To twist or not to twist...

[FredFlintstone]

...what do you do?

While re-doing some of the fairly appalling electrics in my house I've noticed that whoever rewired has twisted each section of cable together before tightening up in the terminals.

Now this isn't something I've been doing when I've replaced the cable on the logic that the screw should be good enough to secure both cable ends in the terminals and also because twisting them together could weaken them and cause them to break - possibly inside the sleaving where you wouldn't notice it (especially on the smaller earth core. Obviously testing should pick this up but what if it's weakened but not broken and then decides to give at a later date - you're either left without power or even worse, with a defective earth loop?

Also, is it usual to stick both bits of earth core in the same piece of sleeving? I've been sleeving each core separately.

Just wondering how the pro's do it.

Fred

 

[JohnD]

the twisting, and the two CPC s in one sleeve, are what they used to do in the old days.

Neither is considered good practice today.

 

[luminaire]

Agree, better not to twist and keep the sleeving separate.

 

[FredFlintstone]

Ahhh, so without even knowing it, I've been doing it right? That pleases me, not least because I'd hate to have to go round and do it all again. Shows though, should've asked first although I was confident what I was doing was correct and had done plenty of research but there was no mention of twisting and double sleeving in anything I read.

Whoever did it can not have been a pro though. Well, they may have been but they were cowboys. I assume it's never been acceptable to route cables diagonally down a wall and has never been acceptable to run two spurs off one socket?

The two spurs both fed single sockets so whoever did it must have thought that two singles is OK if you're allowed one double!

Muppets.

 

[bernardgreen]

Agree, better not to twist and keep the sleeving separate.

But conversely a gentle twist of CPCs does ensure that if the earth terminal comes loose later then there is still CPC continuity.

If Live or Neutral come loose then sparks or loss of power show the fault is there to be found. Loss of CPC continuity will only be found [a] when the earth is needed or when the system is next inspected.

 

[securespark]

Twisting is the Devil's work.

It was commonplace when all cables were stranded, but it is frowned upon now. Imagine you need to test or F-F.

All your conductors are twisted together and the cpcs have only one sleeve a well.

GRRRRRRR!!