Is it a good idea in a new ringmain to try not to cut the wires, but just cut the sleeves back and fold the coppers back on themselves?
If so then what to do with the double sockets which have two terminals for the earth wires?
[George]
No one in the real world ever tried to do this to my knowledge.
In an ideal world one could argue its "better", and the kind of area where a DIY installer can afford to lavish the extra time on it. I am aware of some who have done it, but I don't think its very common practice.
Generally (some dodgy Chinese USB / Gadget sockets excluded [1]) you only need make connection to one or the other as they should be electrically joined in the socket. The exception to that would be when using "high integrity earthing" on circuits that are anticipated to have a high earth leakage current when in normal operation.
[1] ISTR bigclive had a video of a double socket with additional USB where each half had its own earth terminal.
You might have a problem doing that at the CU. And the riser feeding that just uses screw terminals.
How to you fit earth sleeving without cutting the conductor - unless both cables enter the box at the same point?
very marginal improvement in safety
strip them at the same point. But I wouldn't bother.
NT
Don't see how that helps. If sleeving is needed it must cover all the exposed conductor.
Isn't it a requirement to do it like this when a MEB conductor passes through a terminal?
I assume that you are referring to bonding the gas and water using just one cable.
They have, and they posted about it on this newsgroup.
ISTR Andy G posting about it?
I have done it a few times on completely new ring circuit installs.
The first time was 20 years ago in a computer room for lots of PC-type computers stacked on rows of shelves (not rackmounts) where the walls were lined with MK sockets on MK Premier trunking. I didn't want contact resistance adding up with number of sockets, so I carefully stripped and folded back double about an inch of conductor at each connection. 5 ring ciruits IIRC. These were all stranded singles.
A few years later when I rewired my parents kitchen with two ring circuits, I did the same there, but using T&E. It's a bit more fiddly and you need to feed a loop of T&E in through a single backbox punchout to get the sleeve over the folded CPC. It was a bit of a game I set myself, but I wouldn't go anal about it in a domestic situation - there aren't likely to be enough sockets for it to seriously matter.
Did same in my own kitchen rebuild a year or so later.
This all predated sockets with two earth connections.
I've certainly done it.
Earths shouldn't normally be carrying much current, and don't loosen themselves. Just cut them.
Isn't it a requirement to do it like this when a MEB conductor passes through a terminal?
Yup. The alternative is a dedicated wire to each service.
Well - I'm surprised...
I did not, and my loop readings were well within spec with a very good margin.
This is a bit like whether to fold over the ends of wires before screwing them down. ISTR reading once on here that the sharp fold was outside of the cable minimum radius spec and therefore (technically) not adding anything.
aha - folding solid copper often breaks it, which must be worse than not folding, but folding stranded wire in plugs seems better, especially when the wire's thin and holes big, should the ends be folded and when? [george]
I fold stranded when it's loose in the terminal, to ensure better contact and packing.
I've done it on occasion. Whether I'm in the real world might be debated :)
NT
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