Learning to live with mistakes. 5 Amp circuits

[Radian]

At least things have moved on in the safety department from the previous century, when 5A plugs didn't have insulated pins like their 13A counterparts did.

 

Now these I would have trusted my kids fingers with:

 

[dpmiller]

I've gone with Klik sockets rather than 5A although I believe they're now discontinued in the 1-gang format. Gives the option of switched or permanent live (or a second switched service if necessary) and they're nice and finger-safe too. Klik ceiling roses too.

[joth]

18 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

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

Sorry I wasn't clear: I don't control the 13A socket from a light switch, that would be a bad idea.

I just put in additional normal "ring main" sockets in places I might want a table lamp, and control the lamp over wireless. This way it supports dimming and colour temperature changes too, and avoids complicated sockets on dimmers design 

 

Quote

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, 

 

I didn't say anything about using a phone to control it!  That would be grim.

I have normal looking light switches, and even better motion sensors, that turn on the lights via Loxone server.

No cloud or public internet, or even explicit human interaction needed. These table lamps  just appear as additional lighting fixtures configured like any other as part of the room lighting mood.

Edited February 25, 2022 by joth

[MikeSharp01]

8 hours ago, joth said:

I just put in additional normal "ring main" sockets in places I might want a table lamp, and control the lamp over wireless. This way it supports dimming and colour temperature changes too, and avoids complicated sockets on dimmers design 

Makes more sense.

 

8 hours ago, joth said:

 

Quote

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, 

 

Somewhat tongue in cheek on my part!

[ProDave]

If we are worried about shrouded (or not) pins on a 5A plug, then I have to ask WHY do we still allow the sale of light fittings with BC or ES lamp holders that have NOTHING to stop fingers touching live parts with the lamp removed?

 

We do lots of things in the name of electrical safety, yet we ignore this one totally outdated, totally unsafe design, and carry on allowing it to be used in new installs.

[Radian]

28 minutes ago, ProDave said:

If we are worried about shrouded (or not) pins on a 5A plug, then I have to ask WHY do we still allow the sale of light fittings with BC or ES lamp holders that have NOTHING to stop fingers touching live parts with the lamp removed?

 

We do lots of things in the name of electrical safety, yet we ignore this one totally outdated, totally unsafe design, and carry on allowing it to be used in new installs.

 

You can guess my opinions on this already. Also I've had a bulb totally shatter exposing the live prongs - however, fortunately, glass envelopes are now a thing of the past.

 

The one 'biggie' that really gets me is the 'ring final' - a peculiar British invention whereby we can save a bit of copper by letting a load get its current from two sources at once. Until, that is, a loose connection somewhere in the ring means all the current comes down one cable only. Not only does this allow the current to potentially exceed the cable's rating despite being sized to meet regulations but it easily goes unnoticed because all the sockets can still provide electricity. Awkward to diagnose as well.

[markc]

it easily goes unnoticed because all the sockets can still provide electricity. Awkward to diagnose as well.

ohh yes! Lived here 5 years and only found the broken ring, and miss fed other ring while fitting a new kitchen. Whoever built the extension and/or whoever fitted the new CU broke the upstairs ring and left the bare ends bedded in plaster AND fed the downstairs ring from two separate breakers with two spurs in the cellar making the other two ‘ends’

[Radian]

Poor @ToughButterCup who's still getting notifications about our digressions here ?

 

The only hint you might get that the ring is incomplete is the nasty burning smell coming from a backbox. The last time it happened to me it was in the kitchen of our rental property. The tenant said there was a funny smell in the kitchen whenever they used their tumble dryer. But that was in the utility room next to the kitchen. The cable that was melting was around 5m away in an unused socket. The actual break was in an upstairs bedroom at the opposite side of the house. Could have been anywhere.

 

In the name of safety we also get lovely bonded copper pipes in our bathrooms. Within two days of moving in I got a serious gash on by big toe from one of the wafer thin aluminium tabs. I've lost count of the times the safety device has been the cause of an accident.