When should a house be electrically re-wired?.

[vivandorron]

My house is 44yr old. Everything appears o.k. with my reliance on trip-switches which were put-in about 16years ago; with the original wiring left in place. Furthermore, I make sure that every plug has the correct fuse for each appliance concerned; and trailing leads are replaced at the very first sign of any wear. Double socket adapters are taboo; although I am not against multi-gang switched socket extensions. ( Without one , I wouldn't be able to feed the T.V. Digital box; D.V.D player.)

I take the view, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."....What say others?.......Ron.

[Ethel]

No need to panic. Good article here:

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2003/08/17 /story286577197.asp

[raysparx1]

As Ethel says, no need to panic, in fact the cables that were used when your house was built are far superior to the ones being used now,ie, the power cable(Ring Main) etc will have seven strands of wire in the live and neutral the new cables have one solid core, the lighting had three strands the new has one, and the sheathing was thicker, PVC cable does not show signs of wear, [roviding it hasn't been overloaded that is,

The only thing you might consider is to have the earthinmg upgraded, but in my opinion they go over the top with it now, so if you are happy, leave it alone, if you will feel easier just call in a sparky to do a "Periodic check" probably cost about �150 for this, Ray

[vivandorron]

Hi Ethel, Thanks for the clickable link; I've downloaded it and agree that it is a good article. Incidentally , I recall that it was you who taught me how to include a link in a communication. Thanks again.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Technology/Ques tion321323.html

Ray, You've given me confidence in my own beliefs. As a young lad (some 50yrs back) I had a friend whom I assisted, in the last year of his electrical apprentaship, to do a few 'darkers' of house wiring; so I do have a little knowledge which could be dangerous: or should I say shocking if care isn't taken on matters........Best wishes ...Ron

[whyme!?]

thats not a bad link from ethel, and i agree with you to a point, ' if it aint broke etc' . earthing is a little over zealous these days but it really does serv its purpose. if you have an old type cartridge/fuse wire consumer unit with bladed fuse holders, then you may consider having an RCD fitted b4 the consumer unit. as far as your cables go, they are most likely one of two types of the old stuff. TRS (tough rubber sheath) or VR (vulcanised rubber). generally, if you are able to get a good look at it and it doesnt appear to be chaffed, stretched , cracking or becoming brittle then it is most likley ok. the problem with the old stuff is that after a while, if lts been placed under strain then the outer insulation stretches, but due to its age the insulation that covers the inner cores(conductors) can stick to the underside of the outer insulation and instead of stretching , it cracks and pulls away from the inner cores. this is where the potential problem lies as if the cable on either or the inner cores is bared then it has the potential to either short against each other or earth (protective conductor). personaly i would replace your consumer unit with an updated version that includes MCB's . i have the same prob with my house, ive already replaced the consumer unit and will be attacking the rest of it bit by bit. if you do have a go yourself, just keep in mind that the regs have changed and if you have a go at anything in the bathroom, kitchen or externally then you must comply with Part P and have it inspected.the new regs came in jan 2005 and cables started to be dated on the outer insulation, and now with the harmonisation of colors the color coding of cables has changed from black and red (its a way of those that wish to be awkward can assess when work was carried out and request the appropriate inspection certs). hope this helps a little

[vivandorron]

Thanks whyme!?...............Picked-up this morning your reply, which is more than a little help to me.

I'm not too bothered about my house wiring which is plastic cabling and individual circuits( Ring main; Cooker; Immersion Heater etc. ) are each protected by M.C.B's. However the reponses from yourself, Ethel, and Ray should help me to convince my sister-in-law that she doesn't need a re-wiring of her house; which is an identical-build to mine.

It is the case that s-i-l is arranging to have outside security lights installed and whilst the sparky doesn't see any problem, he has suggested that, before a date is arranged, thought should be given to a complete house re-wiring. I feel that if it were really necessary, there would be a refusal from the qualified Electrician to connect the security lights into doubtful circuitry................................Ron

[Broadie451]

You mentioned that your sister wants to have external secuirty lighting, the external light fitting has to be protected by an RCD, All external lights could be fed from a seperate way on the RCD protected side of the consumer unit, if your consumer unit doesn't have RCD protection and you dont want to replace the consumer unit then the wiring from the external light fitting can be via a plugin type RCD protection unit and "plugged into" your standard 13A socket outlet. If the lighting has internal dusk till dawn light sensor this cover the functional switching aspect and unplugging the light would provide isolation as and when lamp replacement/maintenance is required.

Hope this helps

Cheers Robb..

[vivandorron]

Thanks Robb..........I didn't know that external security lights required an RCD.....It only goes to show how far behind the times I am.

However, I can now see the reason that, although my sister-in-law has opted against a full house re-wiring job, the electrician is going to install a new consumer unit as a replacement for the original plug/wire fuse box; which had been modified to MCBs.

Best wishes...Ron.