I had an assessment today for my sparky registration.
The Inspector checks all the earth bonds, and numerous other things.
Anyway, he pointed out that my earth bond at the point the cables enter
the house is not correct.
Currently it has a 'Tenby' clamp type earth connector on it - the same
sort as used on pipes.
He said this the worng sort of connector, as it crushes the cables, and
should be soldered, or a special clamp supplied by the Electric Company.
I said I would sort it out, he said no, as it is the power suppliers
responsibility, and I should not touch it.

So I rang them, they do not do earth repairs, and I must get an
electrician in to do it!

So what do I do?
And what type of clamp should be used?

When I moved here, it was just a single strip of copper ring with a nut
and bolt holding the two sides together. (I didnt remove it, the elec
board did when they replaced the CU 14 years ago.)
Are these still available?

Ta
Alan.

--
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On Nov 23, 8:52*pm, (A.Lee) wrote:
I had an assessment today for my sparky registration.
The Inspector checks all the earth bonds, and numerous other things.
Anyway, he pointed out that my earth bond at the point the cables enter
the house is not correct.
Currently it has a 'Tenby' clamp type earth connector on it - the same
sort as used on pipes.
He said this the worng sort of connector, as it crushes the cables, and
should be soldered, or a special clamp supplied by the Electric Company.
I said I would sort it out, he said no, as it is the power suppliers
responsibility, and I should not touch it.

So I rang them, they do not do earth repairs, and I must get an
electrician in to do it!

So what do I do?
And what type of clamp should be used?

When I moved here, it was just a single strip of copper ring with a nut
and bolt holding the two sides together. (I didnt remove it, the elec
board did when they replaced the CU 14 years ago.)
Are these still available?

Ta
Alan.

--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

Depends on what sort of cable it is.

On 23/11/10 20:52, A.Lee wrote:
I had an assessment today for my sparky registration.
The Inspector checks all the earth bonds, and numerous other things.
Anyway, he pointed out that my earth bond at the point the cables enter
the house is not correct.
Currently it has a 'Tenby' clamp type earth connector on it - the same
sort as used on pipes.
He said this the worng sort of connector, as it crushes the cables, and
should be soldered, or a special clamp supplied by the Electric Company.
I said I would sort it out, he said no, as it is the power suppliers
responsibility, and I should not touch it.

So I rang them, they do not do earth repairs, and I must get an
electrician in to do it!

I think they either misunderstood or are fobbing you off. An electrician
is not supposed to touc anything before the meter, and secondly they
have a duty to provide an earth within spec unless you have a TT system
(in which case the supply no earth).

Which company is it?

You could try their emergency number[1] and tell them your electrical
inspection has noted a fault on the supplier's earth - that should get
someone out pretty fast.

[1] an inadequate earth counts as an emergency. However, such things are
not unheard off - but if you have it in writing and play the "dumb
consumer" there's not much they can whine about - except maybe at the
inspector's enthusiasm!

Cheers

Tim
--
Tim Watts

A.Lee wrote:
I had an assessment today for my sparky registration.
The Inspector checks all the earth bonds, and numerous other things.
Anyway, he pointed out that my earth bond at the point the cables enter
the house is not correct.
Currently it has a 'Tenby' clamp type earth connector on it - the same
sort as used on pipes.
He said this the worng sort of connector, as it crushes the cables, and
should be soldered, or a special clamp supplied by the Electric Company.
I said I would sort it out, he said no, as it is the power suppliers
responsibility, and I should not touch it.

So I rang them, they do not do earth repairs, and I must get an
electrician in to do it!


It's the DNO's cable and you might think it's the DNO's responsibility
to supply a proper earth connection to their cable, but apparently it's not.

See this document (sections 8.4, 8.5) for further info:

http://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/Ne...g%20Policy.pdf

Bear in mind from the flowchart in Appendix A that they may cut off your
supply...

So what do I do?

Call them back and persuade them to fix it, or switch to a TT
installation, or approach the lads from the DNO when they're in your
area and scrounge an earth terminal kit, or call an outfit like Thorne &
Derrick (cablejoints, see below) and see what they say, or call a
largish firm of electrical contractors in you area who may have come
across this problem before and know how to get it fixed.

http://www.cablejoints.co.uk/home

And what type of clamp should be used?


A proper one suitable for the type of cable you have. If it's a
paper-lead cable, then something like this:

http://www.sicame.co.uk/Section8/8.05-8.06.pdf

When I moved here, it was just a single strip of copper ring with a nut
and bolt holding the two sides together. (I didnt remove it, the elec
board did when they replaced the CU 14 years ago.)

Well they should have reinstated it, unless they've changed you to a TT
supply and are not providing you an earth. You should ask them this
(i.e. what type of earthing they think you have) when you call back.

Anything pre-meter is DNO property.

If I recall the ESQW uses the word "reasonable"; once a DNO has
provided an earth they must maintain it where reasonably possible. A
bit like "reasonable" in getting a board fixed "it is ok if it has 3
screws".

As mentioned an EC clamp can crush PILC cable - lead sheath
(1-1.2mm?), oil saturated paper, copper. Considering the lack of
protective equipment (flash) fitting one is not a good idea. DNO staff
had a habit of fitting EC clamps to loop-in supply PILC cables
(linking supply & neighbour) in the 1980s, but their metering staff in
the 1990s had a habit of taking one look and walking out the door. Can
not blame them because bending PILC tails back and forth with a clamp
on them would probably make most people nervous.

