Date : Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:17:50 +0200
From : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: Leccy @ Acorn World '09
Phil Blundell wrote:
> so you can't infer too much about the one from the other.
I wasn't, just pointing out that it is 3 here. :-)
Don't have a written source, but two different electricians have told me
that, hence why I set the bedrooms up to be two 3-socket radials.
Of course... one of those sockets holds an RCCD (or whatever it's
called) going to a maze of extension leads - two PCs, one RiscPC,
satellite, HiFi, VCR, PVR, mobile phone, router, blah blah. If wired
strictly to 3-sockets-one-fuse, I'd need a breaker board looking like
something of the Space Shuttle in a low-budget sci-fi flick for my kit
alone... :-)
On the plus side, there is nothing considered "heavy load" so the
distribution multiway is running a 5A fuse, and the others are running
3As except for the itty-bitty for the chargers and stuff which is 1A.
On another socket I have a French multiway. They don't tend to fuse theirs.
> It's only in the last couple of years, for example, that the UK regs
> have permitted socket-outlets to be installed in bathrooms, whereas
> this has been standard practice in France basically forever.
Yes. We have a socket at floor level by the bathtub. Obviously I
disconnected that up in the loft. It just screamed "risk assessment"!
> you still aren't allowed a socket-outlet within a 3m horizontal radius
> of a bath or shower, which of course means that they are effectively
> forbidden in small bathrooms.
Does this apply also to isolated shaver-type sockets?
> Do the French regs provide any explanation?
It's enough reading the British regs, don't plan to delve into the
French ones!
> The only thing I can think of is that in the French system, you have 16A
> outlets on 16A spurs and hence a single appliance is entitled to draw
> the full rated current for the entire circuit;
The bedroom breakers are both 16A, so this would seem a reasonable guess.
I have uploaded a few photos for your "enjoyment". PLEASE NOTE these are
directly from an 8megapixel camera (3264x2448), took 'em minutes ago, so
if any of you are on dial-up, don't hold your breath! They'll take +/-
14 seconds each at 1mbit.
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/leccy/DSCI2097.JPG
The new wiring - left to right: Immersion heater, bedrooms (front),
bedrooms (rear). Notice the breakers switch both poles.
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/leccy/DSCI2098.JPG
Underneath the "disjoncteur" (big-ass trip switch and regulator). Notice
the total lack of regard for cable colouring. The new part was added
with neutral=blue and live=black. The layout is
neutral-phase-phase-phase. Don't ask me which is which. There is no
intrinsic earth, which is odd as the three phase sockets are three
phases and an earth, and the trip goes on a leak to earth, yet there
doesn't appear to be a direct earth connection? The non-phase terminal
in the three phase sockets is NOT that neutral - I'd done a resistance
test (there's a socket near the meter box). The earth cable you can see
was added for the new wiring.
You can see some horrendous old braid'n'rubber cabling. This appeared to
go to what looked like a big many-socket radial of the three phase plugs
in the house (we had 'em in the bedroom for god's sake, why!?) so I
disconnected all of this as it isn't necessary...
The thing on the right with the numbers is to do with the rating. We are
currently rated 9kW which means we can draw up to 9000W. More than that,
the thing trips. Common domestic use offers 6kW (dirt cheap but pretty
useless), 9kW (reasonable compromise), or 12kW (but you pay through the
nose for it).
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/leccy/DSCI2099.JPG
Assuming picture rotated correctly: Top left is the main fuse box. I
think this is the fuse for the incoming supply? I ought to hit the
master cut-out some day and measure it. Top right. Meter. Ancient. It's
as old as I am. For the prospect of a diykyoto, notice most of the
wiring is hidden behind the board. :-( Centre left, new wiring fuse
panel. Lower right, disjoncteur, dating from around 1964. Zazie Dans Le
M?tro era. I think it detects only earth leakage and such, and trips at
around 160mA. We really ought to have a 30mA leak-trip on the new wiring
but couldn't afford one. That's why I have the RCCB on my extensions.
I'm the only one dicking with electrics and the older wiring is
unprotected in any shape. Note that while we have odd things like fuses
in lights, the wiring to the kitchen socket that runs the kettle goes
directly from this device to the socket with no other fuses or breakers.
If you have a weak bladder, go sort out some "protection" before looking at:
http://www.heyrick.co.uk/leccy/DSCI2102.JPG
This is the old wiring rats nest. Those four thick blue wires seen in
2098 come to these screw terminals. What's all the crap? Spider
detritous, dust, all sorts of crap. This is pretty much how it looked
when we got the place EXCEPT there was a shoddy metal case over it (held
by a bolt on the threaded thing you can see in the middle). Frankly,
given the fragility of the rubber-cased wiring, and the mess it all is,
I've not been brave enough to put the case back on.
I've tried unsuccessfully to map out what goes where. I'd rather map up
the London Underground blindfolded.
I VERY CAREFULLY removed one set of braid'n'rubber cabling when dumb-ass
farmer backed his tractor into the distribution box in one of the
outbuildings (Mick, wasn't P it was his I-can't-believe-he-has-a-licence
brother). This disconnected the electricity in the outer outbuildings,
which was a good thing as the rubber seals were starting to perish on
stuff...
As for the rest, I tend to leave it well alone. I'm sure you can
understand why. :-)
The 'protected' cables go up into the loft and then down into the
bedrooms; except the hot water which traverses to the back of the house.
Don't have the money for a rewire job. If I won the lottery (haha, how
many people say THAT?), asides from cutting loose in Akihabara, I would
gleefully rip all that crap out and get something logical put in, as
opposed to half a decade of ad hoc madness.
The previous owner was a farmer, and I'm quite sure in his mind the
important thing is whether or not his milking machine was powered; with
wiring regs coming in a distant second place in his mind.
Best wishes,
Rick.
--
Rick Murray, eeePC901 & ADSL WiFI'd into it, all ETLAs!
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...