Did part P make it to France

[dedee]

Before I can even start to contemplate converting the barn into a usable workshop I need to sort out the garage (sous-sol).
I'm slowly working out the wiring. It seems that half of the sockets are wired to the 10 amp lighting circuit :shock:

The fuse box in the house is beginning to annoy me too. It hums continuously and when the thermostat for the electric heaters switches on or off the box emits quite a load click, as it does when the night time economy tariff kicks in. It is an old fashioned (well to me anyway) fused system. I am thinking of having it replaced with a circuit breaker based unit and some proper wiring installed to the garage and barn - which also has a socket on the 10 amp lighting circuit.


Andy

 

[OLD]

This may be of helphttp://www.diynot.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=9

 

[promhandicam]

Part P - Ho Ho Ho! All French wiring that I have encountered looks like it was installed by Edison himself. The only good thing going for it is that you will probably have a 3 phase supply. Things like ring mains just don't exist IIRC - most circuits are on there own fuse / breaker although they aren't too fussy about adding a socket to a lighting circuit - look out for sockets below light switches. I'm not sure what the regs are in France - I imagine that there are some - but as with another post I've just seen the French seem to consider safety a fairly low priority. You may well find for example that nothing is earthed :shock:

All the best -

Steve

 

[RogerS]

The fuse box in the house is beginning to annoy me too. It hums continuously and when the thermostat for the electric heaters switches on or off the box emits quite a load click, as it does when the night time economy tariff kicks in. It is an old fashioned (well to me anyway) fused system.
Andy

Andy - it will still 'click' because what you are hearing is the contactor being energised by the thermostat. The other problem I found while on my travels was that the switched mode power supply in the laptop caused the self-resetting breaker (almost a contradiction in terms) to keep cutting out due to the peak load from the power supply. It would then reset itself..only to drop out again a nauseam.

 

[AndyBoyd]

It is also very common here in NL to wire lighting and sockets on the same ring, it's a just another way of thinking about it.

I was surprised too when I had the electrician wire my new built workshop when they did that, but chatting it through with them the system is safe. I'm quite technical and a chartered engineer.

I have worked in a few countries round the worlds and a big learning for me was to see there are more than one way to skin a cat and the British way is certainly not always the best way (sometimes it is but not the majority of times in my view)

This is the beauty of these types of forums we can explore the different approaches and only when a topic verges into the commonly agreed dangerous territory do we all join forces and advice strongly another way

 

[dedee]

Andy,
that's interesting thanks. I am not an electrician nor expert in these matters by any stretch of the imagination. My surprise was not that there are sockets on the lighting circuit but that they are on a 10 amp circuit. If the lighting was on a 16 amp circuit I'd see no problems.

Or am I missing something else.

Roger,
in your opinion or experience will a circuit breaker type box hum any less than a fused system?

Also I am right in suspecting that the humming fuse box could be interfering with by WIFI network?

Andy

 

[PowerTool]

Andy,
My surprise was not that there are sockets on the lighting circuit but that they are on a 10 amp circuit. If the lighting was on a 16 amp circuit I'd see no problems.

Or am I missing something else.


Andy

The purpose of a fuse is to protect the wiring in the circuit i.e. in the UK,wiring circuits are done in 1 or 1.5mm wire,and a 5 or 6A fuse/mcb.
Sockets are normally in 2.5mm wire and 15/16A radials or 30/32A rings.

If you use small wiring with a big fuse,the risk is that,if a fault develops,the wiring can melt and burn before the fuse breaks the circuit.

So guess it's safe as long as the wiring is suitably sized for the supply :?

Andrew

 

[AndyBoyd]

Your correct, the wiring for lights and sockets here is the same (NL) I presume France is the same too - Italy is that way too by the way but certainly not up to Dutch nor UK standards of workmanship!!!

 

[Woodmagnet]

Suppose that's why Italian men's hands are renowned for
involuntary spasmodmic pinching. :lol:

 

[RogerS]

Roger,
in your opinion or experience will a circuit breaker type box hum any less than a fused system?

Also I am right in suspecting that the humming fuse box could be interfering with by WIFI network?

Andy

Andy..no idea..sorry.