Electrical anomalies

[thunderhorse]

E.g. I have a 2kw electric radiator. Should/ought/must it be hard-wired on its own circuit? If so, I also have a 2kw portable radiator which can be plugged into any socket...

Secondly, any comments on this: a 6mm two-core cable runs from the old fuse box to a junction box in the grenier. The grenier box is double fused with 2 x 20amp fuses, one on live and one on neutral (like the old Brit system). From the box run two single 1.5mm socket circuits, and another heavy two-core cable to the rear of the house. The initial impression is that the heavy cable has been tapped to supply the two single socket circuits.

However, when the power was chopped, the cable at the rear was still live. After a lot of checking, power for this 6mm cable at the rear was taken from a 1.5mm lighting circuit at the rear... via a short cable to a junction box, then up in to the grenier to supply one of the 1.5mm circuits from that particular box. In other words, the box in the grenier had two live feeds.

Is this normal by French standards? The layout was so illogical, that it's got me checking everything most carefully.

Cheers

[Victor Meldrew]

This is not French norm, by the sound of what you have described you have had the same electrician wire your house that installed mine. I have ripped out our wiring and started again especially after I found 2.50mm plugs linked with bell wire which was nail to the wall and a door bell that went from a 2.5mm main feed to a 1.50mm car in line fuse holder into telephone wire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In my opinion either rip it out and start again or consult an electrician.

Regards

Victor 

  

[thunderhorse]

What really surprises me - I know it shouldn't now - is that very little is earthed. All the earth wires are generally snipped and folded away.

It's nice to know the real reason why all jobs take ten times as long... [B]

[jondeau]

[quote user="thunderhorse"]

Is this normal by French standards?
[/quote]

 

Having spent almost twenty eight of the last thirty years in rural France.............I would say yes, it's normal.

 

 

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

[quote user="thunderhorse"]What really surprises me - I know it shouldn't now - is that very little is earthed. All the earth wires are generally snipped and folded away.[/quote]

I'm in a 70's built flat and parents in law are in an 80's built house, both wired to the normes of the times. In both of them the majority of power sockets are unearthed, apart from in the kitchen & bathroom. The house has a fair number of those combined light switch/power socket jobbies.

We looked at a couple of brand new flats yesterday and I was struck by how few sockets there were in the kitchen at work surface height. I was hoping not to have to juggle the plugs for the coffee machine, the toaster and the kettle every morning.

[Chancer]

A new flat built to the normes should have a minimum of four sockets over the worktop, double sockets only count as one, you can however use 2 single sockets with a small separation between each one which will count as two.

Notwithstanding the 600mm separation required between the evier and the electrical sockets the above norme is impossible to comply with with the small kitchenette type units.

[Mutiara]

There is no 600mm seperation limit required in the French wiring regs.