Where can I buy 3mm green and yellow earth cable?

[Techboy]

This seems like a really silly question, but I've asked in B&Q, Wickes and Maplin...

I am replacing a light switch in my living room. The old faceplate was plastic and the new one is metal, so I need to earth it with a cable. Where can I buy 3mm green and yellow earth cable? I can only find the cable sleeve to buy, not the whole wire/cable itself.

 

[davelx]

Duplicate deleted

 

[davelx]

Strip a bit of twin and earth and sleeve it is the usual way to do this.
You can buy g/y insulated singles at any electrical wholesaler, but generally only by the reel.

 

[winston1]

B&Q have 5 m lengths of 1.5 green/yellow which is adequate for your needs. Saw it the other day and thought how expensive it was at over £6.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Find a spare bit of 3-core flex, Split it open and bingo, one length oif ready-sleeved earth conductor!

Simples!

 

[Techboy]

Thanks all for the info

 

[Taylortwocities]

OR

If the earth on the light switch cable currently terminates on the back box, just move it to the faceplate of the switch. No additional cable needed.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Where can I buy 3mm green and yellow earth cable?

Nowhere - that size does not exist.

I am replacing a light switch in my living room. The old faceplate was plastic and the new one is metal, so I need to earth it with a cable.

Why can't you use the earth core in the cable to the switch?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

... the earth on the light switch cable ...

Just wondering....

 

[Taylortwocities]

I did say "if"

 

[ericmark]

Where can I buy 3mm green and yellow earth cable?

Nowhere - that size does not exist.

It's called 7/0.029 which works out at 2.98mm² but it would have been green rather than green/yellow. But really 1mm² would be ample. I think there is a problem with change of practice when we went metric? We for years measured the thickness of the cable. You will note the poster said 3mm not 3mm² and with Batt Single Core PVC 6181XY double insulated 3.12mm dia = 6mm² the same with 6491X cable so it would seem he was looking for 6mm² cable.

Just because your a young pup still wet behind the ears don't assume everyone is the same I worked with imperial cable until 1990 when I returned to UK.

 

[sparkwright]

3mm is a common size for earth sleeving (to place over bare earth wires).

I wonder if this where the confusion comes from.

 

[Anteaus]

It's called 7/0.029 which works out at 2.98mm²

Imperial cable was better quality, in heavier gauges it had more strands and hence was more flexible and was less prone to poor terminal clamping. Talking about old ideas, funny enough they've just realised that metal CUs are safer than plastic. They knew that in the 1930's, and that ceramic carriers would not burn up. Just don't bring back natural rubber insulation though, that was a bad idea. Or neutral fuses.

 

[ericmark]

The whole idea of the ring final was electric heating. Yet today we limit fixed appliances to 2kW without special calculations. I have seen with my dads house which had 5 rather than the previous 2 sockets as it went from 15A radials to 30A ring finals how spurs have caused overloaded circuits. It was a surprise to see how the PVC cable had failed yet the rubber cable was still OK. In the main due to higher power limits on the old rubber but be it double cotton covered or rubber some of the old ideas were better than today's ideas.

 

[winston1]

Yet today we limit fixed appliances to 2kW without special calculations.

That is just not true and is not in the regs. What is more such appliances, washing machines, dish washers, tumble dryers, even some ovens over 2KW come with moulded 13A plugs.