Rewiring house questions

[dannym]

Hi everyone, I've rewired my first house by myself - I havnt done a great deal of domestic work, mainly industrial and commercial. But I've got a few of questions that I havnt been able to find answers for. I think I know how to do them but would just like some conformation to boost my confidence with it lol.


1. On one lighting circuit I've taken the feed to 3 different rooms, and they are feeding 2 pendant lights and one extract fan and in the kitchen - 10 led downlights. My question is will these 10 downlights be ok on one switch? Or will it overload the circuit?

2. The external shed requires a feed. The shed is approximately 25m away from the consumer unit. My idea is to run a 2 core 6mm SWA to an IP rated adaptable box on the side of the house and connect a 6mm t and e into this and run it back to the board. Would this be acceptable? I know that I need an earth stake near the shed.

3. The board is moving the meter to an external location (the consumer unit has also been moved). But is over 3m away from the meter. I was going to use a KMF switch that would be boxed in somehow and use an SWA out of if to an IP rated adaptable box and then feed the consumer unit. Does this sound ok or does anyone have any other suggestions? I've never dealt with the electricity company directly before and the customer has spoke to them so I'm not sure what they'll leave me with.


Many thanks,

Danny

 

[Knobhead]

Very true, but somewhere along the line there needs to be a scheme / register / list whatever you want to call it of people who are allowed to carry out electrical work, unless you are on the list, sorry but you are not allowed.

I want a national register, for the sake of the industry I’ve loved even before becoming an apprentice.

Scams are superfluous to industrial electricians.

Interviewing an applicant for plant electrician:
Indentures?
Experience?
Qualifications?
Experience based on your qualifications?

A JIB card cut no ice, show me any of the others and I’d be openly laughing.

 

[davesparks]

And believe it or not tony not everyone has done any domestic work and doesn't automatically know everything unlike I'm sure you do

Ah but mr Tony has often remarked that he does not know domestic work and has spent his working life in heavy industrial work. He has even gone so far as to state that he doesn't consider himself competent in domestic work and to this end he does not do domestic work.

If you want to do domestic work then you need to get yourself out working with a decent spark with domestic experience, how would you feel about an electrician who works in the domestic sector walking in to your area of expertise and having a go?

 

[dannym]

They can do whatever they want, it's their life. And he was implying how domestic was the lowest of the industries we work across and all I said was that not everyone has done everything so doesn't automatically know the answer to everything.

 

[DPG]

They can do whatever they want, it's their life. And he was implying how domestic was the lowest of the industries we work across and all I said was that not everyone has done everything so doesn't automatically know the answer to everything.

But surely doing commercial/industrial work you would still need to know about how much current something draws, and whether a circuit can safely supply it. I don't get the question of whether 10 LED lamps will overload your circuit. What is different as regards this between industrial or domestic? It's still the same theory. Daz

 

[davesparks]

But surely doing commercial/industrial work you would still need to know about how much current something draws, and whether a circuit can safely supply it. I don't get the question of whether 10 LED lamps will overload your circuit. What is different as regards this between industrial or domestic? It's still the same theory. Daz

The only real difference is the size of the lighting circuit I guess, although your point is a good one. It's the same calculation to establish the max load you can put on the cct.

Don't forget though a lighting circuit in an industrial setting could easily be fed at 32Amps 3phase with all lights either on or off, it's quite easy to be left unsure about how a 6A cct will behave.
Or in my native territory (theatre) it's quite normal to use single lights rated at 5KW, and a basic standard dimmer can control 80A 3phase.

 

[dannym]

Where I havnt done much domestic I've been looking at more things on the internet and reading other peoples questions and answers. Which makes me question things and thus I wanted to be even more sure that I was correct in what I was doing. And whereas I'm used to using 10a type c breakers I wasn't confident if a smaller type b would suffice due to a slight inrush current or whatever.

i didn't think I asked anything too stupid, after all I could have just gone ahead anyway but thought I'd check first as I like to learn from others who have more expericance than me.

thankyou to the people that have been helpful in this post

 

[Chrisuk]

And believe it or not tony not everyone has done any domestic work and doesn't automatically know everything unlike I'm sure you do

Trainee apprentice in the making....I was led to believe that during my apprenticeship I'll be working on domestic ..commercial and industrial...already I've done domestic ..worked at a medical centre which I believe was commercial...now working on a new build school (industrial? )...didn't u cover the 3 areas? ...I thought we needed all 3 to fill the portfolio.?
Good luck pal

 

[shanky887614]

Trainee apprentice in the making....I was led to believe that during my apprenticeship I'll be working on domestic ..commercial and industrial...already I've done domestic ..worked at a medical centre which I believe was commercial...now working on a new build school (industrial? )...didn't u cover the 3 areas? ...I thought we needed all 3 to fill the portfolio.?
Good luck pal

a school is comercial, industrial is factories etc

 

[Chrisuk]

Cheers, That's why i had the question mark...... we will be working on some asda new builds and I was told that's industrial. .but yeah in my mind I think of factories when I think industrial

 

[Engineer54]

Cheers, That's why i had the question mark...... we will be working on some asda new builds and I was told that's industrial. .but yeah in my mind I think of factories when I think industrial

Nope, i'm afraid that's classed as commercial too!!

 

[Chrisuk]

Nope, i'm afraid that's classed as commercial too!!

Thanks Eng for clearing that up for me...not sure I'll do any industrial then. .Tesco and asda are the biggest we do I think

 

[Engineer54]

In years gone by, the training was such that an installation electrician just out of his time would have been competent enough to work in any sector of this industry. Only if an electrician wanted to enter say, industrial plant maintenance, would he need extra on the job training, especially in a heavy industry setting.....

Alas that's all a thing of the past now, installation apprentice training is now almost exclusively set around domestic installations, even the AM2 no longer includes metal containment FFS and has long since included MICC. Another tell tale sign of just how bad the training has become, you now need a NVQ 3 to prove (if it can ever be believed) that you have the practical skills/experience of various types of installation!!!!

For all it's woes etc, the JIB/SJIB has at least steadfastly kept to it's rules of what is accepted as the minimum requirements of being recognised as a electrician, unlike just about every other institution associated with the industry...

 

[dannym]

I had people on my course that only done domestic for example, others only did maintenance work, in the other class that didn't do the apprenticeship (or nvq I believe) someone else was on the dole, at least one other worked in an office, more than one worked in a bar only. None of them people got any hands on experience.

 

[Chrisuk]

Worked in a bar..Thought u had to be enjoyed in the industry to do an apprenticeship?
That's what an apprenticeship is...hands on experience

Do u mean u did evenings?

 

[Knobhead]

The only real difference is the size of the lighting circuit I guess, although your point is a good one. It's the same calculation to establish the max load you can put on the cct.

Don't forget though a lighting circuit in an industrial setting could easily be fed at 32Amps 3phase with all lights either on or off, it's quite easy to be left unsure about how a 6A cct will behave.
Or in my native territory (theatre) it's quite normal to use single lights rated at 5KW, and a basic standard dimmer can control 80A 3phase.

The last plant I worked on used over twenty 32A 433V rings. Go in at 06:00 Sunday morning it was like switching Blackpool illuminations on, switched off the following Saturday evening. The only lights that went out during the week were the outdoor stock grounds.
I don’t know which genius designed the system, the light switches were slap bang in the centre of the plant. Up two flights of stairs, walk past the furnaces, pass around the back of the bunkers, climb another flight of stairs, go through the pump room and you’ve found them. That’s after you’ve fallen over umpteen things on the way.