Would a house that was professionally re-wired 3 years ago to standards include RCD protection?
IE would it be safe to use an electric mower from a kitchen socket without purchase of additional protection?
What is the safety record of electric mowers? I've always used manual, but finding it difficult to obtain a replacement manual mower.
Should do, but this will only be at the level of the consumer unit (or more likely, half of it)
I wouldn't consider it the best course (although "safety" with a mower has more to do with care & decent boots than your wiring).
Firstly a trip of the RCD with a typical 16th edition system will take out all the ring mains, including your computer and the video recorder. Annoying.
Secondly the trip current for a single device can be lower (thus somewhat safer) than for a consumer unit.
So overall I'd probably prefer to install a "garden socket" which could be either indoor or outdoor (weatherproof) and this would use an RCD-protected socket, at appropriate trip current, or more likely (and a little cheaper) an RCD-protected spur to such a socket.
normally yes, but not always
How safe is the question. You can die either way
safety record? they like to eat their mains leads. I'd always wear gloves. Many mowers also like to nibble on toes. Steelers help there, as do feeble plastic blades. But I'd sooner have a powerful mower that does the job, and keep the h--- out the way.
NT
Almost certainly. Although it may not apply to all circuits - you will need to check what it says on the CU.
If the kitchen sockets are on a RCD protected circuit, then yes.
They are most likely to injure you as a result of sticking feet or hands under them - electrocution is well down the list of probabilities. Chopping the cable seems popular but in itself is often not that risky (however picking up the severed end afterwards for a closer inspection may well be!)
Aye, keep yer toes away and have the cable lying across the cut section of lawn to reduce the changes of running over it.
And not safe for people in the house who suddenly find themselves without power and depending on how things are wired plunged into darkness or suddenly without much less light.
Yes, but not spurred from an already RCD protected circuit as there is nothing to say which will trip first unless the upstream one has a high rating and is timed delayed, which one feeding a ring main shouldn't be. A seperatly RCD protected circuit from non-RCD side of the CU would be best.
You cannot assume anything in such a potentially( no pun intended!) life or death situation. Use a separate RCD.
Peter Crosland
You often mow the lawn when it's dark, then? ;-)
David
To quote a phrase popular in my office: "so don't do that then!" (whether or not there's an RCD in the circuit).
Not often but there are rooms and places here with no windows or very restricted daylight.
Its surprising the number that do... the typical case often seems to be a damaged rather than cut flex - the temptation being to have a closer look I expect.
Why not? An electric lawnmower can have headlights :)
I would thing that most people have more powercuts per lifetime than cut through a lawn mower cable!
Fine if you can diy it but there are 10mA plug in RCD protectors for those that cannot or do not want to.
Adam
Yes. My outdoor socket circuit is on a 10mA RCBO.
I would suggest that you install the RCD in the warm and dry where it has no chance of getting wet or condensation, even if the sockets are outdoors. Also, install a switch inside so you can power off the outdoor circuit, and make sure it's a double pole one if the circuit shares an RCD with anything else, so that in the event of an outdoor fault, you can completely isolate it to prevent it tripping a shared RCD. I use a cooker switch with neon, to remind that the circuit has been left on. As it's right next to an outside door, it also has an integral socket, so that can easily be used from outdoors too, and on
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