Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

Many thanks to all for the electrical advice on other threads. I am
aware of Part P - I am trying to get various things sorted out and
cables put in before getting an electrician in to do the final stages.

Having thought a bit more about my garden wiring I would like to be
able to control separately both a small fountain and some outdoor
lighting from within the kitchen. I would take these off the same 13A
spur from the ring - the load would be no more than 300W.

Rather than running two cables can I (for the sake of neatness and
economy of cable) use four-core cable, with two separately-switched
lives? The fountain and the lighting would then both share the neutral
and the earth. Just need to know so that I can order some cable and put
it in now.

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Martin Pentreath wrote:

Many thanks to all for the electrical advice on other threads. I am
aware of Part P - I am trying to get various things sorted out and
cables put in before getting an electrician in to do the final stages.

Having thought a bit more about my garden wiring I would like to be
able to control separately both a small fountain and some outdoor
lighting from within the kitchen. I would take these off the same 13A
spur from the ring - the load would be no more than 300W.

Rather than running two cables can I (for the sake of neatness and
economy of cable) use four-core cable, with two separately-switched
lives? The fountain and the lighting would then both share the neutral
and the earth. Just need to know so that I can order some cable and
put it in now.

As long as the neutral can handle the current of both appliances at the same
time, and as long as the single earth wire is adequate, I don't see a
problem.

I did something similar with my pond wiring (pre-Part P!) - using a 7-core
SWA cable for water pump, air pump, and UV filter - each seperately
switchable from the house. In my case, each had its own neutral - with just
the earth wire being shared.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

Rather than running two cables can I (for the sake of neatness and
economy of cable) use four-core cable, with two separately-switched
lives?

Yes. No problem. Use SWA. Thickness depends on length, but at 300W, you can
probably use quite thin stuff. You will need to buy some brown and blue
sleeving so that the colours of the cores are correct when terminated.

Christian.

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

In article .com,
"Martin Pentreath" writes:

Rather than running two cables can I (for the sake of neatness and
economy of cable) use four-core cable, with two separately-switched
lives? The fountain and the lighting would then both share the neutral
and the earth. Just need to know so that I can order some cable and put
it in now.

As others have said, that's fine.

However, what I would probably do in such a scenario would be to
send a single permanently live feed down the garden. Tap off this
through FCU and remote control switches for the fountain and lights.
I would use X10 switches which carry the control signalling over the
mains. This would enable you to easily add other things in the
future, and you could install a regular waterpoofed 13A socket in
the garden too, which I find extremely useful.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:


However, what I would probably do in such a scenario would be to
send a single permanently live feed down the garden. Tap off this
through FCU and remote control switches for the fountain and lights.
I would use X10 switches which carry the control signalling over the
mains. This would enable you to easily add other things in the
future, and you could install a regular waterpoofed 13A socket in
the garden too, which I find extremely useful.

Sounds interesting! Can you get X10 switches with a fair modicum of weather
protection - or are they only intended for in-door use?

Any suggestions of specific kit?
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

In article ,
"Set Square" writes:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:


However, what I would probably do in such a scenario would be to
send a single permanently live feed down the garden. Tap off this
through FCU and remote control switches for the fountain and lights.
I would use X10 switches which carry the control signalling over the
mains. This would enable you to easily add other things in the
future, and you could install a regular waterpoofed 13A socket in
the garden too, which I find extremely useful.

Sounds interesting! Can you get X10 switches with a fair modicum of weather
protection - or are they only intended for in-door use?

Any suggestions of specific kit?

I would probably look at putting one of the following modules
inside the back of a weathproof socket or FCU module:
http://cyberselect.co.uk/product/481 . I haven't tried this,
so I can't guarantee it will fit -- probably need to take one
into B&Q and see which weatherproof socket range you can get it
into the back of. You can also connect a local momentary action
switch to this device for local switching.

A cheaper module is http://cyberselect.co.uk/product/479 but
it would not fit in the back of a socket or FCU module, and
would need a dedicated weatherproof case.

Somewhere in the middle is http://cyberselect.co.uk/product/477
which is DIN rail mounting -- if you require several separate
remote switches, using a weatherproof DIN rail box could be a
good option.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

"Martin Pentreath" wrote in message
oups.com...
Many thanks to all for the electrical advice on other threads. I am
aware of Part P - I am trying to get various things sorted out and
cables put in before getting an electrician in to do the final stages.

Having thought a bit more about my garden wiring I would like to be
able to control separately both a small fountain and some outdoor
lighting from within the kitchen. I would take these off the same 13A
spur from the ring - the load would be no more than 300W.

Rather than running two cables can I (for the sake of neatness and
economy of cable) use four-core cable, with two separately-switched
lives? The fountain and the lighting would then both share the neutral
and the earth. Just need to know so that I can order some cable and put
it in now.

It will work, but:
If your paired neutral fails after it is paired then BOTH appliances will be
live (one through the neutral side), yet neither working, surely that is not
a good idea from a safety point of view.

mrcheerful

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

Andrew Gabriel andrew@a17 wrote:

In article ,
"Set Square" writes:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:


However, what I would probably do in such a scenario would be to
send a single permanently live feed down the garden. Tap off this
through FCU and remote control switches for the fountain and lights.
I would use X10 switches which carry the control signalling over the
mains. This would enable you to easily add other things in the
future, and you could install a regular waterpoofed 13A socket in
the garden too, which I find extremely useful.

Sounds interesting! Can you get X10 switches with a fair modicum of weather
protection - or are they only intended for in-door use?

Any suggestions of specific kit?

I would probably look at putting one of the following modules
inside the back of a weathproof socket or FCU module:
http://cyberselect.co.uk/product/481 . I haven't tried this,
so I can't guarantee it will fit -- probably need to take one
into B&Q and see which weatherproof socket range you can get it
into the back of. You can also connect a local momentary action
switch to this device for local switching.

A cheaper module is http://cyberselect.co.uk/product/479 but
it would not fit in the back of a socket or FCU module, and
would need a dedicated weatherproof case.

Somewhere in the middle is http://cyberselect.co.uk/product/477
which is DIN rail mounting -- if you require several separate
remote switches, using a weatherproof DIN rail box could be a
good option.

I did exactly that last year.

I ran one, three core SWA from a circuit breaker to a waterproof box (
from CPC ) and inside the box are three X-10 modules ( AM12W wire-in
modules ) to power the outside lighting, the pond pump and a mains
socket on the patio.

The whole lot is conrolled from a tiny switch module which can be
plugged into any socket in the house and moved around as convenient.

I've since added an X-10 timer to automate some switch-on times and
added some other plug-in units to conveniently control other stuff
around the house.

I bought the X-10 stuff here -
http://www.letsautomate.com/index.cfm?&Nav=X10&

Their service is excellent and they rapidly responded to my e-mails.

Switching two appliances from one four-core cable
 

mrcheerful
. wrote:
"Martin Pentreath" wrote in message
oups.com...

Rather than running two cables can I (for the sake of neatness and
economy of cable) use four-core cable, with two separately-switched
lives? The fountain and the lighting would then both share the neutral
and the earth. Just need to know so that I can order some cable and put
it in now.

It will work, but:
If your paired neutral fails after it is paired then BOTH appliances will be
live (one through the neutral side), yet neither working, surely that is not
a good idea from a safety point of view.

mrcheerful

a non issue unless for some reason you decide to connect the cases to
the neutral conductor. While common enough in the US, so I hear, its
not done here.


NT