small jobs...

[thomo27]

I had a request to add an outdoor socket for a customer so off I went and on arrival I see a socket on the lounge wall that I (hopefully can spur off) so I unscrew the socket and see 3 t&e's then when pulling the socket forward the neutrals and 1 red all pop out from the terminals..so power off and continuity test the cables to find the 2 which are on the ring , remove another socket to find 1 x 2.5 t&e(which is from socket 1) and a 1.5 t&e , explain to the customer that I cant spur from the desired socket unless we ditch the cable that feeds socket 2..I then tell the customer (upon further investigation) that the 1.5 t&e goes outside to a jb then a 2.5 to a unswitch spur then to a switch then to a lamp from the same jb another 2.5 t&e runs along the fence to his shed to power a socket and a light..I know this is a bit of a waffle ha ha but the point im trying to make is this is what law abiding sparks are up against..luckily the customer is understanding and wants me to do it all properly....

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

Heh!

I'm sure we all do this. But when you are writing about it on a forum, it is usual to say you turned off the power before you unscrewed the socket.

 

[thomo27]

good point.. however it was the 5th set of the djokovic v del potro match !!!

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

Fair enough!

 

[sparkwright]

So you wanted to power the new socket from the first socket you opened up - the one with three cables at it.

Why can't you extend the ring here so the new outside socket has two cables at it (ie is on the ring)? And keep the existing spur as it is?

 

[Taylortwocities]

There are a number of ways to engineer this. How it is done will depend on if the ring is really there, or if the whole lot is a load of spurs off a spur

An unswitched FCU in the right place can usually sort this sort of dilemma out but it may mean that the max current to some of the connections is limited.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

the point im trying to make is this is what law abiding sparks are up against

Yes, but your point is?

 

[thomo27]

So you wanted to power the new socket from the first socket you opened up - the one with three cables at it.

Why can't you extend the ring here so the new outside socket has two cables at it (ie is on the ring)? And keep the existing spur as it is?

yes thats right.

I could do that however my concern was that the spurred socket has a 1.5mm t&e going out to a JB with 2.5 t&e going out to a shed powering socket and light so was looking at losing the 1.5 mm t&e out of that spur..

I was looking at through crimping a leg from the ring to the spurred socket and then continuing the ring to the outdoor socket and finishing back where I started the only spur would then be the cable to the shed socket.

 

[Taylortwocities]

So. 1.5mm is good for 13amp.
Put an FCU with a 13A fuse in it at the supply end and you don't over-amp the cable(s).

Then you have to look at RCDs................

 

[ericmark]

I do worry with the Domestic job that it will expand to work with should be registered. Yes I know with emergency work you are permitted to do the work and tell the LABC after but it's the way the cost spirals out of all proportion once the LABC gets involved.

However in you case swapping the ring main socket to a FCU would likely be all that's required.

With the win some lose some idea where the job extends you can spend more time than planned for which is OK but when LABC charges come in then a £60 job becomes £300 job with very little extra involved. I saw a quote give to one house owner where it stated £X plus any LABC charges if applicable which I considered as sneaky but don't suppose any rules broken.

It was because of this I stopped doing any Domestic work. Just not worth the hassle.

 

[securespark]

the neutrals and 1 red all pop out from the terminals

You're working on a live ring final circuit when you get an OC neutral??

 

[thomo27]

the neutrals and 1 red all pop out from the terminals

You're working on a live ring final circuit when you get an OC neutral??

huh

 

[Iggifer]

Open Circuit Neutral.

What he means is, you should have been working dead.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

He could easily have been.

 

[Iggifer]

He could easily have been.

quite