FCU in bathroom

[Steve]

Although having lights on the same RCD is a pain in the butt.

This is exactly the reason one RCD is no longer encouraged.

Its also the reason sparks now try to split circuits back and front, rather than up and down, especially where theres a dual RCD board.

 

[Monkeh]

Although having lights on the same RCD is a pain in the butt.

This is exactly the reason one RCD is no longer encouraged.

Its also the reason sparks now try to split circuits back and front, rather than up and down, especially where theres a dual RCD board.

Oh, I understand why it's not the best of ideas, I'd just like to see the reg which states it's not allowed (really, I would, I can't afford BS7671 right now). I'm quite familiar with the annoyance that is having all the lights on one RCD as we have a 100mA RCD as an isolator which trips once in a while, I still don't know what trips it.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Oh, I understand why it's not the best of ideas, I'd just like to see the reg which states it's not allowed (really, I would, I can't afford BS7671 right now). I'm quite familiar with the annoyance that is having all the lights on one RCD as we have a 100mA RCD as an isolator which trips once in a while, I still don't know what trips it.

I do hope that you are a DIYer and not an electrician who charges for their services.

If you are a DIYer then get an electrician to do any electrical work for you. If you are pretending to be an electrician then stop before you kill someone.

By

I can't afford BS7671 right now

do you mean you cannot afford to buy a copy of the regulations (in which case there will be one to look at in your local library) or do you mean that you cannot afford to install to the standard required in BS7671?

The regulation is not just a good idea. Section 314 deals with Division of Installation.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

BS7671 is outrageously expensive.

Nonsense.

 

[Monkeh]

Oh, I understand why it's not the best of ideas, I'd just like to see the reg which states it's not allowed (really, I would, I can't afford BS7671 right now). I'm quite familiar with the annoyance that is having all the lights on one RCD as we have a 100mA RCD as an isolator which trips once in a while, I still don't know what trips it.

I do hope that you are a DIYer and not an electrician who charges for their services.

I am indeed a DIYer.

If you are a DIYer then get an electrician to do any electrical work for you.

I do have electricians do any significant work for me.

If you are pretending to be an electrician then stop before you kill someone.

I am not, and I will not kill anyone.

By

I can't afford BS7671 right now

do you mean you cannot afford to buy a copy of the regulations (in which case there will be one to look at in your local library) or do you mean that you cannot afford to install to the standard required in BS7671?

I mean as an unemployed person I cannot afford a £60 book which will not assist me in generating an income. If my library has a copy, I have not seen it.

The regulation is not just a good idea. Section 314 deals with Division of Installation.

So finally, you get around to vaguely pointing me in the general direction of the information without saying anything useful.

BS7671 is outrageously expensive.

Nonsense.

For someone with £2 in their bank account and no job, it is.

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

whats being talked about is reg 314.1.
I can't be bothered to type it out in full, but if you are unemployed, you have all day to trawl through your library to find it.

It does not specify how circuit division should take place, only that the designer considers the consequence to the whole installation and its users in the event of a single failure.

People will often promote 'my way' or 'accepted practice' or 'my mate the sparky says-' to suggest that this is the way that it 'must' be done.

There are more than one way to accomodate whats written in 314.1
(what about emergency lighting for example?)

 

[ccam108]

(what about emergency lighting for example?)

OK, so being a 1 bedroom flat what if I use a single RCD covering the whole installation and install an emergency light in the hallway, where it can be seen from everywhere (glass doors).

BTW the wall the FCU is on is 760mm from the edge of the bath. Am I OK to install an FCU there? As I understand it that is outside of zones.

Oh and whoever said it looks like a blank plate not a flex outlet, you were right. The flex exits through a knockout in the backbox (no grommet of course).

Colin C

 

[1john]

if you have a fixed neutral to earth fault you are gonna be pretty annoyed at not spending some extra cash on some RCBOs when the three hours of 8w light runs out.

 

[LoveRocket]

- There are no RCDs at all, so that doesn't comply with current regulations, and didn't comply when it was installed either.

Under the 16th the only things that had to be on a RCD was sockets likely to supply things used outside. As this is a flat (unless it's ground floor of course) then it's easily plausible that no RCD protection was required when it was installed.

You're right about the rest though.

 

[LoveRocket]

I reckon the best way for a small installation like this to meet the 17th RCD requirements is to use a a single RCD slip-load CU, with the lights on an RCBO.

 

[xr4x4]

hold on.... i didnt think you could have 'any' kind of switch in the bathroom, for the same reason you cant have a light switch in a bathroom?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Who says you can't have a light switch in a bathroom?

Have all the bathrooms you've ever encountered had the light switch outside them?

 

[1john]

- There are no RCDs at all, so that doesn't comply with current regulations, and didn't comply when it was installed either.

Under the 16th the only things that had to be on a RCD was sockets likely to supply things used outside. As this is a flat (unless it's ground floor of course) then it's easily plausible that no RCD protection was required when it was installed.

You're right about the rest though.

An awkward argument there, when the sky 'engineer' arrives and you plug his extension in then that isnt protected, when you run an extension to vaccume the car, that isnt protected. Even if some are RCD protected then that doesnt stop the person with a faulty appliance or ext lead in plugging into another socket that doesn't trip out, therefore all sockets with the exception of ones behind fixed appliances should be RCD protected. Thats my interpretation of the reg mind.

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

i think the RCD requirement under the 16th was very poor indeed, which often leads to arguements like this.
A number of interpretations exist
-only need rcd for outdoor socket
-only need rcd for sockets adjacent to an external door
-need rcd for any socket that could be reached from an appliance when it is situated outside
-need all downstair sockets rcd'd

further confused by-
-customer has an extension lead
-house is on a hill, back garden close to upstair window.
-only my outdoor socket id RCD'd, but i have a pond pump permanently connected to that, so i plug my lawnmower in the kitchen.
-practically speaking, is it easier to RCD one socket, or the whole circuit

i'm sure there are lots more variables.
Like most circuits, its down to the designer of the installation to assess what is required

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

heres one i found last year which made me smile.
(Adjacent to front door leading to lawn and driveway)

Untitled

• mikhailfaradayski
• 3 Mar 2010
• 1

Do you think this complied with the 16th?