do I need to earth an electric heated towel rail?

[happyhippydad]

Hello,

Firstly I have absolutely no intention of doing anything if it is at all unsafe or illegal, so please dont tell me off, I am just interested.

I have bought an electric towel rail for the bathroom.

It is fitted to a plug with a 13amp fuse in it and also an earth.

I have 4 questions:

1. Can i just feed the cable through the bathroom wall, outside of the bathroom and plug it in?

2. If the plug has an earth cable in it, is this not earthing the towel?

3. The towel rail has a tiny screw on the bottom of it which looks like it has something to do with earthing, which makes me think i am missing some very important point and the towel rail does in fact need to be earthed?

4. If it needs to be earthed, apart from just in the plug, how do i do this?

Thanks, Steve.

 

[chivers67]

Did this towel rail come with fitting instructions?

 

[happyhippydad]

Ebay!! I do like to recycle. It works just fine.. But no instructions.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Hello,

Hello!

I have 4 questions:

1. Can i just feed the cable through the bathroom wall, outside of the bathroom and plug it in?

Yes you can

2. If the plug has an earth cable in it, is this not earthing the towel?

If the flex that is attached to both the plug and the towel rail is connected to the respective earth terminals of both and you have an earth connection at your socket outlet back to the consumer unit and that too has an earth conductor connected (which they should) then you indeed have a connection to earth.

3. The towel rail has a tiny screw on the bottom of it which looks like it has something to do with earthing, which makes me think i am missing some very important point and the towel rail does in fact need to be earthed?

could be for supplementary bonding to the rest of your exposed pipe work in the bathroom.

4. If it needs to be earthed, apart from just in the plug, how do i do this?

look at me
and me

 

[NewOrder]

Just purely out of interest, am I right in assuming this would not come under the Part P special location rules because it is a portable appliance?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Don't be fooled by part p, thinking it only concerns special locations or installations that are deemed notifiable work.
Part P is a building regulation, it must be complied to at all times. whether the work is notifiable or not.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The one thing I must add is does the circuit you are using have RCD protection?

 

[happyhippydad]

Thanks for the really clear, step by step answers

How would I know if it does? Can i add an RCD to the circuit? If so how and is it necessary?

Also, how would I know if the socket oulet back is earhed? I'm assuming all sockets are earthed?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

How do you know if it does have RCD protection?
Look at the consumer unit for RCBOs or RCDs they should be marked up and have a test button.
If you press the test button and the circuit goes dead and then reset it and the circuit becomes live, the chances are it is protecting that circuit.

Because the item of equipment is for use in the bathroom, it must have RCD protections.
There are number of ways of achieving this.
At the consumer unit via either RCD or RCBO on this circuit.
You could install a fused RCD spur at the socket outlet you intend to use
or use an RCD adaptor.

an RCD
a type of RCBO
RCD spur
adaptor

 

[happyhippydad]

Thats great

So I can just plug the RCD spur adaptor into the socket and then plug my towel rail into the RCD spur adaptor and I dont need to worry about Supplementary equipotential bonding?

Of course I was going to plug one of those timer plugs into the socket first. I cant imagine I could have an RCD adaptor, timer plug and the towel rail plug all pluged into the same socket, just sounds a bit wrong!

 

[ericmark]

How would I know if it does? Can I add an RCD to the circuit? If so how and is it necessary?

1) Yes you can add one.
2) There are many ways the simple way is a plug in device.
3) The RCD one hopes will never operate but should a fault arise it will automatically disconnect the supply if you were to get a shock. It will not stop you getting a shock but it should reduce the time you get it for to 40ms which we hope is short enough to make it that it does not kill you.

Also, how would I know if the socket outlet back is earthed? I'm assuming all sockets are earthed?

There are testers which plug it to check if the earth is sound. An electrician would use an earth loop impedance tester which cost over £200 but there are simple plug in types which according to how much you will test the earth of sorts. these do a reasonable job at £40

is another make and does the same but there are cheaper versions which look similar but don't do a loop test this one

is just £11.45 as to which to buy that would depend on if your just testing in case or if you think there is likely a fault.

On change of occupant or every 10 years your house should be inspected and tested to see if any of the electrics have been damaged and if this is done it is unlikely unless you are a DIY'er there will be any faults. So the cheap tester is likely good enough. But if you are the type of guy who likes to add sockets etc then go for more expensive version.

The first one even tests the RCD but really to do this it needs to time the response so I am not sure if it's really much of a benefit may as well just press test button on RCD.

 

[OwainDIYer]

3. The towel rail has a tiny screw on the bottom of it which looks like it has something to do with earthing, which makes me think i am missing some very important point and the towel rail does in fact need to be earthed?

Or it might be for the oil or whatever liquid the towel rail is filled with, if it's liquid filled.

Manufacturers instructions should be findable online if there is a model number on the appliance.

 

[happyhippydad]

Thanks everyone

One more question that has now arisen if I am going to plug an RCD adaptor in. I was planning on plugging a timer plug in, so..

Can I plug one of those timer plugs into the socket first, then plug the RCD adaptor plug in and then plug the towel rail into that? It just sounds a bit wrong!

If I can do that, then fine. If not, how can I have both a RCD and timer?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Just purely out of interest, am I right in assuming this would not come under the Part P special location rules because it is a portable appliance?

What makes you think it's a portable appliance?

 

[mfarrow]

In theory you can have as many special adaptors plugged into each other as you like, but remember each plug is a potential failure point, and you run the risk of either a) the weight of the adaptors pulling the whole thing down and out, and b) someone knocking the lot with their shin and breaking the socket and/or their leg.