Why not take the advice of all the people who obviously know little about the subject, after all you will only burn the shed down or kill somebody if it is not done quite right.
As for the person who said an RCD is not needed that is not strictly true either.
If you are unsure then get somebody to do it for you or seek advice on how to do it properly, rather than the risk life and limb.
Location: Down at the sharp pointy end, where all the weather is made.
Age: 64
Posts: 960
Armoured cable
I used a 'spare' length of armoured twin & earth - it was actually off the end of a reel and was really scrap - honest!
However, it was just the right length to go under the extension and in a trench I dug for the purpose. It's properly wired in to a consumer unit under the stairs, all protected by an RCB; absolutely essential in my view as I run garden tools and the pond pump from it. The shed's got a 'ring' in it with double sockets and a lighting circuit but the power drain is usually very small, enough for the lights and charging model aircraft batteries etc. I sometimes run a 1kw heater off it but that's well within its capabilities.
It's been there 20 years and will likely see me out...
I could pay someone £300 plus, to install belt and braces wiring, but surely if I get the mcb/fuse/rcd/cable rating right it'll do. Its only tightning a few screws after all.Isn't it?
Wire it up? Paah! get thee a tilley lamp. Nowt like it, a nice bright light, warms the place up, a good shed like aroma and good to look at. When the power cuts come you'll be snug as a bug in a rug with yer neighbours envious outside staring in like lost magi....
Run some conduit down the fence about a foot off the ground, RCD and a switch at the source and a switch / panel at the end. Some heavy duty-ish cable in between should do it - canabalise an old extension lead. Total cost should not exceed £20.
M Mouse probably knows what he's talking about, but other other offers of running an old extension lead really are asking for trouble. You need to know what the max loads you're going to apply are and size the cable accordingly. To be on the safe side if you go for 6mm squared cable you shouldn't have any probs.
He is right,don't f*ck with what you don't understand.
If using plastic conduit it will offer little in the way of impact protection, will go brittle in the sun, and twist and distort for the same reason assuming the fence doesn't blow down first.
Quote:
Some heavy duty-ish cable in between should do it - canabalise(sic) an old extension lead
That made me laugh as the two parts of the statement are mutually contradictory.
An RCD is not necessarily needed at the source end if the house is already protected by an RCD of the necessary sensitivity.
Armoured cable is the cheapest and most effective way of PROPERLY doing the job. If you can't terminate armoured cable then try finding somebody who can.
A long time ago I was asked by a lady I met why her lounge lights were flickering when anybody walked across the room upstairs. It transpired that the previous owner fancied rewiring the house because it is dead easy (as everybody here seems to imply as well).
I disconnected half the house wiring and had to completely rewire the house pronto. The smouldering connections and cables laid OVER joists with boards laid on top were a sight to behold.
I might be able to find the gentlemen's contact details. He could definitely help wire your shed cheaply.
It just occurred to me that with plethora of dangerous suggestions so far is it any real suprise that our nanny government has recently effectively outlawed so much DIY electrical work.
Yes don't forget, folks - the newspapers are full of electrocution stories due to folks ignoring the nanny state. The new wiring is more dangerous due to the new EU colours and so it needs an electrician to sign it off. He might do it in the pub, if you buy him another pint. Then you can sell your house with a clear conscience, 'cos you have produced that all important piece of paper, which makes it totally safe.
Alternatively, you can do the same crappy wiring outside and run the end of the cable through your loo window and plug it into a socket inside the house and it's totally legal. Easy.
Location: A Whilom nimble brain. With 31 million posts.
Age: 73
Posts: 3,387
Look! just make sure that red electrickery comes out of red wires and black electrickery comes out of black wires....oh, and if you spill any, due to leaving a socket on with no plug in it, make sure you have a green and yellow wire to soak it up.
Warning. You mix red and black electrickery at your peril.
Now, on a more sensible note...I'm getting a serious attack of Déjà vu.
