Pls help identifying T&E cable size.

[AL_n]

"ARW" wrote in news:mm73nl$7u3$1@dont- email.me:

Well, I could swap the consumer unit for a MCB one, I suppose - or simply add a shower mcb unit just for the shower, yes?

[ARW]

It's going to get messy if you want to meet the 17th edition regs.

I am all for DIY as long as it is done safely. Nothing the OP has posted so far suggests that the electrical installation will be safe.

Let's start off with the main bonding - the first thing to be checked before starting a shower installation (or indeed a shower swap)

[ARW]

It's RCD that you need

[tony sayer]

In article , ARW scribeth thus

In fact the best thing you could install is a proper power shower and just enjoy it :)

Best thing we ever did chucking the Electric ones!.

[John Rumm]

Or better still:

(could not find that one on my first search - thanks to Adam for the pointer!)

[AL_n]

"ARW" wrote in news:mm75qj$g04$ [e-mail]:

Sorry; that's what I meant.

[ARW]

The best thing is that they have clamps for the cable.

[AL_n]

"ARW" wrote in news:mm74m0$bhm$ [e-mail]:

The house's copper gas supply pipe is bonded at the consumer unit. The internal copper water pipes are bonded at the boiler which was recently installed by British Gas engineers. The water pipe to the shower will be plastic. It appears to be a TN-CS electric supply which installed in 1991. I've nerver experienced any issues with the mains circuit.

[AL_n]

tony sayer wrote in news: [e-mail]:

In my case, I wouldn't like a power shower because I have a combi boiler, so every time I draw hot tapwater, the central heating cuts out. That's not a problem in Summer, but in winter, it can be uncomfortable as the bathroom grows cold pretty quickly when the central heating is cut off.

I've always likes electric showers, (Perfect water temperature, instantly, etc) I've never had a problem with them - apart from one failing after about ten years of use.

Al

[AL_n]

John Rumm wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks for that. It turns out I will only need to make one join, so that's good.

Al

[John Rumm]

If memory serves the circuit could pass, but any spur from it could fail...

[John Rumm]

Is this plastic trunking mounted on the surface of the wall, or buried in it?

And the trunking there.. surface or buried?

Is your main equipotential bonding to current standards?

[AL_n]

John Rumm wrote in news: [e-mail]:

The trunking is mounted on the surface of the wall, inside the house.

There is no trunking in the loft; the cable lies on the top of the glass fibre loft insulation.

I guess so, because a central heating system was installed a couple of years ago, by well-trained British Gas engineers. I noticed they took a lot of pains to make sure the bonding of their work was done properly. The house's gas inlet pipe is also bonded directly to the CU's green+yellow earth cable, whose overall thickness is 6mm. Where it is connected to the gas mains supply pipe, there is an aluminium tag with a red stripe, saying "Safety Electrical Connection Do Not Remove".

I guess it's all in order, but can I check the integrity of the earthing and bonding somehow, say with a multi-meter?

Al

[tony sayer]

In article , AL_n scribeth thus

Simples chuck the combi;!..

Never had problems with someone else drawing water off elsewhere thus changing the water feed pressure and the temp taking time to respond?..

[Vir Campestris]

Ah that's the problem. You need a hot water tank. The boiler can then heat more water at its leisure.

You can also use the immersion on days the boiler is having a sulk.

Andy

[Andy Wade]

Why? The CPC in 6 mm^2 metric T&E is usually single strand 2.5 mm^2 (~1.78 mm dia).

I'm not sure why everybody's assumed that the OP's cable is imperial. Are the conductors tinned copper or plain? IIRC imperial PVC cable to BS 2004 continued to use tinned conductors (originally necessary with rubber insulation). Plain copper only appeared at metrication, with the introduction of BS 6004, c. 1969.

[Jim x321x]

Andy Wade wrote in news:curemjFfli9U1 @mid.individual.net:

The wires within the cables in question look like copper through and through. They are not coated in any silvery-looking metal such as tin. The cables definitely look more recent than 1969, and are the same colour of cables used to wire the entire house which was built in or around 1990.

Jim

[Andy Burns]

Confused ... is jim x321x the same person as AL_n? If so why do you refer to yourself in the 3rd person as "someone" in the fuse box thread?

[Andy Wade]

I'd put money on it being 6 mm^2 then. '10-mil' would have a 7-strand CPC. It could be '4-mil', but that size is much less commonly used, especially in houses. If the CPC is the same size as the single strand line & neutral conductors of 2.5 T&E, then it is 6 mm^2.

If you look at the sheath carefully you'll likely find that it's embossed at intervals with the manufacturer's name, year of manufacture, and sometimes the size.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Plain copper PVC imperial was around. I've seen it.

There was also stranded metric 2.5mm - made IIRC in singles for conduit use. But may have been made as a special in TW&E for say a particular council - they could have odd ideas. And it's not expensive to have special cable made provided you order enough.