Home DIY

Usually that's the case, sometimes the ignition too although that's possibly 9v battery.

JIB Registered City and Guilds Part 1 and 2 Think I did the 16th or 17th regs can't remember which one most prob the 16th it was Red lol

I still have my pyro tools ;o))))

You don't see a lot of pyro now, it's mostly FP200 nowadays.

Still used in museums, churches, thatched cottages, etc. Usually when the insurance company demands it.

I've not potted up a pyro connection for over 5 years now!

Yup, red was 16th edition. The current one features a lot of RCD requirements, otherwise people who'd done the 16th seemed to get through pretty easily. It's multiple choice open book, the tuition centres around learning to reference the book. There's always a few questions which are deliberately an odd way of phrasing but you probably know enough to pass already.

Seems like there's plenty of work out there for electricians if you're looking to get back into it.

So the plan is to make it into a ring by connecting the furthest socket on the radial back to the CU?

That would suggest that I'd given this more thought than I actually have.

I'm more concerned with whether I can run the earth wire for the main bonding directly down from the CU inside the wall, and then around the room behind the skirting to the gas and water entry point.

The check for main bonding is continuity and size of cable. If your supply is PME and the supply neutral is normal size you will need to run 10mm earth cable. As long as continuity can be confirmed you should get away with it disappearing and reappearing. An electrician will not want to put it behind skirting though. Channeling into the top of the wall and plastering over it or running it in the ceiling void would be normal. It should be within 600mm of the entry point. It's common to need it upgrading or adding since the 17th edition, one of those situations where you can usually prove that it makes no difference as most places have gas and water joined at the boiler but the regs take into account all manner of risk not just the everyday.

Mine is brand new (well, about a year old), but was run over the surface of the wall and affixed using cable clips as I was going to re-do that room.

I am now re-doing the room, so it needs to find it's permanent place, and behind the skirting is a lot less onerous than cutting a channel round two walls.

Bonza.

It's understandable, especially since it's an earth conductor and shouldn't be carrying any voltage for any length of time. It's just considered an unsuitable place for cables. If it was buried 50mm+ deep behind the skirting then it would be fine.

If you need a longer cable than you currently have to reach the same point by a different route every joint must be accessible.

Surface mount mini-trunking...

Electricians love trunking. If only the home owning public would get on board. Someone needs to make trunking cool.

It's understandable, especially since it's an earth conductor and shouldn't be carrying any voltage for any length of time. It's just considered an unsuitable place for cables. If it was buried 50mm+ deep behind the skirting then it would be fine.

Considered=illegal, or considered=a faux pas?

Surface mount mini-trunking...

If that surface is the wall behind the skirting then yes, I can get on board with that concept.

Bare metal wall and shiny metal pipes.

The french have stuff that looks like skirting board.

Electricians love trunking. If only the home owning public would get on board. Someone needs to make trunking cool.

D-Line trunking. It'll never look great but it looks a damn sight better than the square stuff.

I'd have to dig deep into the regs to find out if there's a loophole for earthing conductors but in simple terms the area behind the skirting board is not in a zone allowed for cables. Because you are talking about an earth cable which could carry a current in a fault condition you should not put a cable there.

However, if it is more than 50mm below the surface then it's allowed.

It's a scenario that you could try and justify on a risk assessment basis, but professionally you probably wouldn't as the potential hassle is worse than the alternative, trunking or hiding in an allowed part of the walls/ceiling cavities. Unless you have wallpaper and can't access the ceiling from above a small channel is just a bit of dust and fill/touch up with paint.

Solid concrete ceiling, solid concrete floor.

This would be a 6 metre channel cut into concrete, if I had to channel it into the wall (solid beam at the top of the wall).

I'm not using trunking, any other options?

@Dammit
Could you drill a couple of holes and go outside and back in again with your earth cable?
Don't know if it's allowed I'm no spark.

I have pretty much the same dilemma. Was thinking of taking the beading off and putting the wiring under the skirting in the expansion gap (the gap is bigger than it needs to be given I've got engineered wood floors).

From the sound of things this might be frowned upon.

Look at insulating the external wall with Marmox multiboard .

Hang on, IIRC (which I may not) if the wire is mechanically protected (i.e. inside metal conduit) I can run it pretty much anyway I want, yes?

So it could go in a length of conduit straight across the room, under/in the new concrete floor that needs to be laid/poured?

You can put it in the concrete yes. Going from the book, 16mm copper if it's protected by a sheath with no mechanical protection. 25mm if it's bare. 10mm is the minimum in a sheath and mechanically protected if you have pme supply. Any other type of supply could go down as small as 2.5mm. Probably best to opt for 16mm in a sheath under the concrete.

To make that clear, yes 10mm in conduit, 16mm with the standard sheath. 25mm bare.

And underfloor heating when there is a fault. Win!

Yeah, re-used the existing wiring then, might take you up on the bending tool if you have one?

Been uncovering some more, here's the overview:

The flat is wired through steel conduit, here seen vanishing into the ceiling:

Top right of our first diagram we find more of the conduit, coming down inside the wall from the ceiling:

We have cooker wiring and two sets of L/N, one earth.

Same again when we look at the once-was-socket:

Which looks like it may never have been a socket based on the un-cut wires in there.

I would think that the conduit goes straight back to the CU, not sure where the wires that exit the no-longer-socket go, possibly this room was wired as a ring and they go back via the two extant sockets (one on each of the other walls).

That would, however, make the existing wiring into a spur, as clearly it doesn't have continuity through the stuff I've uncovered.

I'll get a sparks in, this is turning into an expensive week!

Could just be me but I'm not seeing any pics. Wired through conduit, it could be in singles. In which case it's an easier job to rewire.