Currently got wiring in the attic that runs a light. Originally just a pull switch and bulb/holder but I've replaced with strip light.
However, what I want to do now is have plug socket up there. Is it acceptable to run this wire into a double plug socket. (Then I can put plug on end of wiring for light also and just plug this is leaving me with one space socket).
Or leave well alone because its a light circuit?
is this wiring actually on the lighting ring? If yes, then no. I'd not chance it, in any case the breaker on that ring would probably pop if you used it with a vacuum or angle grinder when the motor started! Brian
It would seem sensible to split the feed to leave the light permanently wired, and then have a socket connected via a fused spur unit.
If you fused the socket (via the spur) at 3 or 5A[1] and labelled the socket accordingly, it would be ok for powering low current appliances. This kind of thing is often done for supplies to aerial amps or TV distribution amplifiers etc.
[1] Depending on the rating of the protective device for the whole circuit, and the existing load on it from other lamps.
Make your mind up, a plug or a socket? They are two different things.
jgh
Oh, I used a clock point for that sort of thing, I have to say, but then I'm weird. Brian
Not a good idea! What size cable feeds the lighting circuit, and how is it protected at the CU - what value of fuse, breaker, etc.?
If you only want to use low power appliances up there, you might get way with connecting a socket via an FCU with a 5 amp fuse in it - but it's far from good practice!
What's your problem? Calling it a double plug socket makes perfect sense. Is far better than those that call sockets plugs and plugs "plug tops"!
I do have a single plug socket from the lighting ring in my loft but its a 5 amp round pin socket that powers the aerial booster. Never connect a 13 amp socked as who knows what someone may try to run from it.
Mike
I agree, you have to consider that someone may come along and assume it is safe to plug a 3Kw heater in there. Much safer would be to run a spur off the upstairs ring, to a twin 13 amp socket, then use one outlet for the light, via a suitably small fuse in the plug, leaving you one outlet for your angle grinder, wander light, or what ever.
There is almost always an easy cable route from the 1st floor floor-level, upto the loft space - airing cupboard etc..
If you then somehow manage to trip that, you will still have some working light on the floor below.
More normal plug/socket combination to use on a lighting circuit would be
2 or 5 amp three pin - that's why they are still available from nearly all makers of wiring accessories.But if you wish to use something like a lead light or other device fitted with a 13 amp plug, you'll need a 13 amp socket. With the wiring protected by a FCU with a 5 amp fuse.
On Monday 10 February 2014 16:17 Harry Bloomfield wrote in uk.d-i-y:
well, in the worst case, it will take out the protective device (fuse) - which will be annoying, but not actually dangerous...
Or use with a self-made flex having a 13A socket at one end and a 2A or
5A plug at the other? Thus leaving the fixed wiring relatively standard/safe but allowing use of things with 13A plugs on them (up to some appropriate current limit).
I'm wondering what is confusing about plug and socket? Why does either need any extra description?
A 5A fuse in a spur probably won't blow before the 6A breaker in the CU anyway so its not actually going to improve protection. It may make the circuit easier to understand.
>
No need for the 5A FCU. The 6A MCB or 5A fuse will take care of any overload.
Now what is required is the labelling of the 13A socket. eg "TV amp/loft light ONLY"
Sometimes you just have to fit 13A sockets for the TV amp/LED lighting wall warts that you want to power.
Thank you.
to run this wire into a double plug socket. (Then I can put plug on end of wiring for light also and just plug this is leaving me with one space socket).
Feed the supply to a 5A fused spur unit and feed that to the 13A socket, and label the socket 'Max load 5A'. That's what they usually do for aerial amps. You do need to pick up an earth from the lighting circuit though, so if there isn't one you're stuffed.
Years ago I went to a block of flats to find out why the TV system didn't work very well. There was no amp in loft above the communal stairs, but I could see coaxes passing across that loft into the loft of a flat, so I got into there and found the amp, which was strategically placed midway between a lighting terminal box and a steel housing which was something to do with the warden call system. The mains cable for the amp had been stripped back by about two feet. The brown wire went to the lighting terminal box and the blue one went to one of the screws that held the lid on the metal box. This was not the cause of the fault, which was simply that the amp was overloaded by aerial signal. However I made myself unpopular by disconnecting the amp (which left the residents with no reception rather than poor reception) pending the arrival the next day of an electrician.
Bill
Well, it's hardly a definitive description, is it?
I'm thinking of putting a socket in my loft.
What kind of socket?
A plug socket.
Errrrrrrr?
In short, it adds nothing to the description.
I'm thinking of putting a new plug socket behind the telly.
Is that a phono plug socket, HDMI socket, phone plug socket, VGA plug socket, RJ45 plug socket, F-type plug socket, Belling-Lee plug socket,
13A plug socket, 5A (lighting) plug socket or some other kind of plug socket?Those that use the term seem to think it is the most logical term in the world but I just can't see the logic behind it.
Personally I'd say 13A socket, 13A dual socket, 13A single socket or whatever.
My reason for including it was not for protection of the wiring, but for adding discrimination if possible. I.e. it would be nice if overloading the current budget for the socket blew only its fuse rather than taking out the lights in the loft you happen to be in at the time! (especially if its not boarded and you now have to find your way back to the hatch in the dark)
yup
Use a 1A or 3A fuse then.
Bill
"Brian Gaff" wrote in news:ldaru1$dli$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
I did the same for an aerial amp.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.