Learning to live with mistakes. 5 Amp circuits

[ToughButterCup]

I'll put in a double socket for our 5 amp circuit I thought... way back when ... Now I know. You can't get a double 5 Amp socket like a 'normal' one.

 

Oh dear never mind what a shame.  Can't take a joke? Etc.

 

Single 5 Amp feed to a double socket.....

Got a double (that is 2 singles placed side by side) socket and a double socket back box.

 

What to do?

 

Wire in a normal socket and label it 5 Amps only ?

 

Wire in one of the two five amp sockets. Blank the second socket?

Can't find a socket cover for 5 amp socket.

 

Ask the BH Hive Mind what to do?

 

That's the one. Please. Fanx

[ProDave]

Two single 5A sockets side by side is fine.

 

They are the same size face plate as any other socket or switch so no problem finding a blank plate. Or do you mean something else when you say "socket cover"?

[ToughButterCup]

Thanks Dave.

 

I have only one feed. As I understand it, that feed is only OK for one socket. Is that correct?

Or am I wronger than usual?

 

In other words, I can't just loop across from one socket to the next can I ?

Edited February 24, 2022 by ToughButterCup

[SuperPav]

Feed to switched/unswitched FCU with 5 amp fuse in it, then run whatever socket(s) you want from it (ideally label 5amp on it)

 

 

[SteamyTea]

How irritating.

[ToughButterCup]

Thanks very much.

The entire 5 Amp circuit is already on an RCBO ..... ?, however I'll put a Fused Connection Unit  (FCU ) in somewhere.

[ProDave]

8 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Thanks very much.

The entire 5 Amp circuit is already on an RCBO ..... ?, however I'll put a Fused Connection Unit  (FCU ) in somewhere.

You can feed as many 5A sockets as you want from one 6A MCB, that is called a radial circuit.

 

What you are thinking of is a 32A ring final where a spur from that can only feed one socket unless fused to a lower rating e.g. with an FCU

[ToughButterCup]

1 minute ago, SteamyTea said:

How irritating.

 

Exactly so. Bought from a company in Kernow 'n all. So it's not all bad.

 

But the socket is not built the same as 13Amp sockets with connectors already built in (hardwired) at the back of the unit. It has two separate connections, one for each socket. And, I might be wrong, but the IEEEEEEEEE (number of EEs correct?) regulations say I mustn't loop across from one to the other.

 

So  I can either put a fused connection unit in (despite having circuit with a low rated RCBO) or have one blank plate next to one live socket

 

Or maybe, as usual, I am missing the point you wished to make ..... 

[TonyT]

It’s fine loop away!

 

just think of them as single sockets not on the same face plate

[ToughButterCup]

7 minutes ago, TonyT said:

It’s fine loop away!

 

just think of them as single sockets not on the same face plate

 

Oh, I must have misread the regulations .... a little learning is a very dangerous thing

[SteamyTea]

6 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Bought from a company in Kernow 'n all. So it's not all bad.

We are constantly selling shit to upcountry folk. Charge an extra fiver by just putting the word Cornish in the description.

What size is the cable? Can't you just wire in a 13A double, like it should have been in the first place.

 

Wiring in 5 A sockets is like wanting to get a 1950s childhood illness "because what don't kill you, will make you stronger".

Or driving an old Landrover.

[ProDave]

17 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

But the socket is not built the same as 13Amp sockets with connectors already built in (hardwired) at the back of the unit. It has two separate connections, one for each socket. And, I might be wrong, but the IEEEEEEEEE (number of EEs correct?) regulations say I mustn't loop across from one to the other.

 

So  I can either put a fused connection unit in (despite having circuit with a low rated RCBO) or have one blank plate next to one live socket

Se reply above the post I quoted.

 

It is only ring final socket circuits that are a special case and can only have 1 spur.  This is a perfectly normal radial circuit fused appropriately

[ToughButterCup]

Thanks very much  everyone.

[Mr Punter]

The only time I have used 5a sockets is for bedside lights that I want to switch from the lighting circuit.  Once the furniture is all in the switches are normally in slightly the wrong place anyway.

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

...

Wiring in 5 A sockets is like wanting to get a 1950s childhood illness "because what don't kill you, will make you stronger".

Or driving an old Landrover.

 

Chicken Pox second time round (in adulthood) nearly killed me. I was lucky enough to be on the Zovirax trial....

Old Landrover ?  Sold for more than I paid for it. Took me months to stop whispering a fervent Hail Mary under my breath while starting our brand new car

5 Amp circuit ?   My mates all told me it was a good idea at the time. Guilty as charged Your Honour

[joth]

3 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

What size is the cable? Can't you just wire in a 13A double, like it should have been in the first place.

 

 

I also can't see the point of 5A sockets when I could just put a much more flexible 13A socket there. If remote control of table lamps is the goal (and it doesn't sound like it is in this case?) then it's the one time I find Wifi (or Z-Wave or other wireless protocol) bulbs are an acceptable choice.

