Ask an Electrician anything...
Discussion
Snow and Rocks said:
finlo said:
What is it tripping, MCB or RCD?
Good question. It's tripping the right most switch marked sockets if that helps - the pump is just on a normal 3 pin plug plugged into a double socket in the plant room.
Regbuser said:
If that's a B curve protection device (5xflc), then it's too sensitive for a pump, which should really be a C curve (10xflc).
Or it may be the pump motor is starting to suffer moisture ingress. A Megger would be useful to test the insulation resistance.
Thanks everyone, hopefully the pump is good as it's only about 6 months old but you never know.Or it may be the pump motor is starting to suffer moisture ingress. A Megger would be useful to test the insulation resistance.
The only things running off the circuit are the pump and some very low draw water filtration equipment. Will mention the above to the electrician when he's back and see what he reckons.
Not sure if anyone can help with this...
Our shed has power (lights and sockets) via a small consumer unit in the shed fed from the house. I usually use a socket in the shed when mowing the lawn at the far end of the garden.
Recently bought a scarifier and plugged it into one of the shed sockets and as soon as I turned it on it tripped the circuit breaker for the sockets in the shed consumer unit. Tried another socket in the shed and the same happened. Plugged it into one of the outdoor sockets on the house and it worked fine.
It's not an issue as I can use an extension from the house outdoor socket but wondered what was up? The two circuit breakers in the shed are B6 for sockets and B32 for lights, the pond pump is also run off the socket circuit. Is it a case of the scarifier requiring too much power where as the mower doesn't and therfore works fine? All the shed electrics were installed before we bought the house.
Our shed has power (lights and sockets) via a small consumer unit in the shed fed from the house. I usually use a socket in the shed when mowing the lawn at the far end of the garden.
Recently bought a scarifier and plugged it into one of the shed sockets and as soon as I turned it on it tripped the circuit breaker for the sockets in the shed consumer unit. Tried another socket in the shed and the same happened. Plugged it into one of the outdoor sockets on the house and it worked fine.
It's not an issue as I can use an extension from the house outdoor socket but wondered what was up? The two circuit breakers in the shed are B6 for sockets and B32 for lights, the pond pump is also run off the socket circuit. Is it a case of the scarifier requiring too much power where as the mower doesn't and therfore works fine? All the shed electrics were installed before we bought the house.
twocolours said:
Not sure if anyone can help with this...
Our shed has power (lights and sockets) via a small consumer unit in the shed fed from the house. I usually use a socket in the shed when mowing the lawn at the far end of the garden.
Recently bought a scarifier and plugged it into one of the shed sockets and as soon as I turned it on it tripped the circuit breaker for the sockets in the shed consumer unit. Tried another socket in the shed and the same happened. Plugged it into one of the outdoor sockets on the house and it worked fine.
It's not an issue as I can use an extension from the house outdoor socket but wondered what was up? The two circuit breakers in the shed are B6 for sockets and B32 for lights, the pond pump is also run off the socket circuit. Is it a case of the scarifier requiring too much power where as the mower doesn't and therfore works fine? All the shed electrics were installed before we bought the house.
Your 6amp circuit should be for lights and 32amp for the sockets. A 1500w scarifier probably pulls around 6ish amps so is tripping the breaker.Our shed has power (lights and sockets) via a small consumer unit in the shed fed from the house. I usually use a socket in the shed when mowing the lawn at the far end of the garden.
Recently bought a scarifier and plugged it into one of the shed sockets and as soon as I turned it on it tripped the circuit breaker for the sockets in the shed consumer unit. Tried another socket in the shed and the same happened. Plugged it into one of the outdoor sockets on the house and it worked fine.
It's not an issue as I can use an extension from the house outdoor socket but wondered what was up? The two circuit breakers in the shed are B6 for sockets and B32 for lights, the pond pump is also run off the socket circuit. Is it a case of the scarifier requiring too much power where as the mower doesn't and therfore works fine? All the shed electrics were installed before we bought the house.
I’m rewiring some bedrooms for downlights rather than the oddly positioned pendant they currently have.
The “first” downlight has all the wires that used to be in the pendant fitting: live feed in and out, live/switched live run to the switch, and the loop to the luminaire itself.
Is it better to have this bundle in the ceiling void to be pulled through with the luminaire (so it’s accessible as it used to be), or should I place the bundles with the wago blocks in a box in the attic, and a fly lead to the down light?
The “first” downlight has all the wires that used to be in the pendant fitting: live feed in and out, live/switched live run to the switch, and the loop to the luminaire itself.
Is it better to have this bundle in the ceiling void to be pulled through with the luminaire (so it’s accessible as it used to be), or should I place the bundles with the wago blocks in a box in the attic, and a fly lead to the down light?
PhilboSE said:
I’m rewiring some bedrooms for downlights rather than the oddly positioned pendant they currently have.
The “first” downlight has all the wires that used to be in the pendant fitting: live feed in and out, live/switched live run to the switch, and the loop to the luminaire itself.
Is it better to have this bundle in the ceiling void to be pulled through with the luminaire (so it’s accessible as it used to be), or should I place the bundles with the wago blocks in a box in the attic, and a fly lead to the down light?
Both?The “first” downlight has all the wires that used to be in the pendant fitting: live feed in and out, live/switched live run to the switch, and the loop to the luminaire itself.
Is it better to have this bundle in the ceiling void to be pulled through with the luminaire (so it’s accessible as it used to be), or should I place the bundles with the wago blocks in a box in the attic, and a fly lead to the down light?
If you use a WAGOBOX, then the wiring can be safely contained in the box AND they are sized to be stuffed through the downlight hole. Still use a flylead to each light.
I am assuming you can't get to the loft - otherwise just wire the WAGOBOX up there and screw it down neatly.
IANAE
gmaz said:
If I'm putting downlights in an upstairs bedroom with just the loft above it, do they need to be fire-rated?
The bedroom has the gas boiler in it, if that makes a difference.
No, not the last time I checked. But be wary of some non fire rated down lights and the space they need to have around them - you may not be able to cover them with insulation for instance, which might be a problem if it’s just the loft above. The bedroom has the gas boiler in it, if that makes a difference.
ccr32 said:
gmaz said:
If I'm putting downlights in an upstairs bedroom with just the loft above it, do they need to be fire-rated?
The bedroom has the gas boiler in it, if that makes a difference.
No, not the last time I checked. But be wary of some non fire rated down lights and the space they need to have around them - you may not be able to cover them with insulation for instance, which might be a problem if it’s just the loft above. The bedroom has the gas boiler in it, if that makes a difference.
https://www.toolstation.com/integral-led-evofire-i...
dhutch said:
Dont fit down lighters in a bedroom, hateful things at the best of times, let alone shining directly in your face?
In our house it made sense for the bedroom to use a main light and downlighters around the edges of the room to illuminate wardrobes. These lights were only used occasionally such as for getting dressed to go out. For normal bedroom activities the bedside lights were perfect.gmaz said:
dhutch said:
Dont fit down lighters in a bedroom, hateful things at the best of times, let alone shining directly in your face?
They are on a dimmerI'm still not convinced that LED + dimmers are a good combination. I've used the Varilight V-pro in a few places around the house, and find them a bit frustrating.
- Slow startup time - I want to push the switch and get instant light rather than wait a second for it it ramp up.
- Flicker can still be an issue at low brightness levels, even after tweaking the settings.
- Sometime they randomly drop into 'programming mode' when turned on. so levels slowly ramp up and down before it returns to normal.
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