Garage Electrics

[Jj92]

Hi all,

I have recently bought a house. The garage is at the end of the garden and has a double socket. The socket is on the ring and not a spur. It has 2 live, 2 neutral and 2 earths.

The garage has no lighting so I want to fit a light and also another double socket at the other side of the garage.

Can anyone advise the best way to do this?

My thoughts to do this are below but I would like some advice/confirmation if this is the right thing to do as I know I cannot run a spur and a FCU from the original socket.

Run 13A FCU from the double socket, then run a new double socket from the 13A FCU. Then from the new double socket, run a 3A switched FCU for the light?

Cheers,
J

 

[EFLImpudence]

Are you sure the garage socket is on the house ring circuit?

That would be an extremely silly way to wire it - assuming it is some distance from the house.

Apart from that then yes you can do as you propose - or extend the ring even farther for the socket if it is not already too far for the circuit requirements.

 

[Jj92]

To be honest I don’t know how to tell the garage socket is on the house ring circuit. I have presumed due to the fact there is a twin and earth going into the socket from the house and a twin and earth going back into the house. The is 1 breaker on the consumer unit for sockets and turning it on/off works for the garage.

The garage is about 4-5 meters from the house.

Would you say this is on the ring?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Would you say this is on the ring?

It certainly looks like it from what you say.

No other socket outside the garage?

 

[Jj92]

Nope..the only power into the garage is into that socket.

So from that socket to a 13A FCU then to another socket, then a 3A FCU from the new socket for the lighting is all ok?

Are there any other ways to correctly do this? In my head there’s not. When it’s done I will be getting an EICR anyway so the whole house can be checked.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Nope..the only power into the garage is into that socket.

Ok.

So from that socket to a 13A FCU then to another socket, then a 3A FCU from the new socket for the lighting is all ok?

Yes.

Are there any other ways to correctly do this? In my head there’s not. When it’s done I will be getting an EICR anyway so the whole house can be checked.

As I said, you could extend the ring farther but not much point doing that.

 

[Jj92]

Cool thanks for your advice mate

 

[winston1]

Two spurs from the socket, one to the new socket, the other to FCU for the light. Assuming you gan get 4 wires into the socket.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Or cable to new socket, then cable from new socket to the FCU for the light.

I don’t like people trying to cram 4 x 2.5mm conductors into one socket terminal. There’s too much going on and the makers spec says 3x2.5mm conductors for a reason.

 

[EFLImpudence]

the makers spec says 3x2.5mm conductors for a reason.

What would that reason be when they likely also say 3x4mm²?

 

[Taylortwocities]

Yes, I know that. Maybe having 4 conductors in one hole has proved to be unreliable?
As I said

the makers spec says 3x2.5mm conductors for a reason.

 

[EFLImpudence]

It could be for no valid reason, then.

 

[bernardgreen]

Probably more to do with the diameter of the cores and how they lay in the terminal

Diameter of a 4mm^2 conductor is 2.25mm

Diameter of a 2.5mm^2 conductor is 1.78mm

 

[EFLImpudence]

We have been here before:

The best known packings of equal circles in a circle

packing of equal circles in a circle

hydra.nat.uni-magdeburg.de

The first number in the brackets is the ratio required of the terminal size for the number of strands/cores (obviously for two cores it would be 2).
The second number is the diameter of the strands/cores.

As you will note; 3 x 4mm² (21 strands) requires a larger terminal than 4 x 2.5mm² (4 strands).

 

[Taylortwocities]

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