surely these are bad news
- Thread starter 17thman
- Start date
I don't know about the latter, but the former does not, for BS EN 60238 compliant E14 & E27 lampholders.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I had assumed (particularly in view of the exemption in 599.6.1.8 ) that BS EN 60238-compliant holders were the new-fangled ones in which the most accessible parts (sometimes all the parts, the electrical contact being achieved via a spring contact) of the screwed receptacle is not metal. Am I wrong?
Kind Regards, John.
Still not as bad as these. Which I have useda couple of times in rented student houses to add a second light fitting when the one rose was in the corner of the room or simular, with the associated switch tee peice.
Daniel
Daniel
You are indeed wrong John. At a quick glance there's nothing in the standard about those.
Fair enough - so what is it about BS EN 60238-compliant ones which allows them to be exempt from 599.6.1.8 (which sounds eminently sensible, for any ES lampholder)?
Kind Regards, John.
Don't know. What does 599.6.1.8 say? My copy is in the office, and I'm not! I have access to the EN online.
559.6.1.8 (apologies for typo above!) says:
It seems like such a sensible (and simple) requirement for any fixed-wired 'screw' lampholder that it's hard to see why they should include the exception, unless (as I suggested, and had rather assumed) BS EN 60238 requires a high degree of inaccessibility of the outer contact.
Kind Regards, John.
It does. Presumably such that no part of the lamp base can be touched with a British Standard finger by the time it makes contact with the lampholder.
The adapter in the photo certainly looks as if it complies with that. Whether BS EN 60238 applies to converters I don't know.
The adapter in the photo certainly looks as if it complies with that. Whether BS EN 60238 applies to converters I don't know.
Probably because of the following:
"9.1 Lampholders E5, E10, E14 and E27 shall be so designed that the lamp caps are not accessible when they become live during insertion."
The standard doesn't seem to consider the possibility of someone poking their fingers in an unoccupied lampholder, just that they might be holding the lamp base while screwing it in.
"9.1 Lampholders E5, E10, E14 and E27 shall be so designed that the lamp caps are not accessible when they become live during insertion."
The standard doesn't seem to consider the possibility of someone poking their fingers in an unoccupied lampholder, just that they might be holding the lamp base while screwing it in.
Yes, that would explain it, as far as the Standard is concerned. However given that, as you say, the Standard does not seem to consider the 'unoccupied lampholder' scenario (and every lampholder was unoccupied immediately before someone started screwing in a lamp!), one might have expected 559.6.1.8 to still insist on 'correct' polarity wiring (such a simple and non-arduous requirement), even with BS EN 60238-compliant holders - that obviously would not completely remove the potential hazard, but it would certainly reduce it.
Kind Regards, John.
Yes, it does, although it refers to them as adapters.
That would only really apply to plug-in adapters etc. What we're really talking about it is fixed wiring, which is what is regulated by BS7671. I see no reason at all why BS7671 should not take the safer approach of requiring that the fixed wiring of screw lampholders should always have neutral connected to the outer.
So long as we have non-polarised lampholders (e.g. B22), there's obvioulsy nothing one can do about B22 to ES adapters, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't make sense for the fixed wiring to be required to be as safe as is possible (in the absence of adapters).
Kind Regards, John.
In the absence of a lamp, both terminals can be touched, just as with a bayonet fitting. It makes little difference which way round they are. It's a relatively low risk because the current path is across a finger tip rather than across the heart.
On the other hand if a lamp obstructs access to one terminal while it is being inserted, it needs to prevent the lamp base being touched if it can become live during insertion. Again, the polarity doesn't matter.
On the other hand if a lamp obstructs access to one terminal while it is being inserted, it needs to prevent the lamp base being touched if it can become live during insertion. Again, the polarity doesn't matter.
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