I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a
wire broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

wrote:

Any alternative solutions?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3.5mm-NYLON-SLOTTED/261091115197

On Sun, 20 Jan 2019 13:09:19 +0000, wrote:

jury

Unless you know of a good reason why the earth has not been installed,
I would treat the discovery as an invitation for a full wiring
inspection.

AB

On 20/01/2019 13:29, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2019 13:09:19 +0000, wrote:

jury

Unless you know of a good reason why the earth has not been installed,
I would treat the discovery as an invitation for a full wiring
inspection.

And after a full and legal trial the only option in most cases is a rewire.

Earthing of lighting circuits became a requirement in 1966.




--
Adam

In article ,
wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a
wire broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

Get some plastic screws instead? If you really are that concerned. But
don't use any type of metal plate switch or dimmer that must be earthed.

--
*Organized Crime Is Alive And Well; It's Called Auto Insurance. *

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

In article ,
Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2019 13:09:19 +0000, wrote:

jury

Unless you know of a good reason why the earth has not been installed,
I would treat the discovery as an invitation for a full wiring
inspection.

Not really - wiring from the time when an earth on lighting circuits
wasn't mandatory could well be still in perfect condition.

--
*'ome is where you 'ang your @ *

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

On 20/01/2019 13:45, ARW wrote:
On 20/01/2019 13:29, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2019 13:09:19 +0000, wrote:

jury

Unless you know of a good reason why the earth has not been installed,
I would treat the discovery as an invitation for a full wiring
inspection.

And after a full and legal trial the only option in most cases is a rewire.

Earthing of lighting circuits became a requirement in 1966.


Yes, but if the wiring is sound there's no need for a re-wire. As I
slowly go through the rooms (it's not a small house) I'm sorting out the
problems as I find them.
I've just found a better solution to this particular problem. There's a
light switch in the adjacent room, almost exactly behind the switch
that's bothering me, and this has an earth. They are on the same
lighting circuit so an earth wire through the wall and all is well.

On 20/01/2019 13:09, wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a
wire broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

I've just found a better solution to this particular problem. There's a
light switch in the adjacent room, almost exactly behind the switch
that's bothering me, and this has an earth. They are on the same
lighting circuit so an earth wire through the wall and all is well.

On 20/01/2019 14:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a
wire broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

Get some plastic screws instead? If you really are that concerned. But
don't use any type of metal plate switch or dimmer that must be earthed.


I wanted to solve the problem rather than masking it with plastic screws
that someone might replace in the future.

wrote:

There's a light switch in the adjacent room, almost exactly behind the
switch that's bothering me, and this has an earth

Does it go anywhere :-P

In article ,
wrote:
I've just found a better solution to this particular problem. There's a
light switch in the adjacent room, almost exactly behind the switch
that's bothering me, and this has an earth. They are on the same
lighting circuit so an earth wire through the wall and all is well.

Do check the earth is connected to earth, though. In the days when earths
weren't mandatory but TW&E was around, you'd often fine it connected at
one end, but not the other...

--
*Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"

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

In article ,
wrote:
On 20/01/2019 14:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e.
no earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it
would be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to
sink a surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated
enclosure and there's no chance of the screws making contact with a
live wire if a wire broke. What's the opinion of the jury? Any
alternative solutions?

Get some plastic screws instead? If you really are that concerned. But
don't use any type of metal plate switch or dimmer that must be
earthed.


I wanted to solve the problem rather than masking it with plastic screws
that someone might replace in the future.

If you are concerned about what future owners (or whatever) might do, best
get absolutely everything checked out and up to the latest spec. ;-)

--
*Why is the word abbreviation so long? *

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

Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
On Sun, 20 Jan 2019 13:09:19 +0000, wrote:

jury

Unless you know of a good reason why the earth has not been installed,
I would treat the discovery as an invitation for a full wiring
inspection.

Unless of course it's old enough to have been installed before
earth/CPC was required for lighting.

--
Chris Green
·

On 20/01/2019 14:39, wrote:
On 20/01/2019 14:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Â*Â*Â* wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a
wire broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

Get some plastic screws instead? If you really are that concerned. But
don't use any type of metal plate switch or dimmer that must be earthed.


I wanted to solve the problem rather than masking it with plastic screws
that someone might replace in the future.

Are you / have you upgraded the CU with a 17th edition / all RCBO style
setup? If so, then the addition of a suitable warning label would be
adequate IMHO.

See the section on reducing risk he

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/...thout_an_Earth



--
Cheers,

John.

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

On 20/01/2019 14:47, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
I've just found a better solution to this particular problem. There's a
light switch in the adjacent room, almost exactly behind the switch
that's bothering me, and this has an earth. They are on the same
lighting circuit so an earth wire through the wall and all is well.

