Further to my previous post, which should be disregarded as I didn't know
what I was talking about.

Please bear in mind that I know little about electrical supply and have
only a vague idea about what a RCD does!

On my house consumer unit, the circuit for my garage is on the NON-RCD
side.
In my garage I have a white Fuse Box with a wire-type fuse. This box
has only one fuse and an On/Off switch. The box is marked "45Amp" and
the fuse has two yellow spots on it (if this is relevant). There is a
cable coming off the fuse box to a row of 13Amp sockets above the bench
and also to the lighting circuit

Question (at last): When using power tools etc. on my workbench, should
I be using a plug-in RCD ?

My apologies for the basic nature of this question, but see second
paragraph above.

Terry W.

"Terry W." wrote in message
.. .
Further to my previous post, which should be disregarded as I didn't know
what I was talking about.

Please bear in mind that I know little about electrical supply and have
only a vague idea about what a RCD does!

On my house consumer unit, the circuit for my garage is on the NON-RCD
side.

The Prat P designers would have that on the RCD side but there is a better
way.

In my garage I have a white Fuse Box with a wire-type fuse. This box
has only one fuse and an On/Off switch. The box is marked "45Amp" and
the fuse has two yellow spots on it (if this is relevant). There is a
cable coming off the fuse box to a row of 13Amp sockets above the bench
and also to the lighting circuit

Question (at last): When using power tools etc. on my workbench, should
I be using a plug-in RCD ?

avoiding answering a tricky question, I would fit something like this

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...63138&ts=11924

Jim A

I suppose strictly speaking you don't need RCCBs for your power tools but to
be 100% safe I would.

First thing you could do is ask an elctriciaan to wire the garage to the
other side of the RCCB in your consumer unit, but then a fault in the garage
might trip the whole house so you would be none too popular especially if
you were getting nuisance tripping from a faulty tool or device.

The easiest but possibly not the best option would be to use one of those
things that looks like mains adaptor but has a built in RCCB . This could
work out expensive if you have a lot of tools in use at the same time.

A better option would be to replace the socket or sockets in the garage
with ones with in built RCCBs.

Both these options require little electrical knowledge but just make sure
you switch of the power before you start changing sockets.

The ultimate answer would be to fit a box beside your consumer unit with an
RCCB and fuse in it. The power to the garage would then be routed through
it.

This is the sort of job that should really be done by an electricain or
someone who really knows what they are doing so if your not sure don't try
this.

Sam Farrell


"Terry W." wrote in message
.. .
Further to my previous post, which should be disregarded as I didn't know
what I was talking about.

Please bear in mind that I know little about electrical supply and have
only a vague idea about what a RCD does!

On my house consumer unit, the circuit for my garage is on the NON-RCD
side.
In my garage I have a white Fuse Box with a wire-type fuse. This box
has only one fuse and an On/Off switch. The box is marked "45Amp" and
the fuse has two yellow spots on it (if this is relevant). There is a
cable coming off the fuse box to a row of 13Amp sockets above the bench
and also to the lighting circuit

Question (at last): When using power tools etc. on my workbench, should
I be using a plug-in RCD ?

My apologies for the basic nature of this question, but see second
paragraph above.

Terry W.

Jim Alexander wrote:

On my house consumer unit, the circuit for my garage is on the NON-RCD
side.

The Prat P designers would have that on the RCD side but there is a better
way.

It would only need to be on the RCD side (or better still its own
dedicated RCD) if the house has TT earthing.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thu, 24 May 2007 13:01:12 GMT someone who may be "Terry W."
wrote this:-

On my house consumer unit, the circuit for my garage is on the NON-RCD
side.

That's reasonable.

In my garage I have a white Fuse Box with a wire-type fuse. This box
has only one fuse and an On/Off switch. The box is marked "45Amp"

That is almost certainly the maximum rating for the unit.

and the fuse has two yellow spots on it (if this is relevant).

That indicates that it is IIRC a 15A fuse [1]. I would check the
wire is that size and would probably replace the wire to make sure.

There is a
cable coming off the fuse box to a row of 13Amp sockets above the bench
and also to the lighting circuit

It would be better if there was also a fused connection unit with a
3A or 5A fuse from which the lighting circuit was taken.

Question (at last): When using power tools etc. on my workbench, should
I be using a plug-in RCD ?

It would be a sensible precaution. In particular these things are a
reasonable way of guarding against some forms of electrocution from
cut flex.


[1] From memory 5A is white, 15A is yellow, 20A is blue, 30A is red
and 45A is green. I pass on 10A, perhaps also yellow.




--
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

Terry W. wrote:

Please bear in mind that I know little about electrical supply and have
only a vague idea about what a RCD does!

On my house consumer unit, the circuit for my garage is on the NON-RCD
side.

Can you work out what sort of earthing arrangement you have in the house?

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/electrical/...al.html#system

What sort of cable joins the house to the garage?

In my garage I have a white Fuse Box with a wire-type fuse. This box
has only one fuse and an On/Off switch. The box is marked "45Amp" and
the fuse has two yellow spots on it (if this is relevant). There is a
cable coming off the fuse box to a row of 13Amp sockets above the bench
and also to the lighting circuit

That rings a few alarm bells. The 45A fuse is probably way to higher
rating to adequately protect either of those circuits by itself.

