Quick question for the group...

I'm plumbing a bathroom with plastic pipes at the moment - so shouldn't need
equipotential bonding (and I was going to add 1.5m plastic tails to the
radiator before it hits the copper under the floor).

If I put in a chrome shower socket next to the sink - will I have to put in
an equipotential circuit to all my metal fittings? (eg. sink mixer tap,
shower valve, radiator and shower rail riser all to the earth terminal of
the shaver socket?)

If so, & I tell SWMBO that she cant have a chrome socket and fit a
plastic one - will this get me off fitting said bond?

TIA

Jim

"wildcard" wrote in message
...
Quick question for the group...

I'm plumbing a bathroom with plastic pipes at the moment - so shouldn't
need equipotential bonding (and I was going to add 1.5m plastic tails to
the radiator before it hits the copper under the floor).

If I put in a chrome shower socket next to the sink - will I have to put
in an equipotential circuit to all my metal fittings? (eg. sink mixer
tap, shower valve, radiator and shower rail riser all to the earth
terminal of the shaver socket?)

If so, & I tell SWMBO that she cant have a chrome socket and fit a
plastic one - will this get me off fitting said bond?

TIA

Jim

Sorry - that should have read SHAVER socket.

wildcard wrote:

If I put in a chrome shaver[*] socket next to the sink - will I have
to put in an equipotential circuit to all my metal fittings? (eg.
sink mixer tap, shower valve, radiator and shower rail riser all to
the earth terminal of the shaver socket?)[*] Corrected as directed.

No, if the said "metal fittings" are fed through plastic pipes, they
won't need bonding. The chrome socket face-plate will need earthing via
the earth wire in the circuit cable of course, and the shaver socket
must be an isolated type complying with BS EN 60742. If there are any
light fittings in the designated Zones, the circuit earths of the light
and shaver socket must be locally cross-bonded. If both items are fed
from the same final circuit and the connection between the two is a
short cable run close to the bathroom (e.g. just above the ceiling) then
the circuit earth wire in this cable provides the bond, without the need
for another wire.

If so, & I tell SWMBO that she cant have a chrome socket and fit a
plastic one - will this get me off fitting said bond?

If bonding is needed this will not get you off the hook, no.

--
Andy

In article ,
wildcard wrote:
If so, & I tell SWMBO that she cant have a chrome socket and fit a
plastic one - will this get me off fitting said bond?

TIA

Jim

Sorry - that should have read SHAVER socket.

Your wife is interested in shaver sockets? ;-)

--
*To err is human. To forgive is against company policy.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I was asking an electrician about this.

He said that it would be good practise to bond to the radiator in a
bathroom, even one with plastic pipes.

This was because the water flowing through the plastic will conduct
electricity, so the metal radiator itelf should be earthed as otherwise
someone could get a shock from it.

Yours,
Nathan

This was because the water flowing through the plastic will conduct
electricity, so the metal radiator itelf should be earthed as otherwise
someone could get a shock from it.

Absolute ********. The IEE did tests and determined that radiators fed from
plastic pipework were safer without bonding, at least with 1m of plastic
before metal is touched.

Isolation from earth is best. If it can't be achieved, then a good bond is
next best. You want to avoid a bad bond.

Christian.

Nathan Critchlow-Watton wrote:

I was asking an electrician about this.

He said that it would be good practise to bond to the radiator in a
bathroom, even one with plastic pipes.

This was because the water flowing through the plastic will conduct
electricity, so the metal radiator itelf should be earthed as otherwise
someone could get a shock from it.

Well he's being over-cautious. This was a controversial subject until a
few years ago when, with plastic plumbing becoming more common, the IEE
arranged some tests, and concluded that there was no significant risk of
getting dangerous shocks via the water. Since then they've issued clear
advice that supplementary bonding is not required in plastic-pipe
installations. See the URL below for an article about this.

http://www.iee.org/Publish/WireRegs/...asticPipes.pdf
--
Andy

Great, thanks for the update - that makes the bonding in my bathroom a
lot easier to do!

I'll print that out in case the electrician signing off my rewire
questions the lack of bonding in the bathroom.

Cheers,
Nathan

On 14 Dec 2005 05:53:57 -0800 someone who may be "Nathan
Critchlow-Watton" wrote this:-

I was asking an electrician about this.

He said that it would be good practise to bond to the radiator in a
bathroom, even one with plastic pipes.

Well, if there are (bonded) metal pipes to the radiator then these
will provide reliable metal to metal contact with the radiator,
which makes bonding the radiator itself pointless. Apart from
anything else the radiator itself is unlikely to introduce a
potential into the room.

If there are plastic pipes to it, the radiator is equally unlikely
to introduce a potential and others have pointed out how plastic
pipes and the water within them behave.

The electrician perhaps recommends bonding metal window frames, or
the metal in a basin waste? I have seen such horrors, perpetrated by
people who either don't know what they are doing or are paid for
their bogus recommendations.

There are good reasons for the IEE's recommendations, but these
should not be gold plated.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54