I am considering making a bathroom towel rail/tidy from steel tube (1.5" o.d) which will be fixed to floor and wall. I would like to use part of the steel tubing as conduit for some cable (1.5mm twin & Earth) to facilitate fitting a wall fan. Are there likely to be any objections to this unorthodox use of fixed furniture for this purpose? If it's acceptable what would be the best way to protect the cable entry and exit points from chafing if standard grommets don't fit the wall of the tubing? The circuit is already protected with an RCBO.
You normally use either a brass male bush or a stuffing gland. Both of which screw into a coupler. which you could weld into the tube. There's also a cable clamp for TW&E which fits in the same way - but that would look a bit ugly.
I admire your DIY spirit, but my thoughts are making one would cost more than buying - or is there not one available in the size you want?
You're looking at it from the wrong side. The question should be not "will someone object to using fixed furniture as conduit?", but "will someone object to using conduit as fixed furniture?"
The answer is (probably) no, providing you comply with part 5 of the wiring regulations.
I expect you would want to comply with rule 512.2 regarding external influences, whereby you would need to consider the following:
mechanical loading on the conduit
insulating effect of the towels
humidity of the environment
increased ambient room temperature
condensation
As regards anti-chafing, I'm not sure what you mean by your reference to standard grommets not fitting the wall of the tubing: you just need to buy "suitable" grommets and cut a suitable hole for them. You don't need to use "standard" grommets. However, if you use grommets, then you need to take account of water ingress into the conduit, which (unless it is stainless steel) will no doubt rust from the inside.
Having said all that my inclination would be to find another way of running your cable to avoid the law of unintended consequences.
Thanks for that information - I'll have a google and see what's available.
The idea is currently at the planning stage and may never see the light of day. I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone and the materials are already available as leftovers from another job. It isn't just size that matters; the design I have in mind is a bit unusual but I might end up doing it in wood as a single item, or of course not at all.
Thanks for the information and warnings none of which I'd even considered! In fact it's unlikely that there would be much risk from most of these factors. The tubing (1.5" o.d. - 3mm wall) isn't standard conduit so mechanical loading won't be a problem. My plan (if it goes ahead is to use just one vertical leg (about 1 metre) of the design and a few inches of one horizontal as conduit so the towels won't have much insulating effect. I'm not sure about humidity and condensation as my intention is to make an air-sealed structure.
The point about finding suitable grommets is that they tend to come for fitting to thin metal and might not be a snug fit in a 3mm walled tube. I'll have to look for something to fit properly.
I take your point about an alternative route for the cable which wouldn't have been a problem if I'd thought about it before I finished the bathroom. Chasing into the wall would have been simple - now it would mean very unwelcome disruption.
You should have installed conduit for a fan knowing they are "highly likely in the future" :-)
Did you use cement or PVA based tile adhesive? If PVA, slot the grout lines, use a wide scraper and lever off a tile use plastic on the back if not edge glazed tiles. Repeat down or up the wall as necessary.
Have you considered D-Line corner or other trunking, painted to suit, matching silicone to seal, whatever.
Have you considered an SELV fan with remote transformer, slot out a grout line and slip in whatever 2-core will fit. You may need to widen the group line a little.
Do you not have any spare tiles, in which case, just balls to it and take off a line of tiles, slip in some 16mm oval, tile back over and be done?
Failing that, a ceiling fan, quieter in the night, just make sure the box it fits in is fireproof (not difficult and to be true uk.d-i-y you could fit an over temperature bimetallic switch inside it set to 95oC or similar to improve safety one step further). That way you only need a grill in the ceiling. Go through the catalogs & Ebay to see if anything springs to mind.
SELV thro "towel rail made of conduit", but not LV - that is a bit like copper-pipe conduit in a greenhouse :-)
Thanks for the reply and some interesting suggestions.
To make the position clear the fan involved is not an extractor fan, as I did remember to fit a very adequate extractor fan during refurbishment.
The fan now under consideration is an 'after bath/shower' fan for drying off after showering or bathing. I've used a pedestal fan for many years for this purpose and I'm now considering incorporating the wiring for a fixed mid height fan to replace the pedestal fan.
I appreciate your various suggestions for modifying tiling but I'm definitely not going to be doing that as I don't like tinkering with a completed job. I have visions of the whole lot falling off as soon as I try to remove the first tile!
I like the idea of SELV wiring as I might be able to get a suitable 12 volt fan; I believe that Myson do a 12 volt version of their kitchen kick- space heaters so I should be able to find something similar for my purpose.
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