Question (at last): When using power tools etc. on my workbench, should
I be using a plug-in RCD ?

The short answer is yes.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Jim Alexander wrote:

On my house consumer unit, the circuit for my garage is on the NON-RCD
side.

The Prat P designers would have that on the RCD side but there is a
better way.

It would only need to be on the RCD side (or better still its own
dedicated RCD) if the house has TT earthing.

Wasn't suggesting that or anything. Twas a jaundiced remark about the
suggested part P diagram in the document which I think your good self posted
the link to just a few days ago.

Jim A

Jim Alexander wrote:

The Prat P designers would have that on the RCD side but there is a
better way.
It would only need to be on the RCD side (or better still its own
dedicated RCD) if the house has TT earthing.

Wasn't suggesting that or anything. Twas a jaundiced remark about the
suggested part P diagram in the document which I think your good self posted
the link to just a few days ago.

Oh, you mean the example diagram in the Part P document. Yup I see what
you mean. What they have shown is a bit naff although technically
speaking correct given the lack of a local RCD in the garage/shed.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

David Hansen wrote:

[1] From memory 5A is white, 15A is yellow, 20A is blue, 30A is red
and 45A is green. I pass on 10A, perhaps also yellow.

5A is white, 15A is blue, 20A is yellow, 30A is red. Never seen a 10
though.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:

In my garage I have a white Fuse Box with a wire-type fuse. This box
has only one fuse and an On/Off switch. The box is marked "45Amp"
and the fuse has two yellow spots on it (if this is relevant). There
is a cable coming off the fuse box to a row of 13Amp sockets above the
bench and also to the lighting circuit

That rings a few alarm bells. The 45A fuse is probably way to higher
rating to adequately protect either of those circuits by itself.

Sorry ignore that (partly), Reading David's post about fuse colours I
just realised you were talking about wylex style rewireable carriers:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...ble/index.html

So yellow in this case would be a 20A carrier. Note however getting 20A
wire to re-wire it with may prove difficult. (the 45A being the rating f
the incomer or the CU itself by the sounds of it)

Ideally the lighting circuit ought to have its own fused connection unit
though.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thu, 24 May 2007 16:21:39 +0100 someone who may be John Rumm
wrote this:-

5A is white, 15A is blue, 20A is yellow, 30A is red. Never seen a 10
though.

Blue and yellow are the two I usually have trouble remembering,
which is why I look at the number stamped on the thing.


--
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

David Hansen wrote:
On Thu, 24 May 2007 16:21:39 +0100 someone who may be John Rumm
wrote this:-

5A is white, 15A is blue, 20A is yellow, 30A is red. Never seen a 10
though.

Blue and yellow are the two I usually have trouble remembering,
which is why I look at the number stamped on the thing.

When I were a lad, there was no number stamped on ours ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thu, 24 May 2007 17:53:21 +0100 someone who may be John Rumm
wrote this:-

Blue and yellow are the two I usually have trouble remembering,
which is why I look at the number stamped on the thing.

When I were a lad, there was no number stamped on ours ;-)

I'm too young to remember those days grandad:-)


--
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

David Hansen wrote:

Blue and yellow are the two I usually have trouble remembering,
which is why I look at the number stamped on the thing.
When I were a lad, there was no number stamped on ours ;-)

I'm too young to remember those days grandad:-)

Oi, cheek! The one I grew up with (which was waaaaay older then me ;-)
had the dots, but no numbers.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In my garage I have a white Fuse Box with a wire-type fuse. This box
has only one fuse and an On/Off switch. The box is marked "45Amp"
and the fuse has two yellow spots on it (if this is relevant). There
is a cable coming off the fuse box to a row of 13Amp sockets above the
bench and also to the lighting circuit

That rings a few alarm bells. The 45A fuse is probably way to higher
rating to adequately protect either of those circuits by itself.

Sorry ignore that (partly), Reading David's post about fuse colours I
just realised you were talking about wylex style rewireable carriers:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...ndex/Wylex_Rew...

So yellow in this case would be a 20A carrier. Note however getting 20A
wire to re-wire it with may prove difficult. (the 45A being the rating f
the incomer or the CU itself by the sounds of it)

Ideally the lighting circuit ought to have its own fused connection unit
though.

The short answer for the OP is it works ok as is, but there are some
minor potential issues there. If you wanted to upgrade it all, the
best thing would be to replace the outbuilding fusebox. That would
- put sockets and lights on different circuits, so a tool fault
wouldnt kill the lights
- include RCD cover for all sockets
- probably increase the max power available from the sockets
- move lighting from 20A fuse to 5A or 6A, which would improve safety
there a bit too.

However doing this is optional, if what you've got works ok and is in
sensible condition its a bit dated, but not a disaster.

Re using plugin RCDs, you could but it would only address a small
minority of the small issues. OTOH if your tools are such that theyre
liable to cut through the mains leads, then yes good to use one.


NT

On 25 May 2007 04:54:12 -0700 someone who may be
wrote this:-

Re using plugin RCDs, you could but it would only address a small
minority of the small issues. OTOH if your tools are such that theyre
liable to cut through the mains leads, then yes good to use one.

It is often not cutting through the lead that is fatal, it is
examining it without turning the electricity off. This was a
particular problem with electric lawnmowers.


--
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