Earth for metal lightswitches.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Simple question i hope:

Is it ok to loop the earth from an nearby socket circuit to earth a metal lightswitch and back box?

 

[securespark]

Not really.

 

[Dr_Doolittle]

so it would be considered bad practice, but not against regs?
Surely its better than no earth?

 

[davy_owen_88]

Better than no earth - yes.
Bad practice - yes.
Against the regs - no.

If it is your only option then it's better than nothing, but you should seriously consider the state of the rest of the installation if you have no CPC in the lighting circuit.

Davy

 

[Dr_Doolittle]

Its an old installation (maybe 30 years) so no CPC to be found anywhere on the lighting circuit at all.

 

[RF Lighting]

Trouble with pinching an earth from a socket for a light switch is that if the socket / socket circuit gets removed then you risk loosing the earth to your light too.

 

[davy_owen_88]

You really want to look into getting the place rewired. At 30+ years old you probably have no RCD protection, non existant/undersized main/supp. bonding, non existant/undersized earthing conductors, dangerous cable conditions, a lack of socket outlets the list goes on.

Personally I wouldn't fit the metal fitting you intend to until the lack of CPC is sorted out.

Davy

 

[Dr_Doolittle]

Thanks for the quick replies.
There's no rcd protection, and i'm not sure about the bonding. I was going to replace the fuseboard with a new CU soon, but i dont think a full re-wire is really possible at this stage.

Anyway i'm going off topic a bit here - i'll consider my options regarding the light switches.

thanks