Cable to shed - what type?

[paulfoel]

Planning to run electrical cable to shed to run a light and fridge freezer.

Will pond cable do or should I used armoured? Do I need to consider capacity of the cable?

[tony sayer]

In article , paulfoel scribeth thus

Armoured .. it seems the ideal answer.

Relatively compared to T&E and a duct that is...

Plenty of cable capacity guides around, theres one on the TLC website.

Should get a decent price from a local wholesaler. Try ringing round a few ..

[ARWadsworth]

Read

please ask if there is anything that you are not sure of.

[The Natural Philosopher]

The regulations specify armoured (or a duct at least as good as that, mechanically).

T & E isn't greatly ideal from water ingress/mouse chewing and will end up tripping RCDS so armoured ends up much the cheaper way.

only a quid a meter or so for light power levels. you can shove it on its own RCD or RCBO and wire in in permanently .

[The Natural Philosopher]

That wiki does not make the point that ONLY 'digger proof' conduit or armoured cable is suitable for exterior use.

And you SHOULD have warning tape laid above it.

[ARWadsworth]

Is this a spade or a mechanical digger?

And the article can be updated to cover that point

[paulfoel]

Thanks for all the help. Must admit some of the wiki stuff goes over my head.

Anyway, a few more details of my plan.

RCD plug at one end in normal plug socket. Goes through wall to waterproof plug socket on outside wall. Plug from this runs along side of fence to shed (10m away) to shed at bottom of garden. In through shed wall to double plug, running fluorescent light and small freezer.

I think maybe I should have got armoured cable rather than pond cable but anything else a problem here. I guess I need to keep an eye on RCD plug to ensure its not tripping and turning freezer off is one thing.

[dennis]

Does it specify how big a digger? There are some big diggers around that will go through any conduit you can install without a crane.

[NT]

If you run bellwire inside garden hose, you'll get electricity and hot water in the same pipe :)

NT

[Roger Mills]

LOL!

[NT]

I'm tempted to say use 90C rated cable for safety ;)

NT

[John Rumm]

No need, it already says it:

" Direct burial

Cables such as SWA are suitable for direct burial. There are no hard rules as to how deep a cable should be buried, but the depth should be appropriate for the situation. Under a path this may be as little as

400mm, but could rise to 700mm or more under part of a garden that may be "dug over". The cable trench should be cleared of any sharp stones that may damage the cable insulation. If this is not easy to achieve, then a lining of sharp sand or pea shingle can be laid in the trench first.

**** After backfilling the trench the first 150mm, a PVC "Cable Below" tape should be laid before the rest of the trench is backfilled. ****

That way anyone digging too close to the cable will hit the warning tape before hitting the cable. "

[John Rumm]

Might be handy if you let us know which bits - perhaps we can refine the wiki to make it simpler to understand?

Is the light hard wired or just plugged in?

Since it will be exposed, there are two main considerations... protecting it from mechanical damage, and protecting from UV if it is liable to degradation sue to exposure. Chances are the latter is not a problem with the pond cable since its probably designed with outdoor UV exposure in mind (at least I would certainly hope so!)

Fixing to a fence ought to keep it out of the way, but if you are concerned that it could be vulnerable to impact damage then a section of conduit ought to be used to give extra protection.

So long as the shed is not damp then that is relatively unlikely with one that and a light on it.

Have you checked if the circuit you are proposing to plug it into is already RCD protected? If it is, then a second one will not add any value, and won't even necessarily protect the house from tripping should a fault occur.

A RCD spur rather than a plug may be a neater solution in the house to prevent the freezer getting turned off by accident should someone unplug your supply to do the vacuuming!

Third one down:

[John Rumm]

;-)

Yes, I am assuming he means man with spade here, since I doubt there is any cable armour that is going to protect it from a 24 tone excavator!

[John Rumm]

and rubber hose to be sure to be sure!

[Hugh - in either England or Sp]

cables along fences in case they collapse

[NT]

indeed, i gather ts not compliant. Freezers are safer not on an RCD, but outdoor wiring generally needs one anyway.

NT

[John Rumm]

Its not - ideally you should not fix cables to "temporary" structures. However lots of people do it, and depending in the fence and where fitted, is not necessarily that bad... (e.g. along top of gravel boards ok, along top of wafty falling down feather edge fence, not good!)

[fred]

In article , John Rumm writes

Also, IME fixed installation type RCDs are better made and less prone to false tripping than plug-in types. I was worried about water ingress on a new cable run to a greenhouse as a plugtop RCD was tripping occasionally (once a month or so), replaced it with a mini consumer unit with RCD and it has been trip free for a year. I just don't thing they're any good for permanent installations, certainly not feeding a freezer.

[ARWadsworth]

That means Wickes sheds must never have electricity to them.