what cable do I have?

[punkyjo]

I see there are a lot of posts relating to showers and I, like many am replacing my old one. Im a good girl and I read all the instuctions very carefully and have sussed out that I need a 10mm cable. But how do I know what my existing cable is?
PS. Its a 10.5KW and the cable goes through the loft (on top of the insulation) and down the wall to the box with other wires in the wall.

 

[securespark]

Piccys & dimensions of cable, please.

Also, some cables have size embossed in sheath. Have a look.

 

[punkyjo]

15mm x 8 mm

I did think to look on the sheath but i cant see anything there.

 

[punkyjo]

OK, how do I send my pic? [/img]

 

[securespark]

Here:

http://photobucket.com


I've just measured a bit of 6mm² at 12mm x 6mm, (measured with school ruler!!) so not sure what you have.

Anybody got any more accurate measurements?

 

[davy_owen_88]

I can measure some 10mm² t&e tomorrow, but until then the measurements from the WIKI say:

6mm² 13.5mm x 7mm
10mm² 17.1mm x 10mm

So the OP's measurements are bigger so it's likely that you have 10mm²

 

[securespark]

Having said that, 15x8 is in-between Wiki's measurements....

 

[jj4091]

seems like punkjo has 8mm then

 

[punkyjo]

Thanks guys,
yes, I measured it with a school ruler! I was thinking that it was probably 8mm2.
so.... shall I get it rewired or get a lower KW shower? what's the max that I can get away with, with a 8mm2?

 

[davy_owen_88]

jj was joking, there is no cable in production with a CSA of 8mm² (well that I know of). So you either have 6 or 10. I'll just go and measure some 10mm² now and see what size I come up with...

 

[ricicle]

I'm afraid jj4091 was jesting.There is no 8mm² cable.There is either 6 or 10 most commonly used for showers/cookers.
10mm² would probably be on a newer larger shower, whereas 6mm² or even 4mm² would have been used on the older lower wattage showers.
This is assuming that there were no other factors affecting cable size (length of run, insulation, ambient temp, grouping etc)

 

[ricicle]

Damn you Davy

 

[davy_owen_88]

After a quick trip to the loft my 10mm² t&e measures 16mm x 8mm. So I'd say you have 10mm².

 

[jj4091]

OOPS sorry forgot the smiley.

 

[punkyjo]

It's really hard to measure it coz it's not completely square.