Why?

[Johnmelad502]

Was on a job today and I heard the electrician recommending that the radial circuit (sockets) be converted to a ring main. He was then explaining his reasons to the home owner when the decorator switched on his radio and I could not earwig what was said.

Why would he be recommending this?

I read on here a while back that a radial circuit was better than a ring main, so what are the advantages of one over the other? Put in layman's terms please.

 

[Spark123]

A 2.5mm ring final circuit can be fused at 30A/32A and as a rule of thumb serve a floor space of up to 100m².
A 2.5mm radial can be fused at 15A to 20A and as a rule of thumb serve a floor space of up to 50m².
In other words a ring can provide more power.
There is of course a 4mm radial which can be fused up at 30A/32 and as a ROT supply a floor space of up to 75m².
Horrible roadworks at westlakes ggrrrr.

 

[333rocky333]

Reusing the cable and sockets still there, hes proberly adding a few more and by taking a cable from the last one back to the board he can increase the fuse and as spark 123 said allow more stuff to be used on the circuit.

Bit more work but Seems a good idea, rather than loads of sockets added on a 20 amp

 

[Paul_C]

Much depends upon the existing and anticipated loads though. If the existing radial circuits are adequate for the job, there's not really any point in changing to a ring.

Ring final circuits are not used in most countries, and bring their own set of problems which do not exist with radials, at least in the form they are specified in BS7671.

 

[bongos]

Someone added a link a while ago involving the benefits/drawbacks of using a ring final circuit or radial circuit but can't find it now.

Anyone remember where it was?

 

[Johnmelad502]

Someone added a link a while ago involving the benefits/drawbacks of using a ring final circuit or radial circuit but can't find it now.

Anyone remember where it was?

Just found this...
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=189000&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0