Electricians: Installing Plug Socket In Loft

Said it before and I will say it again, Electrical threads are plain dangerous at times.

Nick I'd of given you a idea of price for the work but prices up here differ quite a bit from down south. Few electricians on here someone might be closer than myself.
 
MeEsH BaKkA said:
You can take power from any cct even lighting **BUT** it must be fused down by a fused spur to 3/5A.
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The point of a fuse is to protect the cable and accessories downstream from the fuse, as the cable and socket which would be downstream from wherever you would install the fuse spur can easily take 6A, it would be pointless. Also practically it wouldn't prevent nuisance tripping, a 5A fuse definitely wouldn't, 3A probably wouldn't, i would guess.

If you look at it like this:

A 13A fuse in a plug top, say for an item like a fridge or something, is there to protect the flex going from the plug to the fridge and the fridge itself, it is not there to stop the fridge pulling too much power and damaging the house wiring etc, the fuse to protect the house wiring is in the the fuse box.


It would be correct to say that if you wanted to wire a light from a socket circuit you would need to fuse it down to 3/5A using a fuse spur.
 
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trackrat said:
As an retired electrician I cannot believe some of the people on this forum saying it is OK to wire a 13 amp socket into the lighting circuit.
Even a spur of the ring main has a maximum length on the run of wire used, and if you are not confident enough to do the socket yourself, pay for an electrician.
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Don't want to start the old argument up again, but i did ask around and no one i asked seems to know of a regulation preventing you from doing this.

Although as i said before it is not a good idea.

Also, what is the max length of a spur? AFAIK it would only be limited by ZS and voltage drop.
 
ZG002 said:
Said it before and I will say it again, Electrical threads are plain dangerous at times.
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I can see what you mean but tbh i don't agree, information in and of itself, even electrical info, is not dangerous.

Improper use of said information is potentially dangerous.

So if in any doubt whatsoever, hire a professional.
 
You really haven't been around these parts long enough to see some of the frankly insane advice given out on here. Not told as "I think" but told as "Fact"

It only takes one person with no clue to give it a try and you end up with a pretty dangerous situation.

We have had members telling someone to replace the main RCD on a CU with a 100a double pole switch in a property that wasn't even theirs, all because they were going to be using the venue for a night of Lan gaming. The guy was up for it. Never mind the lack of isolation point or that the system was very likely a TT system.
 
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Wow, interesting, seems odd that he knew enough about PSU earth leakage to worry about the RCD tripping but then thought this was a good idea.

Guess i've just got the impression that people on these forums are 'smarter than the average bear', but there are clearly exceptions.
 
HardwareGeek said:
The point of a fuse is to protect the cable and accessories downstream from the fuse, as the cable and socket which would be downstream from wherever you would install the fuse spur can easily take 6A, it would be pointless. Also practically it wouldn't prevent nuisance tripping, a 5A fuse definitely wouldn't, 3A probably wouldn't, i would guess.

If you look at it like this:

A 13A fuse in a plug top, say for an item like a fridge or something, is there to protect the flex going from the plug to the fridge and the fridge itself, it is not there to stop the fridge pulling too much power and damaging the house wiring etc, the fuse to protect the house wiring is in the the fuse box.


It would be correct to say that if you wanted to wire a light from a socket circuit you would need to fuse it down to 3/5A using a fuse spur.
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Yes, you are correct.
Unfortunately due to my lack of sleep I made a mistake (although not a dangerous one as a 3a 3871 will most likely blow before 6a 60898B would and the loading would never be higher than original CCts cable rating providing the mcb was not changed, although nuisance may be an issue) confusing lights off sockets fusing down scenario.
I think this should highlight the dangers of internet advice, I am a qualified electrician (2360, 17th, 2391, 2377, JIB approved) and I made a mistake, albeit I wasn't talking about lighting ringmains...
 
Some sections as pretty good but general discussion on a whole can be pretty crazy.

We have a few electricians on here (me included) who will happily give out sound advice when it is needed. But too many times we don't notice the thread or get to the thread late and see some shocking advice being given, others will confirm this or you will see for yourself in time :p
 
coopersim said:
Wire a fused spur connection unit in to the lighting circuit. Fit a 3Amp fuse in to it, and from this wire a 13Amp socket

I'm pretty sure there will be a reg against this in 16th Edition, and I doubt you will get a sparky to do this for the above reason!
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No No No

Not allowed, better to run a spur from the ring main
 
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