UK it's illegal to have mains sockets in the bathroom

[ClydeCrashKop]

My girlfriend says she needs a bank of outlets and much more counter space.
The TV is new this Christmas.

 

[audioguru]

How do y'all connect your wires, anyhow?

In North America we have electrical receptacles where the electrician strips some insulation off and nicks the wire with his wire cutters then he sticks the wire in a hole. There is a sharp piece of metal in the hole that further nicks and scrapes the wire. The hole and a screw are paralleled for daisy-chaining to other receptacles. "Sometimes" the wire is held tightly in the hole but I wonder how many homes burn down because of the poor contact?

I had a home that used aluminum wires. The wire size was larger than copper wire so it fit poorly on the screws designed to hold the thinner copper wire. Of course aluminum is soft so it became loose under the screws and caused many receptacles to turn black from the heat. I replaced all receptacles with newer ones certified for aluminum wires that had larger screw heads.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

Is that bathroom for real? Looks like a hazardous place to do bathroom stuff. Anything slips into the sink and it could mean bad electrical shock.
Ground fault interrupter is a minimum. Looks like if the towel bar breaks unexpectedly the hair dryer falls into the sink.
At least make her a sturdy wall tool holder.

 

[tvtech]

Have you all eaten??
And rested??

Link very far below. I discovered this particular thing that happened around 2003...and thought I should leave it alone.
Fact is it actually happened....
In a frigging bathroom.

Call it how not to heat your bath water up if you want....

Graphic images with the link below are suitable for people with strong stomachs only....and let it be a lesson to all.









**broken link removed**

 

[ClydeCrashKop]

At least make her a sturdy wall tool holder.

Maybe I should get one of these for her.

 

[Misterbenn]

Sorry guys your a bit out of date .... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring_in_the_United_Kingdom ( I know wikipedia isn't the most reliable reference but my copy of part P is on the other computer)

"Since BS 7671:2008 normal domestic sockets are permitted, at distances greater than 3 m from the edge of the zones, providing the circuit is RCD protected. As the new regulations also require all general purpose sockets not for use by skilled or instructed persons to be RCD protected, this effectively permits normal wiring in the larger bathroom"

So yes standard sockets are allowed but you have to have quite a big bathroom

**Edit**

I'd like to add another discussion point to this thread if i may ... AC adapter plugs, specifically why aren't they fused?
This morning my wife plugged in a lamp and BOOM trips the ring main, quite a big flash and burnt smell as well. Now I've been doing a bit of wiring recently including that particular socket so my first through was that i've F***ed up.
On inspection all the wires looked good, they were secure in the socket and there was no visible arc damage, but i replaced the socket just in case. re-energized fine, the lamp however is dead.
opening up the lamps AC plug and its toast. Its a 20W lamp ... why couldn't they fit a Polly fuse or similar, seems to make sense to me!

 

[throbscottle]

It's knowing what it is, rather than what it looks like. Uhhggg....

 

[throbscottle]

I'd like to add another discussion point to this thread if i may ... AC adapter plugs, specifically why aren't they fused?

Some of them are. At home we have an assortment of 2 and 3 way adapters, and travel adapters. Some (ie, < half) of them have standard fuses, and one of them with fuse of very small dimensions - I think it is 1/2" or something. I suspect the more you pay, the more chance of a fuse you have.

 

[Misterbenn]

Some of them are. At home we have an assortment of 2 and 3 way adapters, and travel adapters. Some (ie, < half) of them have standard fuses, and one of them with fuse of very small dimensions - I think it is 1/2" or something. I suspect the more you pay, the more chance of a fuse you have.

I'm not talking about travel adapters or the 2&3 way adapters but the AC 'wall warts'. i.e a mains to 12Vdc plug

 

[ClydeCrashKop]

I have a whole box full of assorted wall warts. I don’t think any of them have a fuse.
I do have Christmas light strings with fuses in the plugs.
I had an air conditioner that had a box on the plug with a circuit breaker reset button on it. Eventually it would pop the breaker every time I turned it on. I opened the plug box and found a circuit board with a burnt trace. I cut the cord and put a regular plug on it. It worked fine for years. It annoyed me that they had put that unnecessary BS on there. Just one more thing to go wrong. You wouldn't call a repair man to fix a window unit A/C. I wondered how many people threw away a good A/C because that plug burnt up?

