spur off a socket for a 2kw fire?

[traineelectrician]

hi im new to this, im doing my 17th edition at the minute but not quite sure on the rules and regs yet... i have a home project that im doing at the minute and not sure if its right to do it that way or not.
ive just had the gas capped off for the fire place, stuffed the chimney with wire wool and boarded it up i now want to put an electric fire on the wall (max output 2kw) i have a double socket on either side of the chimney breast. my house has no cavity either..

could i get a fuse spur off one off the double sockets and put a 15amp fuse in it?

 

[Spark123]

No, you can only fit a 13A fuse max to a fused spur unit, (check your maths too, 2kw @ 230v = how many amps?). Wether or not you can spur from the ring depends on if the sockets are on the ring or not.

 

[traineelectrician]

quick reply! yes sorry 13amp fuse i meant, ill have to check they are on a ring first, so say they was, a 13amp spur would be sufficient for the fire to run safely? because from what i understand the total out put would be about 9amps? am i somewhere along the right lines..

 

[RF Lighting]

Yep.

Do you know how to differentiate a ring circuit from a spur feeding another spur?

 

[traineelectrician]

err.. not actually tried it but isnt there a device that you plug into your socket and it tells you if its on a ring or not? from b & q?

 

[Steve]

err.. not actually tried it but isnt there a device that you plug into your socket and it tells you if its on a ring or not? from b & q?

NO!!!! There bloody isnt!!!!

Wash your mouth out.

 

[traineelectrician]

i got told there is a plug device in b&q that checks for such as that. its orange and looks like a plug! obviously used for something else.. how am i able to check then if either off my double sockets are a spur off a spur or just on a ring?

 

[Spark123]

How far trained are you?

Start by looking at the wiring behind the socket, if there is only 1 set of wires then it will be a spur.
If there are 2 sets of wires then there is a good chance it will be a ring.
Simple check is to isolate the supply, separate out the 3 wires and measure the end to end resistance of them.

 

[Steve]

The only device in the sheds for testing sockets is the simple socket tester, that tells you if the socket is earthed and that the polarity is correct. It has 3 red lights on it. 3 lights = ok.

It is not for official testing, since there is no box on any test forms that says "did all 3 lights come on on your plug tester?"

It is simply useful to determine the state of an installation.

There may be a version with approximate EFLI values on it too, not sure.

But such devices cannot tell you if a socket is on a ring. How would they? You have to seperate the cores to do a continuity check! How would a plug in tester do this?

 

[nozspark]

hi im new to this, im doing my 17th edition at the minute but not quite sure on the rules and regs yet... i have a home project that im doing at the minute and not sure if its right to do it that way or not.
ive just had the gas capped off for the fire place, stuffed the chimney with wire wool and boarded it up i now want to put an electric fire on the wall (max output 2kw) i have a double socket on either side of the chimney breast. my house has no cavity either..

could i get a fuse spur off one off the double sockets and put a 15amp fuse in it?

Are you sure you used wire wool,, normally you'd use rock wool, but you really should leave some ventilation or it could cause you ig problems in the future..

Wire wool is highly flamable, get a piece and short out a PP3 with it!!

 

[Steve]

Wire wool is highly flamable, get a piece and short out a PP3 with it!!

Oh the fun, high school physics

 

[GaryMo]

The only device in the sheds for testing sockets is the simple socket tester, that tells you if the socket is earthed and that the polarity is correct. It has 3 red lights on it. 3 lights = ok.

Also remember that such devices won't alert you to a N-E reversal.

To check a socket is on a ring is more complicated than it first looks.

It involves cross-connections and measurements at all points on the 'ring' to determine if it is actually a ring or not.

If you really are a trainee electrician then a copy of Guidance Notes 3 wouldn't go amiss. It'll give you a good understanding of inspection and testing.

 

[Albert]

Not being nasty, but It seems that you do not really understand the basics of electrical installation. you should consider few things:
1) You should consider using a qualified electrician, if for any reason you decide not to, PLEASE!
2) if you have 2 sets of wires it does not mean necessarily that it is a ring, you might check a socket in the middle of a radial circuit.
3) It might be a spur that has a spur, should not happen but I have seen it many times.
4) Do not risk your life! isolate the circuit at the origin (CU).
5) To do a proper continuity test you will need meter that is suitable for the job, a beeping signal when using a cheap meter will indicate low resistance but it does not mean the continuity is ok.
5) You can find on the net some information about testing procedures. You should understand what is the meaning of the test results, testing a ring circuit is different than a radial circuit.
6) 13A spur (if all good) would be ok.

Good luck

 

[stargazer]

the total out put would be about 9amps?

So why don't you just plug it in?

 

[IJWS15]

The only device in the sheds for testing sockets is the simple socket tester, that tells you if the socket is earthed and that the polarity is correct. It has 3 red lights on it. 3 lights = ok.

BTW Mine is called a "Martindale" and if all three lights come on you have a fault! Correct is 2 lights on. It JUST checks that phase/earth are connected properly but IIRC does not check neutral/earth reversal - which an RCD would find very quickly. i.e. Should be 240v live to earth and live to neutral but not between neutral and earth.

Apologies for the use of "neutral"