Absolutely OK
Two single sockets on 16a MCB
- Thread starter thevdm
- Start date
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As BAS has illustrated, it is 'absolutely OK'. In fact, there are some slight advantages (e.g. in terms of voltage drop and 'wasted energy') of having two radials originating from one MCB (rather than having all the sockets connected to a single radial), since there are then no bits of cable that carry the full load of all the sockets.
Kind Regards, John
Yes. It's not two radials, it's one radial.
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There's a risk of this turning into a semantic discussion, but I agree - just as a ring final with a spur arrising from the origin is still a single ring final.
Indeed, a circuit with multiple sockets each connected by it's separate dedicated cable to the MCB/fuse would still be a radial circuit - in fact, probably the purest example of the literal meaning of 'radial'.
Kind Regards, John
When would you draw the line and say there "Bunched" circuits in the Mcb, which is not acceptable
There is no line.
You could have one conductor to the MCB, a 6” length of cable to a JB outside the CU. You would be able to connect any number of separate circuits to that JB.
Or you could put them all together into the MCB. What’s the difference?
You could have one conductor to the MCB, a 6” length of cable to a JB outside the CU. You would be able to connect any number of separate circuits to that JB.
Or you could put them all together into the MCB. What’s the difference?
Depends how you interpret 314.4 and the " Definition" of a final circuit, which is a circuit connected directly to a socket-outlet or socket-outlets.
Who or what says that it is 'not acceptable'? Provided only that the MCB terminal (and the neutral/earth bar(s) terminals) have adequate capacity, I see no problem.
Kind Regards, John
I must say that I can't find any way of interpreting 314.4 that would represent a problem. Nor do I see that the definition of either a 'final circuit' of a 'circuit' represents a problem. Lots of sockets each connected via its own cable to the same MCB would seemingly qualify both as 'a circuit' and a 'final circuit', with no obvious problems.
Am I missing something?
Kind Regards, John
From a pure electrical theory perspective there's no issue. However practically you would struggle to fit more than 3 or 4 2.5mm (worse for 4mm) conductors in each terminal. It will also get to be expensive running cables to each point and quite destructive opening channels for multiple circuits when one would suffice. Your CU would get a bit crammed too.
All very true. However, the OP's concern was about whether it would be acceptable to add just a second 2.5mm² cable to his 16A MCB. The comments about multiple sockets separately fed from the origin of a circuit only arose as an illustration of the fact that (contrary to the OP's fears) even extreme (and, as you say, probably impractical) cases of multiple feeds from an MCB are electrically acceptable.
Kind Regards, John
My post was only pointing out that there are factors beyond the regs to consider. I'm not looking for an argument here.
As I said, I totally agreed. However, there are no additional factors to consider as far as the OP's question was concerned - he merely wanted to know if it was OK to run a second feed from his 16A MCB.
Kind Regards, John
As far as I can see, the question was answered on page 1. I was just posting in regards to the follow up discussion.
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