Strange how National Grid will turn up without question to fix a
fault, but getting a DNO to do pretty much anything is like sitting in
call waiting for god "you are position nine billion...".

On Nov 23, 11:06*pm, Dave Osborne wrote:
A proper one suitable for the type of cable you have. If it's a
paper-lead cable, then something like this:
http://www.sicame.co.uk/Section8/8.05-8.06.pdf

What a nice design, Hepworth too.

A.Lee wrote...
When I moved here, it was just a single strip of copper ring with a nut
and bolt holding the two sides together. (I didnt remove it, the elec
board did when they replaced the CU 14 years ago.)

That sounds like the old clamp prior to plastic cutouts?

On Nov 23, 11:06*pm, Dave Osborne wrote:

Well they should have reinstated it, unless they've changed you to a TT
supply and are not providing you an earth. You should ask them this
(i.e. what type of earthing they think you have) when you call back.

Is the database remotely accurate at recording this?

I ask because I've spent the last 3 months wrangling with that
database (after the £1500 bill from the utterly inept Good Energy). My
own record now has the same meter serial in use on two different
MPANs, at two different postcodes, so I don't have a great deal of
faith in it.

On 24/11/10 13:02, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Nov 23, 11:06 pm, Dave wrote:

Well they should have reinstated it, unless they've changed you to a TT
supply and are not providing you an earth. You should ask them this
(i.e. what type of earthing they think you have) when you call back.

Is the database remotely accurate at recording this?

I ask because I've spent the last 3 months wrangling with that
database (after the £1500 bill from the utterly inept Good Energy). My
own record now has the same meter serial in use on two different
MPANs, at two different postcodes, so I don't have a great deal of
faith in it.


EDF told me in writing (as they are legally obliged to do if asked) that
I had TN-S. My Ze reading however was 0.18 Ohms which made me suspicious
- so when the bloke came to pull the cutout fuse, i asked him to check.
One cover off revealed a fairly modern TN-C-S system!

Dare say round here it was TN-S once, but there you go...

--
Tim Watts

On 2010-11-24 14:14:06 +0000, Tim Watts said:

On 24/11/10 13:02, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Nov 23, 11:06 pm, Dave wrote:

Well they should have reinstated it, unless they've changed you to a TT
supply and are not providing you an earth. You should ask them this
(i.e. what type of earthing they think you have) when you call back.

Is the database remotely accurate at recording this?

I ask because I've spent the last 3 months wrangling with that
database (after the £1500 bill from the utterly inept Good Energy). My
own record now has the same meter serial in use on two different
MPANs, at two different postcodes, so I don't have a great deal of
faith in it.


EDF told me in writing (as they are legally obliged to do if asked)
that I had TN-S. My Ze reading however was 0.18 Ohms which made me
suspicious - so when the bloke came to pull the cutout fuse, i asked
him to check. One cover off revealed a fairly modern TN-C-S system!

Dare say round here it was TN-S once, but there you go...

Which department at EDF did you speak to do get this? I've struggled
to get the same info out of SP.

On 24/11/10 15:48, Piers Finlayson wrote:
On 2010-11-24 14:14:06 +0000, Tim Watts said:

EDF told me in writing (as they are legally obliged to do if asked)
that I had TN-S. My Ze reading however was 0.18 Ohms which made me
suspicious - so when the bloke came to pull the cutout fuse, i asked
him to check. One cover off revealed a fairly modern TN-C-S system!

Dare say round here it was TN-S once, but there you go...

Which department at EDF did you speak to do get this? I've struggled to
get the same info out of SP.


I buggered about a lot until I spotted a phone number for "Technical" on
the IET forums. Rang that, got asked where I found the number then they
proceeded to answer my various questions sensibly (if wrongly - but
that's not exactly the bloke's personal fault if the record keeping was
****e, especially in a period overlapping nationalised/privatised).

--
Tim Watts

On 23/11/2010 20:52, A.Lee wrote:

So what do I do?

Nothing, I suggest. There must be millions of TN-S earthing connections
like this, despite the use of BS 951 clamps on PILC cables now being a
deprecated practice. Unless it is loose or the Ze reading is
excessively high I'd leave it alone.

--
Andy

On Nov 23, 8:52*pm, (A.Lee) wrote:

Currently it has a 'Tenby' clamp type earth connector on it - the same
sort as used on pipes.

Separate question - what does the colour coding on these mean? I've
got them in silver, red and blue. There appears to be no difference,
or even a size difference.

On 24/11/10 13:05, Andy Dingley wrote:
On Nov 23, 8:52 pm, (A.Lee) wrote:

Currently it has a 'Tenby' clamp type earth connector on it - the same
sort as used on pipes.

Separate question - what does the colour coding on these mean? I've
got them in silver, red and blue. There appears to be no difference,
or even a size difference.

Blue is for external use (ie weather proof, eg on an external gas pipe
as I have) which you could use inside of course. Silver the regular
jobbie for inside only. Not sure about red - never seen one.

--
Tim Watts

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Nov 23, 8:52 pm, (A.Lee) wrote:

Currently it has a 'Tenby' clamp type earth connector on it - the
same sort as used on pipes.

Separate question - what does the colour coding on these mean? I've
got them in silver, red and blue. There appears to be no difference,
or even a size difference.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...g#Earth_Clamps

--
Adam