Do check the earth is connected to earth, though. In the days when earths
weren't mandatory but TW&E was around, you'd often fine it connected at
one end, but not the other...

A very good point, but I had checked and there *is* continuity.

On 20/01/2019 17:48, John Rumm wrote:
On 20/01/2019 14:39, wrote:
On 20/01/2019 14:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Â*Â*Â* wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it
would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a
wire broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

Get some plastic screws instead? If you really are that concerned. But
don't use any type of metal plate switch or dimmer that must be earthed.


I wanted to solve the problem rather than masking it with plastic
screws that someone might replace in the future.

Are you / have you upgraded the CU with a 17th edition / all RCBO style
setup? If so, then the addition of a suitable warning label would be
adequate IMHO.

See the section on reducing risk he

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/...thout_an_Earth

It's been the plan to change the CU for the last 12 months, first it was
too cold in the roof space, then I was too busy, then it was too hot,
now I'm too busy, soon it will be too cold. I need to man-up! :-)

I don't think it will be fully RCBO because there are lots of circuits
and (when I last looked) RCBOs are still quite expensive. Ref earlier
discussions, several things can be combined onto a single RCD so there
will be a mix of RCBOs and RCD+(n)MCBs.

On 20/01/2019 14:46, Andy Burns wrote:
wrote:

There's a light switch in the adjacent room, almost exactly behind the
switch that's bothering me, and this has an earth

Does it go anywhere :-P

Yes (fortunately)

On 20/01/2019 18:40, wrote:
On 20/01/2019 17:48, John Rumm wrote:
On 20/01/2019 14:39, wrote:
On 20/01/2019 14:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Â*Â*Â* wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core
(i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it
would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a
wire broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

Get some plastic screws instead? If you really are that concerned. But
don't use any type of metal plate switch or dimmer that must be
earthed.


I wanted to solve the problem rather than masking it with plastic
screws that someone might replace in the future.

Are you / have you upgraded the CU with a 17th edition / all RCBO
style setup? If so, then the addition of a suitable warning label
would be adequate IMHO.

See the section on reducing risk he

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/...thout_an_Earth

It's been the plan to change the CU for the last 12 months, first it was
too cold in the roof space, then I was too busy, then it was too hot,
now I'm too busy, soon it will be too cold. I need to man-up! :-)

I don't think it will be fully RCBO because there are lots of circuits
and (when I last looked) RCBOs are still quite expensive. Ref earlier
discussions, several things can be combined onto a single RCD so there
will be a mix of RCBOs and RCD+(n)MCBs.

The thrust of what I was getting at was if the lighting circuit in
question ends up with RCD protection at = 30mA trip threshold, then you
can "get away" with proper labelling and making sure no Class I switches
and luminaires are in use. Its not as "good" a solution as a re-wire,
but sometimes that is not realistic.


--
Cheers,

John.

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

Chuckle, I well recall a strange thing before this house was rewired in the
70s, when stripping off some wallpaper somebody had earthed a box by a piece
of copper tap up the wall to a copper water pip.
This was located in between floors.
Highly dodgy, but then things of this kind were done back in the 60s and
before I'm sure.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
wrote in message
...
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a wire
broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

Hmm, well good, I think. However I remember my Dad back in the 50s making
his own wall lights with two core just buried a tiny bit in the plaster of
the back room walls and the lights were made of hardboard with a toggle
switch of the kind that used to be fitted to radios, ie the solderable kind
with a metal toggle. I always did get a tingle off of those but I'm still
here!
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
wrote in message
...
On 20/01/2019 13:09, wrote:
I've discovered that the wiring to a light switch is in 2 core (i.e. no
earth) so the metal back box was unearthed. Getting an earth to it would
be a royal pain so I've removed the metal back box and plan to sink a
surface box so the back of the switch is in an insulated enclosure and
there's no chance of the screws making contact with a live wire if a wire
broke.
What's the opinion of the jury?
Any alternative solutions?

I've just found a better solution to this particular problem. There's a
light switch in the adjacent room, almost exactly behind the switch that's
bothering me, and this has an earth. They are on the same lighting circuit
so an earth wire through the wall and all is well.

On 20/01/2019 18:40, wrote:

I don't think it will be fully RCBO because there are lots of circuits
and (when I last looked) RCBOs are still quite expensive. Ref earlier
discussions, several things can be combined onto a single RCD so there
will be a mix of RCBOs and RCD+(n)MCBs.


Indeed.

A mixture of RCBOs and some RCD shared circuits is quite a good option
in many cases.

--
Adam