ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Violation Photo Forum Bad wiring in store (UK)

As there was quite a bit of interest in this thread I thought I'd snap a few "after" photos. As you can see, I've rewired throughout in PVC conduit.

Two duplex recepts. ("twin socket outlets" in Brit-speak) are now in the office in place of the previous one-outlet lash-up:



This is the area which formerly had "T&E" (NM-style) cable draped everywhere to feed the office (the pink-painted trunking now contains just the CCTV cables):



A couple of shots of the same areas pictured above, as they are now:





The central aisle, not pictured before but it had a variety of fluoro lights at all different angles and with the same sort of lash-up wiring. Now just four 8-foot 100-watt fixtures in a line:

The former W.C., now turned into a proper kitchen area (remember this place started as three separate units, so there's another W.C. at the back). The old fan is still on the board at the moment to keep the hole covered up. The proprietor is going to "do something" with the ceiling before it's painted. Not my department! That's a 7kW instantaneous water heater over the sink unit now:



The fan and light wiring in the rear W.C. was as bad as that in the one above. Here's what it looks like on the ceiling now. We retained the original exhaust fan:



Now the rear storage area. The blue door used to be the exit into an alleyway at the back of the complex, but this has all been covered in now and shared between the different stores. There's a fire door (crash bar to open) at the opposite end, so this constitutes the second fire exit, hence the emergency light (3-hour, non-maintained):




P.S. In that last pic, my conduit is level, but unfortunately the ceiling and blockwork are not! What can you do?

I have just a few more photos, but it's way past bedtime, so they'll have to wait until tomorrow!


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 01-16-2007).]

That's the point where I usually decide to put my stuff parallel with the building instead of level. Just looks better.
For example, almost all of the light switches are slanted here... but no one notices because they are parallel to the door frames. Had I put them in level everything would look crooked.

It's interesting... that kind of conduit clamps and round junction boxes went out of favor here decades ago. The saddle clamps are still sold, but I haven't managed to find such boxes. Only square 10 and 12 cm (and larger of course).

I like the conduit work Paul!.
Man, what a difference white conduit makes, over the grey stuff most commonly used here.
I was using the term "man-hole" in the context as it is used locally, meaning any access way to get go a roof void or under-floor area.
Final question,
Did you use 2+E cables or conduit wires inside the conduit?.

I use that approach sometimes, but in this building there are just places where no matter how it's aligned it's going to look out of whack with something.

That former-W.C./now-kitchen area is a prime example: The ceiling twists and slopes in both planes, the rear wall is neither vertical nor flat, no corners are 90 degrees, and the two side walls aren't anywhere near parallel. The blockwork in that rear store runs straight for a while, then takes a nosedive.

The type of conduit I used is available in black and white.

Conduit singles. Running T&E in conduit isn't a normal installation method here, except for where a short length ofconduit is being used for extra mechanical protection.

To finish off the photos, here are just a few I snapped during installation to help show our methods in answer to the request up the thread.

Here's the main bond to the water service.
This is our standard type of pipe earth clamp, used here with 10 sq. mm. cable (roughly equivalent in size to #7 AWG):



Actually, this is one of two main bonds, since the building still has two water supplies in use from when it was separate units. The bonding cable passes uncut through the clamp on the first service. (And you don't want to know what state the bonding was in before.....)

Here's a double socket outlet, which as you can see happens to be at the end of a run (it's the one in that rear store/exit area). Our Regs. don't actually require a separate connection between the socket and the backbox so long as at least one of the mounting lugs is fixed, but I always like to fit one anyway. New "harmonized" European colors now, of course:



Here's that same outlet fitted, energized, and being loop tested:

And finally, the new distribution panel, partially installed:



All circuits now in place, just waiting for a quick "tidy up" inside (forgot to snap a photo after that, sorry!):



And all finished, other than the inspection labels etc. to go on the outside:



The left-side main and MCB (16 amps) are the off-peak supply for the solitary storage heater.

The other circuits, counting from the right are:

1. 32A Water heater
2. 20A Sockets: front of store & window
3. 20A Sockets: central sales area, kitchen, side storeroom
4. 20A Sockets: counter, rear, office
5. 16A Sockets: tool display & counter
6. 10A Lights: two aisles
7. 10A Lights: third aisle, store, kitchen
8. 10A Lights: behind counter, rear area, office, W.C.

(Sorry, fellow Brits, no ring circuits employed on this job at all! ).

Conductors for the final circuits are 1.5 sq. mm for lights, 2.5 & 4 sq. mm. for sockets (larger size needed in some conduits due to derating for groups), and 4 sq. mm for the water heater.

See here for metric to AWG conversion chart:

Conversion Factors and Tables



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 01-18-2007).]

Paul, the distribution board above (pic #2 in the last post) am I correct in saying you would remove the yellow tabs then screw a new breaker on to the exposed connection?
Also why no ring main circuit, I thought that was the norm for UK wiring.

Excellent work, Paul. That's quite a vast improvement!

I've said this before, but I always cringe when I see how cramped your boxes and panelboards are.

And the harmonized colors....yuck! But, I can see that when they are used in a job from scratch with no existing "old system" colors, they are easier to manage. You're pretty much stuck with using them, right? Can you even buy red and black single conductors anymore?

Are those conductors that you pull into the conduit solid or stranded?

Peter

Correct. Over the last few years our panels have acquired all manner of extra insulation so that just about all "hot" parts are still covered up even when the outer cover is removed. If you look in the picture just above that one I hadn't fitted the yellow covers yet, and you can just about see the lugs on the copper busbar behind the wires.

Yes, the ring is pretty much accepted as the norm and you'll find it used in most new installs here (domestic and commercial), but radial circuits are equally acceptable. Our "Regs." have included certain standard radial circuit arrangements for a long time.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the ring circuit and try to avoid it whenever possible. In this particular place -- much longer than it is wide and with the panel at one end -- radials are easier anyway, in my opinion.

It's mostly just whatever stock is left over now, e.g.
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Cable_Index/Clearance_Cable/index.html

Black is still available in singles, because it's now a phase color.

Old system:
Phase A = red
Phase B = yellow
Phase C = blue
Neutral = black

New system:
Phase A = brown
Phase B = black
Phase C = gray
Neutral = blue


The 1.5 and 2.5 sizes are available in both forms. 4 sq. mm and upward is all stranded.