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[MaxV6]

I totally agree with Kev...    i think we should have a Garage wiring party at Chris's

[Andys VXR]

If you see a big mushroom cloud in the Reading area you know whats happened 

[aaronjb]

And there was me concerned that 10mm SWA might be an inadequate dedicated feed to my garage..

[feeutfo]

Yeah alright clever dicks, but your telling me break all, are ya?

It's is now April the 2nd btw.

[CaptainZok]

My biggest worry would be the use of an extension lead as the start of the circuit.
Don't they sell sockets, back boxes and twin and earth down your way?
A fused spur looks much more professional than a 13A plug too.

[feeutfo]

Not bothered if it looks professional. Not even slightly.

Although I am concerned how the wiring exits the socket.
But then again the socket isn't plugged into the 4 gang itself, but run in series (?)


What's the difference between that and a pair of 2 plug power sockets on the wall?

[feeutfo]

Or do you mean the cable from from the plug?
Yes sorry, see what you mean now.

[CaptainZok]

You've got to ensure that the weakest point in the circuit is the fuse.
Standard sockets and 2.5 t&e cable are designed to be part of a 32A ring main so down fused to 13A shouldn't start to get hot. Dunno if I'd trust a 4 gang extension lead to do the same.
I'm not well up on installation regs these days but always used to work on the principal that the fuse will pop long before any of the circuit it's feeding starts to emulate an electric fire.

[Taxi_Driver]

You've got to ensure that the weakest point in the circuit is the fuse.
Standard sockets and 2.5 t&e cable are designed to be part of a 32A ring main so down fused to 13A shouldn't start to get hot. Dunno if I'd trust a 4 gang extension lead to do the same.
I'm not well up on installation regs these days but always used to work on the principal that the fuse will pop long before any of the circuit it's feeding starts to emulate an electric fire.

I wouldnt either....i think manu's tend to skimp on the thickness of cable on cheap products where they believe in 'normal' use it will be ok.
Try this for example. Fill a kettle fully with cold water and turn on, when boiled empty and repeat...i bet you will find the cable to it, is starting to warm up. Under 'normal' use the cable is ok, but not spec'd to constantly supply the 2 or 3kw needed.

I've also seen first hand, what happens when you plug a portable air conditioner into an extension lead that was plugged into another extension lead that was plugged into another extension lead.
I kid you not, this happened in a computer room at a company i was working for at the time......worked fine to start with.....left overnight and in the morning the extension cables had melted and the 13A fuse had eventually popped, they were lucky it hadnt started a fire......

With that amount extension sockets on the wall,, i'd be at the very least make a 'ring' out of them   

[aaronjb]

I'm not well up on installation regs these days but always used to work on the principal that the fuse will pop long before any of the circuit it's feeding starts to emulate an electric fire.

I like that description..

And indeed, Chris, I don't think any of that would even remotely get close to Part P (Now nobody look in my kitchen at what the previous owners left .. maybe I should post a photo for amusement!)

[tigers_gonads]

If you have a neon screwdriver, carefully pull the cover off the consumer unit and touch the earth busbar and see if it lights up

Not a good idea... He's scared of electrickery

Its good for you 
I've see it on casualty on a saturday night 
They use it on peoples hearts all the time to make them feel better 

[Kevin Wood]

Yes, in theory it's all protected by a 13A fuse so "can't be overloaded".

I practice, a 13A fuse can allow a considerable overload for a considerable period of time before blowing, so it's best to avoid the scenario where it and the wiring it protects is likely to be overloaded, especially where more wire than designed has been rammed into the terminals of the socket strips, so you may get poor connections which will get hot. As said, 4 way strips like that tend to be engineered down to the lowest cost possible as it is...

For a fixed installation of 4 way strips like that I would use a fused spur box to feed each one and extend the ring main to feed the spur boxes. That way, you're not ramming 2.5mm T&E into the terminals in addition to the flex they are designed to terminate.

Better still, fit a pair of proper 2 way 13A sockets on the ring main at each location and bin the 4 way strips, or use them occasionally as extension leads as they are designed to be used.

[Kevin Wood]

But... to cut to the chase, when I see a messy installation like that, I want to know what has been hidden under the covers. More often than not, when I come across an installation that looks a mess, whilst I can theorise as we have, that it's messy but probably won't do any harm, when I come to take it apart I find more serious wiring errors that would have done harm if left.

Someone who's happy to "have a go" and leave an installation messy will quite often have left more serious errors too. Maybe the problem with the light is an indicator that things aren't quite as they should be under the covers?

[STMO123]

If you see a big mushroom cloud in the Reading area you know whats happened 

And then we would all have to call Mr Gixer a rather retarded bastud, wouldn't we? 

[feeutfo]

Well now that you mention it Kev, ther was a funny "working one minute, not the next... Glare at it, wiggle things, oh, now it's working" type moment with the angle grinder a couple of weeks ago on the same 4 gang socket.

Anyway, I'm actually quite proud of myself for getting the light to work at all tbh. 


....  Even if it Did take me until 10.30 at night.