We did this one a year or so ago and anyone that recalls my input would know that I have spent a huge amount of time all but shouting about RCDs -- in all their forms.
It now seems that even if you cop hold of both wires that there is still a good chance that there will be enough dis-balance in the load -- due to stray leakage -- that the device will save your life.
If you're convinced, then why not put it up-stream of your run to the shed, it will serve to fault-find the entire run (leaks to ground or you) 24/7.
Not quite sure I understand the last post but if I recall the maths correctly a straight leak to earth will trip a 30ma sensitivity RCD/RCCB/ELCB (or whatever they are called this week), where the supply is at 50 Hertz, in approximately 1.5 Hertz, ergo, unlikely to kill a healthy individual.
Hence the reason that the regulations changed in the late 80s (IEE Regulations Edition 15, 1981, I think ) to state that any socket likely to be used for equipment outdoors must be protected by a 30ma sensitivity RCD. I am a few years out of touch now but that change ushered in the era we now have where RCDs are the norm rather than only required on overhead supplies where the earth continuity was provided by an stake in the ground.
Anybody remember the old voltage sensitve breakers required, if again I recall correctly, where the earth impedance was of a certain level? Life seemed so much simpler then.
Some of the clowns offering advice here would have been so much more at home too.
Some interesting statistics:
Number of deaths from accidental exposure to electric current in England and Wales, 1994 to 2003
Advice about fitting a suitable RCD is all correct. They work by "detecting" a difference between the phase conductor and the neutral conductor currents. This then causes the tripping mechanism (usually electro-mechanical but can be electronic) to operate. Don't fit one that trips at greater than 30mA, this is all it takes to stop a heart! Make sure you periodically operate the test button as these can fail. Interestingly, most people who suffer mains electric shocks and survive do so becuase of the resistance of their skin - has happened to me in my youth. Now thankfully I have experience and better knowledge to fall back on. Water on your hands or equipment reduces this resistance significantly.
Don't bugger about with electricity unless you know what you're doing!!
Please believe me, Electrickery is very dangerous to amateurs.
PM me to make e-mail contact and I'll send you a copy of an article from the autumn 2005 edition of the Institute of Electrical Engineers' monthly publication 'Wiring Matters'. Three pages with big pictures that show three different ways to do it properly. Its just as easy and almost as cheap, to do it the right way rather than bodging it.
Great train set bacardi wallah
...but there's no room left for the massage chair and the pool table.
Hmm, always wanted a choo-choo train to play with. Sadly not given one as a wee sprog. Swiss Grandpa was similarly afflicted when he were a lad, and even worse he had two daughters so unable to close the gap. However, our luck's up 'cos not only am I a papa these days, but I'm a papa of two wee lads. Hence he's the grandfather of two lads (and one granddaughter, but she's irrelevent to the choo choo train story).
Anyways, then Rafael turned two (he's now 3 years) he was presented with a wee Brio wooden train set. Bloody great they is, and he was just old enough to be interested in the train part of the equation, and didn't simply bang the pieces against the nearest mirror or vase as the wee ones are wont to do.
Sure enough, Papa sees the lack of something or other in the train set, and starts to come home with this bit or that bit. As did Swiss Grandpa. Pretty soon the wee train set has reached mammoth proportions, and can quite literally fill the living room floor.
And that's where we are with the wooden train set. Of course Luis (1 year) simply loves to pick up some bit or piece of the track and bang it against the window. Drives Rafael bananas.
TW
p.s. Anyone know what I have to do to get the bloody image to appear? It's showing as a URL...
Ah I got the Hornby OO, just a wee tank engine, one alus lusted after the Dutchess of Athol though. Actually one had a shed built onto me roof for me telescope Mr ORAC
) to state that any socket likely to be used for equipment outdoors must be protected by a 30ma sensitivity RCD. I am a few years out of touch now but that change ushered in the era we now have where RCDs are the norm rather than only required on overhead supplies where the earth continuity was provided by an stake in the ground.
