Hi,

Inspected a house today, TN-S supply, separate line and neutral cables - both fused. Old Wylex fuse board so no RCD protection. Just wondering what codes to give some of these from many faults found.

[1] Gas & Water bonding in 6mm, water bonding only at stop-cock next to boiler not at main stop-cock in kitchen.

[2] Main Earth cable connected using porcelain connector from soldered steel wire on sheaths of main cables to 6mm earth cable - no MET block.

[3] Garage wiring (very messy) fed from T&E cable in Kitchen on 13 Amp plug top to supply extension lead, garage track lights and two outside lights.

[4] Bathroom downlights, low voltage G9 halogen capsules all exposed to touch so not IP rated.

[5] T&E cable with 13 Amp plug top feeding socket in dining room via 1-way extension lead wired on piece of T&E cable from below floor.

Thanks for any help/advice.

Edited: 15 August 2012 at 10:33 PM by alpelec

Are you sure it's a fuse in the N - rather than a fuse carrier with a solid N link (or oversized fusewire) in it?


Depends on the required size of the earthing conductor - unless calculation shows that it would need to be >12mm2, 6mm2 bonding sounds spot on to me.


How practical would it be to bond at the first stop-cock? The regs only require the connection to be 'as near as practical' to the point of entry, so if the boiler is the closest practical point, it could be acceptable. If not and there's good continuity between the two, I'd say C3 or C2 if there are any plastic fittings between.


Hard to say without seeing it, but it sounds like the porcelain connector is merely a joint between the supplier's earth (probably tinned copper rather than steel) and the earthing conductor and the earth bar in the CU is acting as the MET. In principle, that seems acceptable to me.


It's acceptable to supply an outbuilding from a 13A fused FCU from a house ring - so difficult to fault the use of a 13A plug in principle. Clearly 13A plugs aren't designed to accept solid-core T&E, but unless close inspection shows any particular problem (loose connections, overheating etc) - it's difficult to conclude that there's a safety issue. Probably best to concentrate on suitability of the flex/cable for the conditions, fixing (or not) of the cables and comment on the quality of workmanship.


Which zone(s)?


So in principle, a fused spur? As with the kitchen/garage setup, as rough as the proverbial, but any safety problems are likely to be in the details.

- Andy.