I’m from the US and I’m just trying to learn how UK does things and the terminology of what I call something verses what y’all call materials. I read some of this and I mostly don’t know what being said and I’ve been doing this for 32 years
- Thread starter Megawatt
- Start date
- Replies 112
- Views 18K
Discuss The big difference in the electric terminology and installation regulations and practice in each country! in the Talk Electrician area at ElectriciansForums.net
S
Silly Sausage
We don't use Fire nu... sorry, I mean Wire nuts over here for starters.
Put up a list of your terminology and members will see if they can give interpretations.
OP
we use them all the time for smaller wire
OP
Do y’all run conduit or approved cables
OP
what would a service look like on a single family dwelling
in domestics, we generally use twin& earth cable. :
![[ElectriciansForums.net] The big difference in the electric terminology and installation regulations and practice in each country!](https://electricians.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/data/attachments/41/41893-e3982bfe5427290c3c53d400bc169b0f.jpg "[ElectriciansForums.net] The big difference in the electric terminology and installation regulations and practice in each country!")
hot wire we call line(brown) . neutral (Blue), and what you would call the ground wire, we call it "circuit protective conductor (cpc). OH, and due to some silly farts back in the 1970's all our cable is metric.
that's a start
hot wire we call line(brown) . neutral (Blue), and what you would call the ground wire, we call it "circuit protective conductor (cpc). OH, and due to some silly farts back in the 1970's all our cable is metric.
that's a start
Why not grab yourself an old copy of our equivalent of the NEC (BS7671, aka the 'wiring regs'.) It would take a long time to run through each difference but you could get most of the story even though the book isn't fully up to date.
One of the main differences is that BS7671 is less prescriptive than the NEC. There's less talk of how many wires you may join in a particular size of box, and more emphasis on calculating and evaluating the characteristics of each cable and material and assessing the suitability for yourself. We're also much more into testing. Not only volt drop and ampacity but earth fault and short-circuit loop impedances and their corresponding fault currents are all assessed for every circuit before installation, and then tested afterwards and compared to the curves of the breakers to ensure they will operate correctly, before a circuit is considered ready for use.
Some important supply differences:
Our supplies are 50 Hz (=cycles), so induction motors run at approximately 1000, 1500, 3000 rpm instead of 1200, 1800, 3600.
Domestic services are 230V single phase, typically 100A. Line (=hot) and neutral are provided by the network, sometimes earth too, otherwise a rod is used. Only the network operator is allowed to combine (=bond) neutral and earth, they may not be linked in the distribution board (=panel). Split phase (as in typical US services with two lines each 120V to neutral and 240V between them) is never used, although a very few old rural installations where the high voltage supply is only single-phase have 240-0-240 with 480V between lines.
Industrial and commercial services are normally 3-phase 4-wire star (=wye) 400V line-line, 230V line-neutral, from the same distribution cables as the domestic single-phase but with all three phases present instead of just one. There are no open delta, edge grounded or high-leg asymmetrical configurations. An increasing number of larger industrial loads are 690/400V.
More later on materials and circuits...
One of the main differences is that BS7671 is less prescriptive than the NEC. There's less talk of how many wires you may join in a particular size of box, and more emphasis on calculating and evaluating the characteristics of each cable and material and assessing the suitability for yourself. We're also much more into testing. Not only volt drop and ampacity but earth fault and short-circuit loop impedances and their corresponding fault currents are all assessed for every circuit before installation, and then tested afterwards and compared to the curves of the breakers to ensure they will operate correctly, before a circuit is considered ready for use.
Some important supply differences:
Our supplies are 50 Hz (=cycles), so induction motors run at approximately 1000, 1500, 3000 rpm instead of 1200, 1800, 3600.
Domestic services are 230V single phase, typically 100A. Line (=hot) and neutral are provided by the network, sometimes earth too, otherwise a rod is used. Only the network operator is allowed to combine (=bond) neutral and earth, they may not be linked in the distribution board (=panel). Split phase (as in typical US services with two lines each 120V to neutral and 240V between them) is never used, although a very few old rural installations where the high voltage supply is only single-phase have 240-0-240 with 480V between lines.
Industrial and commercial services are normally 3-phase 4-wire star (=wye) 400V line-line, 230V line-neutral, from the same distribution cables as the domestic single-phase but with all three phases present instead of just one. There are no open delta, edge grounded or high-leg asymmetrical configurations. An increasing number of larger industrial loads are 690/400V.
More later on materials and circuits...
OP
Very good information and I’ve wired quite a few European equipment and yes all the wire was in millimeters with European drawings which uses different symbols. I was wiring a machine for a man from Finland and he couldn’t understand that if we could we had to run it in pipe. He was a cool guy just trouble with communication
OP
Do y’all have to draw permits and when you are finished get it inspected
OP
On single family dwellings it’s 240vac single phases with 2 hots and a grounded conductor-and we, not the power company drive 2 rods at the service 6 feet apart and bond the neutral bar in the main panel and bond the water lines if there is galvanized piping When you have to bury wire it has to be 24 inches to the top of the pipe
OP
The manufacturing plants are mostly 480 vac delta ungrounded systems. That makes you have to lnstall a lot of transformers to get you 208/120 on the secondary side of the transformers. We do have plants that have 480 vac 3 phase star connections also
OP
What do spured fuses mean
The correct terminology is fuse connection unit which are often called spurs as they are often used for spurring from a ring final circuit. It is essentially a double-pole switch which incorporates a fuse, up to 13A to protect the load side circuit.
Reply to The big difference in the electric terminology and installation regulations and practice in each country! in the Talk Electrician area at ElectriciansForums.net
News and Offers from Sponsors
- Article
Join us at electronica 2024 in Munich! Since 1964, electronica has been the premier event for technology enthusiasts and industry professionals...
- Sticky
- Article
Good to know thanks, one can never have enough places to source parts from!
- Electrical2go
- Forum Sponsor News and Offers
- 4
- 526
- Article
OFFICIAL SPONSORS
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then...
- Dan
- Forum Sponsor News and Offers
- 0
- 474
Similar threads
OFFICIAL SPONSORS
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
YOUR Unread Posts
-
Good Morning Thread - Come say good morning, tell us what you've got on today. :)I go to the blood donors… and never have any trouble. On the other hand, my wife has to give...- Latest: littlespark
-
UK Wessex downlightsAnyone else had problems with these flickering?fitted thirty,six have failed within a fortnight 🤬
- Latest: Millsy
-
Trying to figure out what wires this uses.Hi there! I'm new, and want to figure out what type of wire I can use to connect it to an...
- Latest: cleatus1
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by untold.media Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.