What "man jobs" have you done today?

LuckyBenski said:
Bus bar should have a plastic trim on right?

And what's the black wire going into the earths?

E: ah, using a conductor from the SWA. Needs earth sleeve/tape.
Click to expand...
Yeah I only just finished and I don't have any interior lights yet so gave up at bus bar. Will add those bits -- I don't have any fancy tape, that'll have to be a gentlemans agreement :cry:

One lighting circuit not wired up as it's not attached yet (just a reel of 1.5mm sitting outside).
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Nothing screams DIY electrics like a Screwfix special BG consumer unit. :D

Good work.

EDIT: did you earth the armouring on the SWA?
Click to expand...
Heyyyy now I love my petite little box! Excited I have space for another breaker too.

Not sure on earthing the armour -- it is in a gland and bolted to the CU. Should I do something special?
 
dlockers said:
Heyyyy now I love my petite little box! Excited I have space for another breaker too.

Not sure on earthing the armour -- it is in a gland and bolted to the CU. Should I do something special?
Click to expand...
You usually need to use an earthing nut or a banjo on one end of the SWA with a fly up to the earth bar as you'll not get an acceptable earth through the paint on the casing.

You should have got a banjo with the SWA gland, its a little washer with a space to attach an earth fly to - did you have any spare bits left over?
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
You usually need to use an earthing nut or a banjo on one end of the SWA with a fly up to the earth bar as you'll not get an acceptable earth through the paint on the casing.

You should have got a banjo with the SWA gland, its a little washer with a space to attach an earth fly to - did you have any spare bits left over?
Click to expand...
Ah yes I do have one of those. I don't have enough spaces for earth on my earth bar though - can I just double up?
 
dlockers said:
Got itchy feet having ran the SWA so decided to quickly wire up the CU. Annoyingly; I would have been totally golden if I had done the incoming wires slightly lower - so now I have a minor "hole" to cover. Nevermind, I am over the moon - finally have power of some description.

Open to criticism on the wiring - never done a CU before. Earths are a tad bit rough and I need to trim the bus bar/add another RCD in.
Click to expand...

Never done one myself but I have watched some of a guy called Cory who used to work at Artisan Electrics and he kinda "loops" his wiring to give extra length:

429762106_982770253414363_4379450952866145361_n.jpg
 
dlockers said:
Ah yes I do have one of those. I don't have enough spaces for earth on my earth bar though - can I just double up?
Click to expand...
Yes, that's fine although you need to crimp a ring lug onto the end of the earth wire and the a nut/bolt to attach the two together.

Alternatively pop to screwfix and but an earthing nut which has a screw clamp on the side of it to attach the earth wire to. Most sparks use an earthing nut these days because its about 10X faster to fit.
 
Richie said:
Never done one myself but I have watched some of a guy called Cory who used to work at Artisan Electrics and he kinda "loops" his wiring to give extra length:

429762106_982770253414363_4379450952866145361_n.jpg
Click to expand...
I had dreams of achieving this but in reality, you need to bring all your cables in from the back rather than top/sides. So a lot of it is in the prep and setup, annoyingly. Not just cable dressing!
 
Richie said:
Never done one myself but I have watched some of a guy called Cory who used to work at Artisan Electrics and he kinda "loops" his wiring to give extra length:

429762106_982770253414363_4379450952866145361_n.jpg
Click to expand...
All that work and he can't even equal space or colour code his 2.5T&E clips :rolleyes:

Does look tidy though. So many breakers! I still only have like 5.
 
dlockers said:
Decided I am going to raise the unit and see more armoured cable but hide the ingress of the all the T&E.
Click to expand...

As already mentioned you need to earth at least one end of the SWA's armour for the rare occasion someone years from now puts a spade through the cable and touches the live conductor. The spade will have gone through the armour/earth and give the fault current a path. I earthed both ends when I ran some SWA but I was told this may cause capacitance in long runs but it's unlikely in a domestic install.

When you get it electrically tested the electrician will tell you if you need to have an earth rod installed outside the shed/garden room.
 
Getting prepped for a tip run. With the garage being part storage, part gym, part electronics repair. Even a small amount of stuff fills it up.

The usual, excess cardboard from deliveries, cardboard box from the fan we had to replace. Old broken standing fan. Small fish tank, kids toys yawn.
Cannot wait for it gone.
 
Last edited:
doodah said:
Not the tidiest job but fine enough for the first thing I've built like this, lots of fun as well.

Click to expand...

Fun little project. I'd have just written the letters and numbers because that tape looks to have taken ages lol.

Edit. My bad. I thought the letters were taped on at a glance. But looking again I guess you template painted? Nice one.
 
Last edited:
Mysterae_ said:
As already mentioned you need to earth at least one end of the SWA's armour for the rare occasion someone years from now puts a spade through the cable and touches the live conductor. The spade will have gone through the armour/earth and give the fault current a path. I earthed both ends when I ran some SWA but I was told this may cause capacitance in long runs but it's unlikely in a domestic install.

When you get it electrically tested the electrician will tell you if you need to have an earth rod installed outside the shed/garden room.
Click to expand...
Top man thank you.
 
RedMogg said:
Yeah - Dulux's 2024 Colour of the Year, so it's out of stock in 5L tins, almost everywhere.
Need at least 10L, so I'm going to their trade centre to mix it (Trade Diamond, scrubbable) - spensive, but shouldn't need as many coats as the civilian paint.
Click to expand...
A mucher wiser choice even if the 5l was in stock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom