EEBADS (the actual insulation of such safety measure)

[Ben Grant]

I know we bond pipe work with earth clamps and 4.0mm earth cable. But does anyone know why some people coil up the earth conductor, making it look like a spring? Instead of just putting a small length from A to B without making it go round and round an imaginary loo roll?

 

[Guest55]

To allow for movement / expansion of the metalwork in question.

 

[lister]

hi, (10mm in th uk), the coils is personell choice it serves to combat vibration / movement acting as a spring and to add cable length so it can be removed and refitted should pipe work be altered.

 

[Ben Grant]

Just how much are they supposed to move, cause I have taken them away felt now and there has been around 40cm of cable to go between pipes 2" apart

 

[GaryM]

It's ADS now and some of the loops I've seen would allow for movement to next doors property!

 

[Ben Grant]

10mm for bonding to main service - gas,water,oil ect. 4mm with mechanical protection or 6mm earth without for between pipes under sink and by boiler?!?

 

[GaryM]

hi, (10mm in th uk),

I assumed the OP was talking about supplementary bonding.

 

[Ben Grant]

I know about the ADS side as its all rcd, but people ask me why they are coiled, I think it's ridiculous as its cable that is costly and time consuming

 

[GaryM]

10mm for bonding to main service - gas,water,oil ect. 4mm with mechanical protection or 6mm earth without for between pipes under sink and by boiler?!?

4mm doesn't need mechanical protection.

 

[Guitarist]

The coil allows for some alteration of pipework as well as movement. Imagine a plumber or DIY'er has to move a pipe over and the cable is only just long enough. There's a good chance that rather than get a sparky in, it simply wouldn't get reconnected if it was too short.
I think the main reason it's done though, is that it looks "pro"

 

[jimmymac]

I was taught to always leave some extra which i refer to as the pigs tail, the reasoning is stated above, movement ect.

 

[Rockingit]

There was a thread on this a while back, and the concensus then is still my opinion now: it's an unnecessary waste of cable and introduces the potential for inductance and heat.

Yes, of course you don't run the cable tight-as-you-can to the clamp/bolt/whatever and there's almost always some natural slack for fixing it to the aforementioned, and you might consider leaving a couple of inches if you think it might be prudent to avoid a sloppy plumber.... but anything else is just not needed!!

 

[Silly Sausage]

Aye, vaguely remember that inductance thread. I think it just looks nice
In my instrument days we'd always terminate the cables with 1 or 2 360 loops.

 

[Knobhead]

Many years back while supervising the construction of a plant I had to tell the contractors to take all the fancy pigtails out due to inductance. They weren’t happy!

 

[Guitarist]

I think there is a huge difference between a couple of 360's to give an extra few inches, and something that looks like a garage forecourt airline