 

[audioguru]

I guess many old men and women die in a bath.
I nearly died 5 years ago chatting on this website forum. I had a heart attack when 2 of the 4 arteries that feed blood and oxygen to my heart suddenly became blocked. Luckily my wife was home and the hospital is nearby. The pain all over was excruciating. They fixed me with two stents to open the arteries (I watched the operation) and gave me a "stress test" but there was no permanent damage. Now I am fine.

 

[JimB]

I'm not talking about travel adapters or the 2&3 way adapters but the AC 'wall warts'. i.e a mains to 12Vdc plug

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, I had never even thought about this before.
As a result, I opened a wallwart to have a look and it does appear to have a polyfuse in the primary circuit.
After I had re-assembled the wallwart, I gave it a wipe over to remove the dust and noticed that the insulation on the 12v cable was frayed exposing the conductors where it exited the strain relief bush.
Damn! Another silly little job to do in the not too distant future!

Note that this wallwart is not in constant use, just as required to charge the batteries in its associated device.

JimB

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Sorry guys your a bit out of date .... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring_in_the_United_Kingdom ( I know wikipedia isn't the most reliable reference but my copy of part P is on the other computer)

"Since BS 7671:2008 normal domestic sockets are permitted, at distances greater than 3 m from the edge of the zones, providing the circuit is RCD protected. As the new regulations also require all general purpose sockets not for use by skilled or instructed persons to be RCD protected, this effectively permits normal wiring in the larger bathroom"

So yes standard sockets are allowed but you have to have quite a big bathroom

No different to having a 13A socket OUTSIDE the bathroom - as legislation on permitted lead lengths means you can't reach to any of the 'bathroom bits' is sockets are over 3m aways

I'd like to add another discussion point to this thread if i may ... AC adapter plugs, specifically why aren't they fused?

They are, usually by at least an internal heat fuse in the transformer, and often with a Wickman style fuse.

 

[dr pepper]

If you dropped a hair dryer in the bath, these days with baths being fibreglass you might not activate the rcd as there would be no path to ground, but if you were in said bath you might experince voltage diffrences across the water - not good for the nether regions.

 

[Misterbenn]

They are, usually by at least an internal heat fuse in the transformer, and often with a Wickman style fuse.

On my board the bits in front of the transformer were toast, couldn't see a fuse. Still not sure what failed, I just chucked it in the bin.

 

[tvtech]

Maybe I should get one of these for her.

View attachment 90106

View attachment 90107

Six Gun Sound

Clyde, I will use any excuse to post good old rock music here.
And your Girlfriend armed to the teeth with hairdryers reminded me of a classic

 

[tvtech]

I guess many old men and women die in a bath.
I nearly died 5 years ago chatting on this website forum. I had a heart attack when 2 of the 4 arteries that feed blood and oxygen to my heart suddenly became blocked. Luckily my wife was home and the hospital is nearby. The pain all over was excruciating. They fixed me with two stents to open the arteries (I watched the operation) and gave me a "stress test" but there was no permanent damage. Now I am fine.

Hi AG

The whole Internet is happy you made it.

Especially us here at ETO
You are much loved and respected here. Heck if I could cook and spoil you and your Wife from here in SA I would.

Just needed you to know that.

All the best,
tv

 

[Diver300]

I have a whole box full of assorted wall warts. I don’t think any of them have a fuse.
I do have Christmas light strings with fuses in the plugs.

In the UK all plugs that have cables coming from them, so all that aren't wall warts, have to have fuses in them. The ring mains that supply the sockets are rated at 30 A, so the fuse protects the cable.
The plug fuse rating is usually 13 A or 3 A, but you do find other values. I use 1 A fuse on most appliances.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

In the UK all plugs that have cables coming from them, so all that aren't wall warts, have to have fuses in them. The ring mains that supply the sockets are rated at 30 A, so the fuse protects the cable.
The plug fuse rating is usually 13 A or 3 A, but you do find other values. I use 1 A fuse on most appliances.

1A is a pretty rare value, and not much point in using one that low - common ones are 13A and 5A, with 3A less common - I've seen 7A and 10A as well (don't think I've ever seen a 1A?)

 

[Diver300]

1A is a pretty rare value, and not much point in using one that low - common ones are 13A and 5A, with 3A less common - I've seen 7A and 10A as well (don't think I've ever seen a 1A?)

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/cartridge-fuses/0412986/
I suppose it's a foible of mine to fit those to anything that takes a lot less than 1 A.

I've seen the damage done before larger fuses blow.