount next to the fuse box and 45A pullcord switch. Does this sound ok ?
A few months back he asked me to move a wall mounted gas heater from the back bedroom to the bottom of the stairs, because the one at the bottom of the stairs was faulty, and it had stained the wallpaper above it, I told him sorry but Im not touching gas, you need a gas safe plumber for that. He got someone to do it for him, next time I went round he had had central heating installed and the plumber that did it had condemned the newly fitted gas heater due to the wallpaper being stained above it. Not sure if that was right or not. Last time I went round he had a black eye, I said "what's happened to you" he'd fallen off the stepladder putting some christmas light up in the room the poor old sod.
Anyway Does what I suggest sound ok ?.
A few months back he asked me to move a wall mounted gas heater from the back bedroom to the bottom of the stairs, because the one at the bottom of the stairs was faulty, and it had stained the wallpaper above it, I told him sorry but Im not touching gas, you need a gas safe plumber for that. He got someone to do it for him, next time I went round he had had central heating installed and the plumber that did it had condemned the newly fitted gas heater due to the wallpaper being stained above it. Not sure if that was right or not. Last time I went round he had a black eye, I said "what's happened to you" he'd fallen off the stepladder putting some christmas light up in the room the poor old sod.
Anyway Does what I suggest sound ok ?.
Advice welcome, but i know it's copper and relatively modern installation compared to my house, that had woven insulation, in some places wires twisted together under the floorboards, and covered with cellotape. I did a complete rewire myself, including cu and I'm still alive 8 years later.
I should be ok to do this job i hope.
Wabbit is dead right on this one. If anything goes wrong, the neighbours family and insurance company will be after him and asking for his public liability insurance. You do have it? don't you?
Andy
That old excuse is pathetic - if people can't afford to have a job done properly, then it shouldn't be done at all.
If people own a property, paying for repairs and maintenance is an inevitable part of that.
Anything goes wrong with something you have installed/repaired, and you will be held responsible.
Given that you already know the switch has burnt, the cable has shorted together behind the shower and the fusebox is old and unsuitable, this is clearly far more than a simple swap of the shower unit.
Fianlly this:
really puts the old 'no money' excuse right out the window.
Fit a new shower - a few hundred at most.
Install central heating - many thousands.
Well the old guy now doesn't have to struggle to get in and out of the bath, and I'm happy to have made sure he can wash safely. Some probably don't agree with what I've done but I'm not an idiot, What I did is give him a safe way to wash. When it came down to the nitty gritty, I discovered his fuse box was made of wood. I advised him it should be updated but hey ho.
I don't think anyone said you were an idiot - clearly you are a good neighbour - fitting the shower and putting the circuit on an RCD but...
Did he or you pay the fee to notify your Local Authority Building Control?
How did you manage to get the Ze, Zs, R1+R2, insulation resistance, prospective earth fault current and prospective short circuit fault current figures?
I trust you are going to guarantee the shower for the next couple of years.
I don't think your house insurance will cover for public liability in these circumstances.
I'm happy that I made his installation no less safe than what he already had. And he's happy now he can wash properly. I'm a mechanical engineer not electrial but i'm no fool.
No less safe because you didn't do the above
In which case you are an idiot.
Or no less safe because you felt it was alright to break the law?
In which case you are a fool.
So if it happened to be lethally dangerous (and you have no way of knowing) you will have worked on it and left it in a lethally dangerous state.
I beg to differ.
Admire your consideration.
However, if it goes tits up and he gets electrocuted/burnt down then you're going to be utterly in the mire if anyone finds out it was you.
Would I do it? Maybe. Probably I'd try ringing his family first to see if they could pay for a sparks, or maybe local benefit office. But if it was something I felt I could do safely (and the 45a replacement worries me a bit) I would do it, and pay myself for a sparks to sign off my work after. Some might even do it cheap if you explain the circumstances.
However, if it goes tits up and he gets electrocuted/burnt down then you're going to be utterly in the mire if anyone finds out it was you.
Would I do it? Maybe. Probably I'd try ringing his family first to see if they could pay for a sparks, or maybe local benefit office. But if it was something I felt I could do safely (and the 45a replacement worries me a bit) I would do it, and pay myself for a sparks to sign off my work after. Some might even do it cheap if you explain the circumstances.
DIYnot Local
Staff member
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local
Sponsored Links
