just got armoured cable with a plug on the end of it plugged in in
the garage going out to a little brown box with the lights and stuff coming off that
I am wanting to wire my shed with half a dozen double sockets and 2 strip lights.
I will be buying the cable and sockets from screwfix (i have other things to buy so may aswell make it worth while)
I need a bit of info on what items will best suit my needs.
I will be running nothing out of the ordinary power wise, eg only Welder (SIP migmare 130) pillar drill, grinder, drill, small bench grinder.
Obviously i can only use one of these items at a time, so th only two things likely to be running at once are the lights and one of the bove tools.
I will be running an extension lead to the shed and would for obvious reasons like to have a fuse box installed too.
Can any of you guys sugges what fuse box, sockets and cable i should be buying from screwfix? plus anything else i have forgotten.
Dont panic i will not be wiring it up - i will be leaving that to my dad!
Many thanks
got lights and a couple of sockets in my little brothers fort in the back garden just got armoured cable with a plug on the end of it plugged in in
the garage going out to a little brown box with the lights and stuff coming off that
I think Joel P would provide you with a good answer.
Pat...
If it was me I would fit A 30A mcb in the house consumer unit.
Then use 6mm 3 core SWA cable to feed a smaller rcd protected consumer unit in the shed.
Get a 6A mcb for the lights & fit the sockets on a 16A radial circuit
my garage was wired up by the builders when new 16 years ago.
it takes a spur from the downstairsring main (single run of armoured cable) to a two way consumer unit (fuse box). The feed to the lights is 5a and
the feed to the sockets is fused 15a.
atb
steve
Forgot to say its a rented house so cant mess with the fuse box in the house.
Im limited to 'creating' something on the other end of an extension lead im afraid. 
Your unlikely to be pulling more than 3Kw so If you can't put a fuze box in it I would suggest the use of 2.5mm cable with an earth leakage trip alternatively have a 13a plug feeding mcb in the shed itself
found out today what RCD stood for.
Learn something everyday
Well if your limited to an extension lead your not going to be able to supply much power. You could change one of the house sockets to a 20amp double
pole switch and hard wire a 4mmsquare cable extension into it.
Really though ideally you should have the following.
At the mains in the house a 32amp or 45 amp rcd main switch feeding a 6mm or 10mm sqaure 3 core steelwire armoured cable (cable size depends on length
of run and subsequent voltage drop.)
Cable should be buried at a depth of 600mm, ( Mines is clipped along a wall).
In the shed you would then have a 2 way fuse box one for the lights at 6amp mcb or rcbo (expensive but safer) and one 20 amp mcb/rcbo for the sockets
which should allow for the welder not to trip the breaker every time you strike an arc.
If you do it yourself then you could get away with some of the previous posts methods. But a firm will not (should not) do it any other way than
I've just descibed. Also if the shed is steel or has steel construction it should also be tied into the main earthing system (bonded).
quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
found out today what RCD stood for
One slight 'issue' is that since last christmas (i think) this project needs to be inspected by a qualified electrician before going live.
Of course if it was done before last christmas (or whenever) it doesn't.
Good job i did all my electrics some time in 2004
Mmmm big discussions on this qualified thingy. First of all I think the phrase was competent person (define that if you can) secondly apart from the change in cable colours (which was phased in well before the new rules) no one can tell when it was done.
unless it burns your house down and the ins co looks at your bank account to find out when you bought the shed....
ever the optimist
steve
quote:
Originally posted by steve_gus
unless it burns your house down and the ins co looks at your bank account to find out when you bought the shed....
ever the optimist
steve
My own belief is that it will get to the stage that before you can renew your insurance they will ask for a complete wiring check and paerwork from a
firm that's nic/eic registered. After that any work will need a minor works cert. If you have a fire and extra circuits etc show up then no
payout
Probably most fires start with frayed/damaged appliances/cords and overloaded sockets with adaptors etc so I think it looks like house insurance will
follow car insurance and we will get a percentage amount
From 1st January this year, the type of work you describe would need to be done or inspected by a "Part P" registered person to be legal.
if you buy your cable from screwfix, it will be the new colours so anyone looking would have a pretty good idea when the work was carried out.
apart from that if you need to work off the end of an extension lead, your limiting factor is the 13A(MAX) Fuse in the Plug on the other end..
Ray
[Edited on 7/12/05 by rayward]
Surely if it's just an extension lead (pref with rcd plug) plugged in in the house running to the shed with a few sockets on the end then it
doesn't come under part P regs? I thought that would only apply if you were installing a new consumer unit/shower etc. Additional sockets were
OK, I thought.
Cheers,
Matt.
part p only covers perminant wiring, as you say.
An extension to the shed will work but be pretty useless. As said already, you are limited to 13 amps. However, having a few sockets wired perminantly
in the shed and fed from a lead would be convinient, or at least more so than a single lead alone. Use 2.5mm twin and earth cable, connect it up as a
radial circuit, and put a plug at one end.
A far better solution would be to wire it perminantly with some armoured cable, have it nicely RCD protected etc. But if it cant be done, then an
extension lead will have to suffice!
quote:
Originally posted by locoboy
I will be running nothing out of the ordinary power wise, eg only Welder (SIP migmare 130) pillar drill, grinder, drill, small bench grinder.
most newish houses/kitchens dont have a socket on the cooker circuit, mainly due to the fact that all downstairs sockets need RCDs nowadays, and ovens are arguably best without, or at least usually dont.