Earth circuits

chrg40is · Post by **chrg40is** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:50 pm

Hello none of my ceiling roses have an earth conection in them
Also none of the switches are earthed ither
Does this mean my whole lighting circuits need rewiring

Rich-Ando · Post by **Rich-Ando** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:19 am

it would suggest your whole lighting circuits require rewiring. i would also have your sockets checked and your earth bonding. you are likely to find it all 35+ years old.

Stoday · Post by **Stoday** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:55 am

40 years plus.

But if the cables are in PVC rather than vulcanised indiarubber or lead sheathed, they are almost certainly OK. However, without an earth wire you can't use metal clad switches and lighting fittings must not be metal (other than the lampholder). That rules out a lot of modern lighting.

chrg40is · Post by **chrg40is** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:55 pm

some of the light fittings are metal when we moved in

The earth circuits for the sockets seem to be compleatly seperate to the ring main

the ring main is two core wire with a seperate bare/non insulated earth wire which follows the circuit round

all cables are pvc

I have tested the sockets with a simple plugin tester from b and q and all are ok

I cant find any earth bonding any where where do i need to look to find this

davek0974 · Post by **davek0974** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:57 pm

Look for earth bonding in the bathroom and under the kitchen sink, also near gas meter. You are looking for a heavy green/yellow wire joining the pipes together, i have a feeling you wont find any.

I have never seen wiring with a seperate earth

even more odd considering the PVC cable. I guess its no less safe than normal wiring, at least its earthed

I would be concerned about the lighting circuits though.

Maybe one of the pro sparks could give an acurate age to this type of wiring.

Dave

Stoday · Post by **Stoday** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:48 pm

Bonding was not required by the regulations 40 years ago.

The green/yellow colour for earth wires did not come in until the 1970's I think. Before then it was plain green.

Rich-Ando · Post by **Rich-Ando** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:14 am

and a tester from B&Q will NOT tell you how good or bad the earth is. it will only show a polarity check. (unless you actually bought an EARTH LOOP IMPEDANCE TESTER)

as Stoday stated though, you shouldn't have metal light fitting or switches with no earth.

it makes no difference to me saying it because i won't benefit from it but i would have no hesitation in rewiring it. even sockets of that age tended to have spur off spurs or even all spurs. the fact the lighting has no earth is enough indication to warrant a rewire alone.

the recommended max term is 25 years anyway (although i think that is a bit extreme)

chrg40is · Post by **chrg40is** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:35 am

No the tester was the cheap type with three lights on the back

And yes some of the sockets are spurs of spurs of spurs

As I suspected when I inquired about my consumer unit see previous posts a complete rewire is req

replacement-of-old-consumer-unit-with-m ... t6448.html

Thanks for your help

Rich-Ando · Post by **Rich-Ando** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:23 am

no problem at all chrg40is, that's what the forum is for

you could find your wiring lasts another 50 years but knowing as you do that it could do with it sometimes, not doing it and decorating everywhere may turn out to be expensive in the future.