 

I'm just in the process of converting some old tequila bottles (full of very special lost memories) into table lamps, which will have WiFi bulbs and sit on 13A outlets in some hard to access niches 

Edited February 24, 2022 by joth

[MikeSharp01]

2 hours ago, joth said:

I also can't see the point of 5A sockets when I could just put a much more flexible 13A socket there. If remote control of table lamps is the goal (and it doesn't sound like it is in this case?) then it's the one time I find Wifi (or Z-Wave or other wireless protocol) bulbs are an acceptable choice.

Sounds interesting on a number of fronts.

 

1. Controlling a 13Amp socket from a light switch feels like (is) the wrong thing to do - the power handling requirements don't match.

2. Who, in the middle of the night, wants to wake up, fumble for their glasses, find their phone, load the app, locate the lamp (from the 54 others in the house) and turn on the wifi lamp, only to discover that the cloud server running the WiFi lamp from lord knows where is off line for maintenance, OR alternatively, shout 'Alexa turn my bedside lamp on please' thus waking the partner / kids / dog and it won't work anyway because Alexa cannot distinguish your voice from anybody else's without a lot of work and then you have to remember to always sleep on the same side of the bed!

3. There was a third but I lost my thread sorting the second.

 

A simple switch, or double - one by the bed and the other at the door, feeding the 5A socket sounds so much simpler. Naturally you can, alternatively, feed each switch back to your homes CNS (Central Nervous System) and let the Rasberry Pi / Loxone / ???? send the signal to the SSR (Solid State Relay) then wire it back to the socket - many options then become available, none of which you will ever use although maybe, in the future, when you have moved out a Gentleman or Lady of the night might find the whole control possibilities thing amusing either for them or their client(s).

 

Anyway - keep it stupidly simple (KISS - remember. AND yes I know that is not the right way to define KISS but implied insults, on a day like today, seem so unnecessary.)

[Radian]

25 years ago it seemed to me like a good idea to scatter wall-switched 5A sockets for table lamps around the place. Some in the Lounge wired back to a DMX512 dimmer pack for scene control. Soon after the sparky had left,  those horrible little plugs all got swapped for regular 13A outlets (I was scared by the lack of insulation at the top of the pins - do they even have this now?). Obviously anyone plugging in a kettle would instantly trip out the 6A MCB for the lighting circuit but it's all intrinsically safe. Just a 'user interface' issue. I don't think this kind of thing has a place really anymore. Smart lamps are the only way to go IMHO.

[TonyT]

7 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

 

Chicken Pox second time round (in adulthood) nearly killed me. I was lucky enough to be on the Zovirax trial....

Old Landrover ?  Sold for more than I paid for it. Took me months to stop whispering a fervent Hail Mary under my breath while starting our brand new car

5 Amp circuit ?   My mates all told me it was a good idea at the time. Guilty as charged Your Honour

Agree hate 5 amp sockets much prefer the 2 amp version ?

[joe90]

Bit late to this but 2 or 5 amp sockets are both fir lighting ccts only, I think they are great and have fitted them many times, I like the ability to switch on lamps from the doorway/bedside without the main centre light and you can turn of a lounge with several lamps from the doorway without going round them all. My lounge has six sockets of this type in case furniture is re arranged.

[MikeSharp01]

13 hours ago, Radian said:

Smart lamps are the only way to go IMHO.

Smart lamps a great in their place but I feel that they are just one way to go not the only way. Actually on reflection there is very little that is ever the only way to go as we need to have our creativity about us and of course you can still connect a smart bulb via a 5A (or 2A) socket and have the best of both worlds.

 

[SteamyTea]

My view is that too many people, put too much emphasis on lighting.

When I am out and about, I am quite happy with the light that the sun produces, and that is just, in effect, a large pendant light.  Sometimes it is obscured by cloud, which is the same as putting a lamp shade on it.

[ToughButterCup]

Ah, @SteamyTea .... you've not had the experience of living with someone whose eyes are hurt by (what they  regard as) bad lighting.  I have worked hard on this build  to  reduce the effect of  Debbie's photophobia.  Driving the car on a typically sunless day often finds her using the visor to reduce the effect of the (to me non-existent) glare.

 

A single light in the ceiling - unless dimmed or otherwise moderated - causes her actual pain.  She prefers soft light, indirect where necessary and occasionally sharp, but shaded task light.  5 Amp circuits mean that we can have lots of  gentle light sources .

Edited February 25, 2022 by ToughButterCup

[joe90]

51 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

I am quite happy with the light that the sun produces

Does that mean you go to bed very early? ?

[SteamyTea]

38 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Ah, @SteamyTea .... you've not had the experience of living with someone whose eyes are hurt by (what they  regard as) bad lighting. 

No, I have not had that experience.

Oh hang on.  I had bad cataracts just over a decade ago.  Then, after the replacements, I had some quite bad side affects.  Now I am trying to remember the last job I did when I worked in London, oh yes, I worked for the RNIB. A previous job, was for a lighting manufacturing company.

Get proper advice, not from a lampshade seller, or tech 'disrupter'.

42 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

5 Amp circuits mean that we can have lots of  gentle light sources .

You can have that from any amperage outlet.  What you are talking about is the light controllers and the diffusers, (expletive deleted) all to do with the wall socket or where the switch is.

39 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Does that mean you go to bed very early

Generally yes.  Was easy when I lived in the tropics, pain in the arse this far north.  I still find it odd that there is fairly good light at gone 10 PM in the summer.