Socket circuits incorporating computer

[carl9254]

What are the regs on this as ive just seen a periodic report and the company that did the periodic gave it a category 2, and i need to price to sort it out??

Thanks.

 

[Kamikaze]

You got to be a bit more specific with your question.

 

[telectrix]

why did they give it a code 2. was it because of the cpc's not being hi-integrity?

 

[carl9254]

On the report it says 'Socket circuits incorporating computers do not comply with current regulations. 543.7.2.1' Doesnt say why im afraid. Have yet to look at the job. Thanks.

 

[IQ Electrical]

On the report it says 'Socket circuits incorporating computers do not comply with current regulations. 543.7.2.1' Doesnt say why im afraid. Have yet to look at the job. Thanks.

Are you familiar with that regulation?

If your ring final is expected to have a protective conductor current of 10mA or greater then high integrity earthing is required.

Have a read of this:

 

[Des 56]

If its a ring final, and the cpcs are connected into seperate earth terminals, then it could possibly also comply as high integrity,or
It could possibly be adapted as such, by alteration and/or replacement of sockets and reconnecting of cpcs

Your topic heading says computor(singular) and a reply says computors (plural)Now which is it ?

 

[Sparky75]

As has been said, if its a ring and has IT equipment (remember it's not just PC's that may have a high earth leakage it could also be printers, photocopiers & monitors etc) and is connected as you would find normally (eg both cpcs connected in the same terminal at the socket outlets and db), then you need to change the sockets for dual earth type the old 607 reg under the 16th.
MK do some at a premium price, some of the cheaper brands do them as standard believe it or not. seperate the cpcs at the board and terminate them into individual terminals, make sure you mark your circuits obviously!.
I have seen and done several variations on this one. One way was getting an additional earth bar from the DB manufacturer and mounting it in the board linking out the main bond and a leg from each cpc in the ring to each bar, another way was to mount an earth bar under the board and again a cpc from each leg to the two different bars, or simply seperate the rings with IT equipment and say earth from 1/L1 would go in with earth from 2/L2 again make sure you mark your circuits up for those coming behind you, and make sure you fit a high integrity earth sticker to the front of the DB with the circuits that are affected listed.
One additional thing if you have a radial circuit that comes under the high integrity reg and it's in steel conduit and trunking, the conduit as long as you have earth fly leads fitted or you intend to fit them can be used as the return path of the circuit.

 

[carl9254]

Hello, never come across this before. Yes there are a few computers, printers etc. So basically im changing the sockets that are used for computer etc the dual eath sockets, and then separating the earths (if its a ring) into different terminals but on the same earth bar???
Thanks

 

[IQ Electrical]

Hello, never come across this before. Yes there are a few computers, printers etc. So basically im changing the sockets that are used for computer etc the dual eath sockets, and then separating the earths (if its a ring) into different terminals but on the same earth bar???
Thanks

Yes, each cpc in separate terminals throughout the circuit .

If one cpc connection fails then the second is still there.

Scroll down to Figure 7 in the link that I posted in post 5 for a diagram on how to split the ring cpc's.

In practice, we find the measured values of protective conductor current are far less than the figures given for calculation, it might be worth investing in a leakage clamp meter if you're doing periodic inspections regularly.

To be honest, if you're carrying out periodic inspections, then you ought to be aware of the regulations on high protective conductor currents.