New Mains Spur

Please keep us posted as to what you have done as it is something I am about to have done. Currently I use the breaker for the bathtub jets (which leak and are unusable) and I run the wire down the outside of the house into the basement. It works fine and have only experienced two breaker outages, though in 2 weeks time an electrical friend is coming to town and has offered to put in a dedicated breaker for the hi fi. Looking forward to that.

While you are at it, you should ask him to do a set of earth grounds for you. Maybe two sets.

What is a 'set of earth grounds' ?

quote:

Originally posted by Sootycat:
What is a 'set of earth grounds' ?

we're pretty close to April 1st....I can hear the jokes a coming

quote:

Originally posted by Skip:
While you are at it, you should ask him to do a set of earth grounds for you. Maybe two sets.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I have asked him to check to ensure that the spur has a good earth.

My experience was of the first part. He thought I was barmy...

I am putting in a dedicated spur as well. Get the foundations right!! I have had the very same experience with electricians looking at you as if you are a mental. Good luck with your project.

Took me ages to persuade the electrician to do what I asked and put a dedicated spur in - he just refused to believe it would have any effect, 'cos he asked someone he knew and they said I was talking rubbish

He relented in the end. I really cannot understand why it was so hard to persuade him to do what I wanted. It would have been lovely to find someone on the same wavelength

I got my separate mains spur for my main hifi more than 20 years ago. Well worth it. Just wish I could persuade SWMBO to let me do it for my AV room.

Incidentally, to "living in Lancs ... etc". I was always brought up to believe that Yorkshiremen were just continental invaders who hadn't the gumption/ambition to go further west. 8-) (I was raised in Padiham, Lancs and am an old Clitheroe Grammar boy)

If you can put a new board in dedicated to your system so it sits in parallel with the rest of you house and is powered direct from the incomer then use one fused line for each piece of equipment it's worth it. Ask for the cable thickness to be overspeced too.

It's all fully compliant there is a minimum cable rating not a maximum. The price all in will be cheap.

I have 13 separate fused lines, when I move house I will do it all again from day 1. I will never go back to a shared ring main....

Hello All,

This is really a question for the people that have already installed a dedicated spur. Which make of CU did you use? What size cable?

I've used both Hager and Memera - both were of good quality relative to the rest. Best cable size would be 10mm. It is a bit of a squeeze though at the sockets, so 6mm is much easier to work with. Just make sure the cable is a good fit with the sockets. No point in going for massive cable if it means poor connections at the sockets.

Earth grounding is a methodology which uses three 8' rods 8' apart, driven into the ground and welded together. They use these setups for hospitals and commercial data installations.

I have two sets. Any US electrician can do it for you. Mine is a ham radio operator who has one at his house.

It made a big difference at my house, and it will also allow you to use a device to divert lightning strikes and power surges.

I used a Memera 13 way with 6mm sq all the way to the IEC. This did mean buying expensive IEC's to cope with 6mm fexible cable, but Im VERY pleased with the results

My electrician came today, and unfortunately he couldn't really see a practical way to run the spur without major impact (tearing out ceilings, etc). He's going to do some other tidy-up, removing some light dimmers and fitting quality outlets, but for now, the spur is on hold .

quote:

Originally posted by Dr John William Martin:
Incidentally, to "living in Lancs ... etc". I was always brought up to believe that Yorkshiremen were just continental invaders who hadn't the gumption/ambition to go further west. 8-) (I was raised in Padiham, Lancs and am an old Clitheroe Grammar boy)

Hmmm - my grandfather was Norwegian! Not sure what that does to your theory

I believe you can use an external armoured cable if laid correctly, not sure if this is practical in this situation. 35mm sq cable for example and move the board accordingly is this helps ?

quote:

Originally posted by IWC Doppel:
I believe you can use an external armoured cable if laid correctly, not sure if this is practical in this situation. 35mm sq cable for example and move the board accordingly is this helps ?

We looked at an armoured external run, but the main distribution board isn't on, or next to, an external wall, but you have just got me thinking about a possible solution. I could go back through into the crawl space, out through the wall, along the back of the house and back in behind the hungry SuperNait and HiCap. It is fairly direct. I'm going to check it out.

Interestingly, the main feed to the house and meter is outside on the same wall as the stereo is adjacent to (inside). I asked about running straight from that (absolutely the most direct route possible ) but was advised it was against code to come from there. Not sure - I think perhaps it could be done right.

Don't forget some electricians think your mad and don't want to do it. Fitting 35mm armoured cable is difficult. My incomer to the house feeds my HiFi and House supply in parallel. I can't get a better feed to my Hifi

I found that mentioning lowering the impedance of the supply to the HiFi made the penny drop for them.
Most Electricians accept the concept of lower impedance as being of benefit.