TV in bathroom - regs and safety

[JohnW2]

Sorry, silly me... It's late If agree apart from anything else it's not obvious to have things done this way, and in general obvious is good!

There's not really anything wrong with having a "13A" socket on a lighting circuit which can't be cured with a clear label on the socket and, if you really want, making the plug difficult to remove by attaching it with tape, cable ties or whatever.

The regulations explicitly allow a BS1363 (i.e. "13A") socket to be supplied by a lighting circuit.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

I wonder why you, Winston, do not make a fuss about the silliness of having 6A circuits - with 16A or 20A cable - to which people might connect a 13A socket, whatever that is.

 

[JohnW2]

I wonder why you, Winston, do not make a fuss about the silliness of having 6A circuits - with 16A or 20A cable - to which people might connect a 13A socket, whatever that is.

Winston may be able to answer your question!

However, as you say, it can be argued to be very silly. I can but presume that this tradition/habit/whatever (which goes back countless decades, since they used to be 5A-fused circuits) must have been started by people who did not believe that a circuit's OPD is there only to protect the cable.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

must have been started by people who did not believe that a circuit's OPD is there only to protect the cable.

Ah, but Winston does believe that so it occurred to me that he only argues this from the point that thou shalt not put sockets on a 6A circuit.

 

[bernardgreen]

Or is the damp air enough to be risky in itself?

The damp air will created consensation inside a normal TV when it is cold and this water will damage the internals of the TV. Hence the advice to use a bathroom TV which does not allow damp air to get inside.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Once again you have a difference of opinion.

Yup.

Once again I have a valid opinion.

Once again you have an invalid one.

Putting a 13 amp socket on a lighting circuit is a silly thing to do because one day someone will plug a 13 amp load into it and plunge the house into darkness.

Wrong.

Again.

So helpful advise to someone who would not want that to happen.

Wrong.

Again.

 

[winston1]

There's not really anything wrong with having a "13A" socket on a lighting circuit which can't be cured with a clear label on the socket and, if you really want, making the plug difficult to remove by attaching it with tape, cable ties or whatever.

The regulations explicitly allow a BS1363 (i.e. "13A") socket to be supplied by a lighting circuit.

Kind Regards, John

Clear labels can be removed/fall off. The idea of plugs and sockets is that they can easily be removed.

 

[winston1]

Yup.

Once again I have a valid opinion.

Once again you have an invalid one.



Wrong.

Again.



Wrong.

Again.

If you don't believe a 13 amp load will trip a 6 amp MCB you really need to go back to school. And you certainly should not be participating in these forums giving others wrong advice.

 

[bernardgreen]

Winston

There is nothing wrong with a 13 amp style plug being fed from a 6 amp MCB.

You are correct in saying that if a load greater than the MCB's rating is plugged into that socket then lighting may be lost when the appliance is switched ON. So you put in place a system to as far as is possible prevent a large load being plugged in. ( remember a lamp blowing can trip a 6 amp MCB, how would you prevent a failed lamp from tripping the MCB )

 

[ban-all-sheds]

you certainly should not be participating in these forums giving others wrong advice.

Ah - if only you would take your own advice, Winston.

Things would be so much better.

 

[winston1]

Winston

There is nothing wrong with a 13 amp style plug being fed from a 6 amp MCB.

You are correct in saying that if a load greater than the MCB's rating is plugged into that socket then lighting may be lost when the appliance is switched ON. So you put in place a system to as far as is possible prevent a large load being plugged in. ( remember a lamp blowing can trip a 6 amp MCB, how would you prevent a failed lamp from tripping the MCB )

And that system is not to put the 13 amp socket on the lighting circuit in the first place. There is absolutely no reason to do it, ever, as all houses have power circuits.

You can prevent a failed lamp tripping a MCB by not using old fashioned filament lamps. It does not happen with CFLs or LEDs.

 

[JohnW2]

Ah, but Winston does believe that so it occurred to me that he only argues this from the point that thou shalt not put sockets on a 6A circuit.

Indeed so ...

... and if he does believe that (that the OPD is there only to protect the cable) then, if the cable is installed with Method C, why does he not simply advise people to change the 6A MCB to a 16A one if they want to put a BS1363 socket on a 'lighting' circuit - rather than just tell people that they should not do it??

... and I wonder what he thinks about 20A radials with multiple sockets. That provides a lot of scope for people to plug in loads which will cause the OPD to operate.

Kind Regards, John

 

[winston1]

As I said there is never, ever, reason to put a 13 amp socket on a lighting circuit so shy go around changing MCBs to do something that there is no need to ever do.

Regarding 20 amp radials, why pick on them? Any circuit can be overloaded whether it be all rooms full of 50 watt downlights, or all rooms with a fan heater on a ring final. What we don't need to do is encourage it with unsuitable sockets on a circuit primarily designed for lighting.

 

[Mottie]

What about a 5 amp fused spur box or is that not allowed, I'm not an electrician but at least nothing else could be plugged into that, could it?

 

[winston1]

What about a 5 amp fused spur box or is that not allowed, I'm not an electrician but at least nothing else could be plugged into that, could it?

If you are suggesting putting a FCU with 5 amp fuse on a lighting circuit feeding a 13 amp socket, then, no that would be stupid.

1.FCUs are not used or required on lighting circuits which are already adequately fused.

2. Second a 6 amp MCB will trip before a 5 amp fuse blows so house still plunged into darkness.

If you are suggesting a FCU directly feeding the TV then still no. 1 still applies and so does 2 if the TV cable goes faulty.