Hi again ..
Recent talk of running power to outbuildings etc reminds me that I still have to do so to my own workshop!
This has been brought fwd by the mate who has recently said that I can have whatever I want off his big roll of 2.5mm 3 core .. for nowt (done him enough favours the last of which was removing two 'made of cheese' countersunk machine screws out of the rear of his BMW bike / combo brake drum ... after he had mullered the hex heads out of them of course!).
Anyway. I have been managing with a heavy duty extension lead for the odd time I need power down there but I have provided a fairly easy path already.
There is a 'spare' 32A MCB in the CU on the RCD side.. Do I need another isolator here?
There is a run of plastic drain pipe from under the suspended floor in the house, under the concrete floor of the lean-to, under the hard standing and under the 'garden' (yard) and up to the garage.
It stops in the ground .5 m from the garage base and I have cut a 3" dia hole through the bottom of the pre cast concrete panel of the garage.
The 'idea' was to make a sort of access point from a soil / surface drain fitting (bought for +AKM-1 at a boot sale) where I could bring (Armoured) / telephone cable through from my underground pipe, though this fitting and then through some steel pipe (scaffold sized) into the garage?
In there I would fit a suitable CU / RCD etc? (I'll go back and check recent ssimilar threads)
Anyway. the 'point' here was if I was to be given enough 2.5mm armoured to do the main run x2 (eg, double the cable up) would it give me a lower voltage drop for my MIG welder some +AH4-25m away?
I also noticed when playing with some armoured yesterday that if you trim back the armouring you end up with a round PVC coated 3 core cable that is fairly flexible. Could the 'inner' bit be say continued through a wall to save having to fit a junction box (ie just fit the gland and earthing washer and carry another earth cable through (or bond them together at that point) rather than making an extra joint and going on in T&E ? (and assuming it's all dry etc)
All the best .. and thanks for your time folks .. ;-)
T i m