I am fitting metal bath panels under my metal bath tub. The panels are
entireley insulated from the bath tub by a plastic frame and have a
non-conductive finish. They are fixed to the walls by wooden batons
and have no connections to anything that is conductive.

The bathroom has copper pipes and a plastic waste.

Do I need to bond these bath panels?

I think not, but I would value the opinion of a pro.

On Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:48:09 -0700 (PDT), 4CET
wrote:

I am fitting metal bath panels under my metal bath tub. The panels are
entireley insulated from the bath tub by a plastic frame and have a
non-conductive finish. They are fixed to the walls by wooden

batons

and have no connections to anything that is conductive.

The bathroom has copper pipes and a plastic waste.

Do I need to bond these bath panels?

I think not, but I would value the opinion of a pro.

Battens !!!!!

4CET wrote:

I am fitting metal bath panels under my metal bath tub. The panels are
entireley insulated from the bath tub by a plastic frame and have a
non-conductive finish. They are fixed to the walls by wooden batons
and have no connections to anything that is conductive.

The bathroom has copper pipes and a plastic waste.

Do I need to bond these bath panels?

The question to ask yourself is, could they introduce a potential into
the bathroom? In the case of a bit of "floating" metalwork (i.e. not
connected to anything electrically) like a bath panel, that is contained
entirely within the room, then the answer is no. So as you suspected
there is no need to bond.

More detail:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ng_and_Bonding

--
Cheers,

John.

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On Sep 28, 3:22*pm, John Rumm wrote:
4CET wrote:
I am fitting metal bath panels under my metal bath tub. The panels are
entireley insulated from the bath tub by a plastic frame and have a
non-conductive finish. They are fixed to the walls by wooden batons
and have no connections to anything that is conductive.

The bathroom has copper pipes and a plastic waste.

Do I need to bond these bath panels?

The question to ask yourself is, could they introduce a potential into
the bathroom? In the case of a bit of "floating" metalwork (i.e. not
connected to anything electrically) like a bath panel, that is contained
entirely within the room, then the answer is no. So as you suspected
there is no need to bond.

More detail:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ng_and_Bonding

--
Cheers,

John.

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

Thanks John!

An unqualified acquaintance insisted that it is necessary, I thought
not. In fact it seemed to me that earthing isolated metalwork and
bringing it in to the system might even make things more dangerous.

Any opinons out there on that one?
(opinions from IEE members especially welcome - I read the regulation,
and John's explanation seems very straightforward by comparison) and
I have noted the spelling of batten!!

4CET wrote:

An unqualified acquaintance insisted that it is necessary, I thought

Generally there is lots of confusion (even among pros) in this area.

not. In fact it seemed to me that earthing isolated metalwork and
bringing it in to the system might even make things more dangerous.

Well as the article points out, there is fundamental difference between
earthing and bonding - they both improve the safety, but do it in
different ways.

Any opinons out there on that one?

The danger would come if you earthed some things but failed to provide
it for others that require it.

If that were the case, then you would be relying on the equipotential
bonding and any RCDs present to protect you in the event of a fault.
(one to limit the maximum voltage you could be exposed to, and the other
to disconnect the power).


--
Cheers,

John.

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

On Sun, 28 Sep 2008 06:48:09 -0700, 4CET wrote:

I am fitting metal bath panels under my metal bath tub. The panels are
entireley insulated from the bath tub by a plastic frame and have a
non-conductive finish. They are fixed to the walls by wooden batons
and have no connections to anything that is conductive.

The bathroom has copper pipes and a plastic waste.

Do I need to bond these bath panels?

No: they are not "extraneous-conductive" parts as defined in the IEE regs
(at least the old ones - I don't know offhand if they've changed the
terminology). In plain language they're not electrically connected to
anything outside the bathroom that could get made electrically "live" in
the event of a fault, so there's no point in bonding them.

You do need to bond the copper pipes.

I think not, but I would value the opinion of a pro.

Me? Plumbing & heating eng'r with "16th edition" C&G 2381, member of
approved electrical "competent persons" scheme, BSc Electrical &
Electronic Eng, but not a practicing sparks.


--
YAPH http://yaph.co.uk

A: Because it messes up the order in which people read text.
Q: Why is top-posting a bad thing?