When is a new circuit not a new circuit?

[JohnW2]

However, what if we now change that to reusing the old storage-heater cables but connecting them to a fuseway in the board which was previously spare? Is it now a new circuit, even though all the cabling was already there and it's just being reused for another purpose?

As I said before, I think the question of whether the cable was or was not 'previously there' is irrelevant (after all, one could wire a 'new circuit' from scratch using 'old cable'). However, if it fed from an MCB/fuse that wasn't previously in use (or didn't previously exist), then I think that most people would probably call it a 'new circuit'.

Have you created a new circuit? I think it would be stretching it to claim that you have, when nothing has changed except the position of the fuse/MCB in the board.

I agree. If the circuit is protected by the same OPD that it already had (or even a replacement one of the same rating), then I don't think many people would say that it had become a 'new circuit' just because the physical position of the OPD in the board had changed.

What if you disconnect that circuit but don't have any need of it immediately, so leave it disconnected and then come along some time later and reconnect it to a different position in the board, either moving the original fuse or providing a new one - Is that now a new circuit, or have you just reconnected an old one?

As I said, that's when it starts getting more difficult. When I moved into my present house, it was strewn old 'unused' cabling (much of which is probably still there!) and a good few unused boards (and boards with unused fuses). To attempt to resurrect such things, join them together in some fashion and claim that one hadn't 'created a new circuit' would, I think, be pushing things a bit - so it's difficult to know where people would 'draw the line'.

Kind Regards, John

 

[PBC_1966]

As I said, that's when it starts getting more difficult.

Indeed - How long does it need to be disconnected and out of use before reconnecting it to the same (now vacant) fuseway would constitute forming a new circuit? A day? A week? A month? A year? Five years?

 

[JohnW2]

Indeed - How long does it need to be disconnected and out of use before reconnecting it to the same (now vacant) fuseway would constitute forming a new circuit? A day? A week? A month? A year? Five years?

Well, in the case of my house, I didn't have a clue as to when some of the things had been disconnected (probably a long time previously in some cases), nor did I necessarily know "what had previously been connected to what". I don't really think I could have re-instated much/any of that and seriously claimed that I had not created 'new circuits'.

Kind Regards, John