Were to run my cable?

[spxy]

I am putting in a mains spur to my front room.
The mains cable shortest route would be to exit the wall behind the socket, there in the passage way it would run up one wall across the top of the doorway and down the other wall into the CU.
Is this a permitted route?
Does the cable need to be buried in the wall or can I use plastic trunking?
I would rather do the lying of the cable and putting the socket in myself as this is all basic work ,and get an electrition to connect to the CU .

 

[dingbat]

Doubt whether a spark could be ars*d to come and connect up. He'll have to test the circuit, inspect how you did it, issue a certificate and charge you accordingly. It should cost you pretty much what it would have cost for him to do the whole job if it's as simple as you make it sound. And if he's not happy with what you've done he won't connect it and it'll still cost you.

So why not get quotes to get the job done properly in the first place?

 

[spxy]

Why would I want to pay for something that is easy to do?I fully able to wire things up , Its not like I'm stupid.
I personnally dont have a bad attitude to doing small jobs, as a painter and decorator, I just charge a little more than the hourly rate I would for a weeks work.I understand that people may only need me to do the hard bits.
The reason I need a electrition to connect up is because the CU would need removing as the cables enter from behind, and this entails removing the meter tails , which I belive means taking out the main fuse which I belive I am not alowed to do.
Just some advice on whether the cable needs to be in the wall or outside is all I need.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Can't you spur from the existing ring main?

Can't you extend the ring?

If you run the cable where you say, then it can be either buried or on the surface, but if buried it must be more than 50mm deep, or mechanically protected in accordance with the wiring reguations.

When you get it to the CU, what do you plan to connect it to? Is there a spare breaker? What rating is it? Is it RCD protected? What size cable do you plan to use?

BTW - Dingbat is right about the electrician, and it's not because of a bad attitude to doing small jobs.

 

[dingbat]

Just some advice on whether the cable needs to be in the wall or outside is all I need.

From what you've said this will be surface-wired. As such you can clip the cable direct to the wall if you like. Almost anywhere visible is 'legal'. Mini-trunking looks a bit nicer, but embedded in plaster is best. It's also the most expensive and the method which requires safe cable runs. The route you've proposed is almost certainly not suitable for buried cable. But, as b-a-s has poinetd out, there is more to it than this. Is this the only spur from the origin of the circuit. Is it actually a spur, or is it a new radial circuit? What cable do you intend to use? Is your installation earthing adequate to meet current required disconection times? Etc, Etc, Etc...

You say you understand that people might only want you to do the hard bits? Fair enough; it's the same with electrical work - the hard bits are less hard if the preparation is correct. So why not get a spark in, explain what you want, ask him if he's happy to let you do the cabling and how he wants it done and there you go? At least that way you won't end up doing work which your electrician may insist on re-doing.

 

[securespark]

spxy.

None of us are saying you are stupid.

But you can agree with us that for an electrician to take responsibility for your work (and he will do that the moment he connects the new wiring in) he will have to check that it has been installed safely according to the regs.

And, as has been said before, this takes time, and therefore money.

Can you manage a less tortuous route for the cable run? Under floors maybe?

 

[spxy]

Thanks for the help guys.
The cable would be hiddenfrom view if mounted on the wall anyway so thats not a problem.I have a spare slot in my CU as was going to use either a ring of 2.5 cable or a single spur of 6mm into the 32 amp mcb and earth into the earth terminal of the CU.The sockets are plastic.
It would far more work to add an extra socket to the ring in my newly decorated front room than to add a new spur , and I dont want an extention lead running around the room.

 

[plugwash]

for a single socket radial i would use a 16A mcb with 2.5mm cable

wiring into a CU is not that hard however baer the following in mind

always turn off the main switch before opening the CU

when first removing the lid do so *very* carefully and as soon as you have it off make sure there are no touchable live parts around where the tails enter (screws burried deep down holes are not a problem)

the mcbs in a modern CU generally clip to the rail and have some form of screw attachment to fix them to the busbar

earth-earth bar
live-top of mcb
neutral-the correct neutral bar (if your cu is a split load with some cuircuits on rcd there will be 2 nutral bars one for the rcd cuircuits one for the non-rcd cuircuits if you fit your cable to the wrong bar you will trip the rcd)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The cable would be hiddenfrom view if mounted on the wall anyway so thats not a problem.

How "hidden"?

I have a spare slot in my CU as was going to use either a ring of 2.5 cable or a single spur of 6mm into the 32 amp mcb and earth into the earth terminal of the CU.

A ring is a bit pointless for 1 socket, and 32A/6mm is overkill (and 6mm will be a bïtch to install) - as plugwash said, go for a single 2.5mm and a 16A breaker. If you think there is a realistic chance of extending the circuit you could use 4mm on a 20A or 25A breaker.

 

[spxy]

"A ring is a bit pointless for 1 socket, and 32A/6mm is overkill (and 6mm will be a bïtch to install) - as plugwash said, go for a single 2.5mm and a 16A breaker. If you think there is a realistic chance of extending the circuit you could use 4mm on a 20A or 25A breaker."

Yes it would be normally.The socket is for a hefty power amplifier and it is recomended to use the larger size mains cable.It comes with a 20amp power lead.

 

[plugwash]

if its a normal 13A socket you plan to fit then there should be no reason to use more than 2.5mm on a 16A (as the socket is only rated at 13A anyway)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I don't see how using 6mm cable to supply the socket instead of 2.5mm can make any difference to the sound quality.

Read this: http://sound.westhost.com/cables-p4.htm#power

In fact, read the whole thing: http://sound.westhost.com/cables.htm

 

[securespark]

as soon as you have it off

I think he's too worried about the socket wiring to think about that!

 

[securespark]

It comes with a 20amp power lead.

But it does not draw 20A, I guess. Otherwise you can't plug it in to a 13A outlet.

Anyway, 2.5 is rated in excess of 20A, so what's the problem?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

as soon as you have it off

I think he's too worried about the socket wiring to think about that!

Perhaps he wants to get the stereo going to play some appropriate mood music...