Best place to buy electrical supplies for house re-wire

[Ian]

People, can I please have the benefit of your experience?

I have to rewire my new house completely, and I'm of a mind to use Legrande equipment. Am I going to be able to buy what I need from one of the bricos (nearest town is Chateauroux, which has a Leroy Merlin and a Brico Depot), or will I have to go to an electrical wholesaler? If so, can you suggest who and where?

Thank you for your help.

[Nick Trollope]

I wouldn't go to BD, unless you want last years stuff- FFS, they are still selling Legrand stuff with griffes - outlawed years ago.

I'd find a grossiste - hopefully they won't deal with you, so you'll come to your senses and let an Electrician do the work for you - save you a fortune in TVA an you'll get a guarantee, too.

 

[La Guerriere]

In an ideal world, I'd agree with Nick, but the time spent getting a devis and then waiting for at least 12 months for him to come means that many of us get stuck in. As general advice: do it all to French rules and use all French equipment. Legrande is always a good starting point. Look out for special offers anywhere. Buy cable or pre-filee gaine from a grossiste, there are a lot of them about. Pre-filee gaine is a great way of saving your sanity even if it costs a bit more. Most DIY sheds don't sell a big enough earth spike, specialists will sell 2m jobbies which give you a better chance of an acceptable earth.

 

 

[Nick Trollope]

I'm sorry, but a single 2M earth spike cannot be guaranteed to produce an acceptable earth, so what price your neck? Of course, an electrician would have the means to measure the earth and the insurance to ensure that your kids wouldn't starve if the worst came to the worst.

All joking apart, I have seen some horrendous, lethal, illegal and downright stupid "DIY" electrical jobs here - and I have to admit, made some money correcting them - in the relatively short time I have been an electrician here. Don't do it!

The fact that LG can't find an electrician probably means that they are very busy - for a reason.

 

[Ian]

Thank you for your help and advice, Nick and LG.

The reason I'm planning to do the work myself is just as you say, LG - I can't wait twelve months to get the work done by a professional. While I've never done as big an installation as this, I have a little experience and I'll do it exactly as the book says ("L'Installation Electrique" plus the fiches on, eg, the Legrand website) - I'll take my time and, if I'm in any doubt, check and re-check. When it's finished, I'll try and get a professional electrician to check it out, including the efficacy of the earth.

Thanks

[La Guerriere]

I can't remember verse and chapter (or URL) but you can hire proper earth testers (Chauvin-Arnoux) in England, although I haven't come across them for hire in France. Nick is right, you can't guarantee an earth connection just on rod length: by far the best way is the earth wire round the bottom of the foundation trench, but for a conversion you are a bit stuffed. Be prepared to double up on rods, which you can do as long is they are all grouped and connected together below the removable connector (barette). Our farmyard is rather conducty (yes I know that's not the technical term so don't nag), we have at least five known springs and I suspect several more around and under the two houses here, complete with interesting patches of rising damp.... but that's another story which I'l bore you with some other time.

[BIG MAC]

Whats a Griffe then? I have a load of switches etc bought cheaply a while back and sure as oeufs are oeufs  they will have griffes

[Anton Redman]

[quote user="BIG MAC"]

Whats a Griffe then? I have a load of switches etc bought cheaply a while back and sure as oeufs are oeufs  they will have griffes

[/quote]

The claws, as in the mythical griffon, which are meant to engage on the ridges inside French backing boxes. Normally work OK on light switches but normally grip so badly on sockets that unless you hold socket to the wall when unplugging  the soket comes out of the wall rather than the plug out of the socket. Chabges to the Electrical Regs mean switchs and socets must screw into the backing boxes for new instalations.

[Chancer]

[quote user="Anton Redman"][quote user="BIG MAC"]

 

[/quote]

. Chabges to the Electrical Regs mean switchs and socets must screw into the backing boxes for new instalations.

[/quote]

So all that happens now when you pull out a plug is the backbox pulls out of the wall because the retaining lugs are so small!

Plus ca change!

Actually this was with the cheapest of the cheap brico depot ones, in fact if you use on of their cutters the hole left in the plasterboard is so big that the lugs just fall through it.

I hope that ones from Legrand etc are better but all the ones that i have seen have far less surface area abutting the plasterboard both front and rear than the UK square or rectangular type.

In fact I have also had sockets fall into the wall when plugging something in!

Now I cut the hole undersize and gradually enlarge it with a file until the backbox fits securely.

[Anton Redman]

There are two sizes of round box. Either 63 and 65 or 65 and 67 and naturally the wrong size cutter always falls to hand. I also find the ones where you have thin metal blades and the blades is only held with lugs never give a tight cut. The ones with a proper bolt on the mandrel give a better hole.

[Chancer]

Tout à Fait[:)]

[powerdesal]

Is there anything in the regs to say that you cant "modify" the back box by drilling it and screwing it to internal studs or via a wall plug ?

[Punch]

A properly installed backbox shouldn't need it. I've been insta&lling them for years here and never had any problems. I can't give you a reference to a particular regulation dis-allowing this but I wouldn't recommend it for two reasons.

1. The wires could chaff on the screw head when you push the socket back to fix it potentially causing the metal studwork to become at mains potential. Not all lighstwitches require an an earth wire ( unlike the UK) , so earthing may not be an option.

2. The back boxes are plastic and are quite fragile so any kind of fixing would probably break anyway if the socket was pulled too much.

Here is a possible solution which I've used before which works quite well if the hole has already been made too large in a plasterboard wall . Switch off mains at EDF disjoncteur. Disconnect the socket and remove completely.  Make a couple of small 10mm holes around the box and squirt in a small amount of expanding foam . This will expand around the box and hold it nice and tight when dry. Then cut off any excess foam and fill the holes with filler , also filling gently around the box itself. replace socket when dry.

Hope this helps

Paul.

 

 

 

[powerdesal]

[quote user="Punch"]

A properly installed backbox shouldn't need it. I've been insta&lling them for years here and never had any problems. I can't give you a reference to a particular regulation dis-allowing this but I wouldn't recommend it for two reasons.

1. The wires could chaff on the screw head when you push the socket back to fix it potentially causing the metal studwork to become at mains potential. Not all lighstwitches require an an earth wire ( unlike the UK) , so earthing may not be an option.

2. The back boxes are plastic and are quite fragile so any kind of fixing would probably break anyway if the socket was pulled too much.

Here is a possible solution which I've used before which works quite well if the hole has already been made too large in a plasterboard wall . Switch off mains at EDF disjoncteur. Disconnect the socket and remove completely.  Make a couple of small 10mm holes around the box and squirt in a small amount of expanding foam . This will expand around the box and hold it nice and tight when dry. Then cut off any excess foam and fill the holes with filler , also filling gently around the box itself. replace socket when dry.

Hope this helps

Paul.

[/quote]

Hi Paul, just seen this reply.

I dont use metal studwork, traditional wooden studding is my choice.

Not sure I agree with the chafing aspect of a properly wired unit,

in any case it can be engineered out with care, there is of course no

movement subsequently to cause chafing.

Most of my walls are not plasterboard and I have in fact used the

foam method as well, particularly when recessing into stone. I dont

particularly like surface mounting units but have to sometimes.