As many of us have experienced in France and across Europe there is a difference in convention, application and enforcement. In most rural systems your protection is from the main incoming fuse supply rating. In France because of the radial philosphy it is easy to add circuits without consideration to power rating or cabing size. Many of us inherit unknowingly, problems that are conveniently overlooked or shrugged off. As a retiring consulting engineer with 25+ years experience in France I am happy to help and advise.
Earthing to a copper pipe is stupid. Who knows what the said pipe also connects to. The only safe earth is that which comes from your board to an earth and even that isn't that safe unless correctly sized and positioned. Stop mucking about and getting advice (most of which here is sensible thank God) and employ a proper French qualified electician to sort you out. I have a friend (I do have some) who is an electrician in UK who has a collection of Iphone pictures of "Polish electrician fixes" they are terrifying. You've just moved into a house of which you don't know the history. Get a proper electrician not an English speaking (I wired my house in UK and it didn't burn down..... yet) Pand O electrician to sort your electrics. In the meantime buy candles. I speak as someone who for several years had the main fuseconnection to our house wiring after the main board provided by a loop fashioned from a wire coat hanger!
Bright 'spark' huh ?
Well Vic, my original trade was to do with electrical & electronic engineering and I left college with my C & G etc so i'm not a complete mug (appearances can be deceptive !). However, I have never been tempted to dabble in the french systems. I have always ensured the house electrics in all of the properties i've bought and sold have been in first-class and legal condition. I have known insurers not pay out because of faulty, non conforming homemade installations.
unless you rap a bit of kitchen foil round a blown fuse because you can't find any spares...! :-O
Good speech (for a change :-)) Pete. Someone's gonna die here & I don't want it on my conscience. This thread is getting way beyond changing a plug.
Why not just save yourself a lot of assle and ask a registered lecky to do the work ?
Could end up the cheapest and certainly the safest option in the end...
Is the 10 mm cable earthed to the copper pipe or is the copper pipe earthed to the earth in the cable? There's a hell of a difference! Check to see if the cable is connected to the earth buss bar in the consumer unit & you have a GOOD earth. This thread is becoming dangerous. If you really don't know what you are doing , leave it to someone who does otherwise your stay in France could be permanent in a box & I'll miss your comments on here! I can't stress it enough. LEAVE IT ALONE if you are not 100% sure of what you are doing.
Sort of right, but If we both earthed ourselves & grabbed hold of a bare cable I bet you'd jump more than me If you had hold of the live & I had the neutral ;-)
Not to mention being able to individually fuse each item to (almost) match it's load.
Esthetically pleasing maybe but safer, not. better to have the weak link (fuse) closer to the potential source of the problem than many metres away.
up to 8 sockets on 2.5mm cable ;-)
you cant reverse the polarity of a alternating current ....it flows both ways ...hence the name !!!!!! one way then alternating to the other way !!!!! thats why the little 2 pin plugs can plug in either way !!
must depend on what model of legrand all the legrands I have put in you have to wire yourself ...good thing is you dont have to worry about live and neutral being the same side lol
doesnt matter which side the live and neutral wires go in france Bob
As your board is loaded with trips and on a plug circuit there should be no more than 5 sockets it is safer than most uk ring mains. Each row in your board should start with a rcd again to help protect
All is ok for larger items just buy the ones that have the male prong on them, some adapters can reverse polarity, so better changing them.
It is unbelievable how many plugs you go through, moving here. I never realised how many "things" we brought over. Must have been in three figures.
I can always cancel the last cheque ! ;-)