Discuss French wiring book showing Type AC 40a breaker with N and L wired opposite in the Electrical Wiring, Theories and Regulations area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum


This video shows the type of RCD i have with poles top and bottom but wired up N-N and L-L like normal. Does it make a difference that they're all Type A ? ie, do you wire up AC and A types differently or doesn't it matter ?
 
TBH, maybe you'd be better consulting a local électricien, to be sure all is done correctly. I haven't gotten involved with this thread because I simply don't know about French wiring at all, and to try and give advice over the internet on this could lead to disaster. Better safe than sorry??
 
TBH, maybe you'd be better consulting a local électricien, to be sure all is done correctly. I haven't gotten involved with this thread because I simply don't know about French wiring at all, and to try and give advice over the internet on this could lead to disaster. Better safe than sorry??
Yes i've got a guy i can ask but it will be like £40 just to ask him one question. I am following the schematic laid out in the book and on videos etc i'm just confused about that one picture showing N wired to L and L wired to N. I thought, theoretically speaking, that you couldn't do that ?

The spark will be coming out to check on the installation before i switch anything on - i'm wiring up the consumer unit first and then putting it on the wall after, and the last thing to be connected (AFTER the electrician tells me everything is correct) will be the live and neutral feeds coming from my monophase supply - so i will be safe i just want to have it all ready and prepared so my £40 gets me a definitive answer rather than a 'that'll be £40, call me again and pay me another £40 when you're ready to switch everything on' ! Just wanting to make sure i get it as right as possible before he comes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You need a local (French) Electrician to install this. It is abundantly clear that you lack the competence to do this safely and possibly to comply with the law.
 
Yes i've got a guy i can ask but it will be like £40 just to ask him one question. I am following the schematic laid out in the book and on videos etc i'm just confused about that one picture showing N wired to L and L wired to N. I thought, theoretically speaking, that you couldn't do that ?

The spark will be coming out to check on the installation before i switch anything on - i'm wiring up the consumer unit first and then putting it on the wall after, and the last thing to be connected (AFTER the electrician tells me everything is correct) will be the live and neutral feeds coming from my monophase supply - so i will be safe i just want to have it all ready and prepared so my £40 gets me a definitive answer rather than a 'that'll be £40, call me again and pay me another £40 when you're ready to switch everything on' ! Just wanting to make sure i get it as right as possible before he comes.
Fair enough, but are you really that skint?
 
You need a local (French) Electrician to install this. It is abundantly clear that you lack the competence to do this safely and possibly to comply with the law.
I don't see how it's possible to 'lack competence' when i'm following a schematic from a book and several websites from qualified installers. Here, you're allowed to install your own system - they sell ready made-up consumer units off the shelf for the DIY'er. The electrician i know (qualified and registered in both France and the UK) told me that triphase would be too dangerous for me but monophase i could do myself.

I simply want to know why all but one drawing shows Live and Neutral cables being wired into live and neutral poles, but one single solitary drawing shows it the opposite way round. It's an answer to a theoretical question i'm after - i've found a video online that shows the unit wired up as i've already wired mine - same thickness and type of cable, same kind of RCB, same equipment and accessories used...so i know it's safe. You don't need to be qualified to copy someone who is. Live from mains to L. Neutral from mains to N. L and N from RCB to L and N on circuit breaker all in same thickness of cable as the feed. Live in same thickness as feed. Not exactly hard.

I appreciate the help here but i'm no closer to an answer...i'm not going to pay £40 to ask a spark why one diagram shows a unit wired backwards. I thought the point of this place was to have questions answered by qualified people....but then said qualified people send me to other qualified people for answers ? Confused !
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Fair enough, but are you really that skint?
Yep - i have a farm house that needs a roof, a septic tank, new windows, new floors, a new log burning fire place, a new dormer window and an extension doing...every pound saved is vital to us. As i said - i won't be connecting anything up without first getting a spark to check over my work.

Still, any ideas on whether or not it's theoretically correct or do-able to wire the neutral and lives out of an RCB into the opposite poles on a circuit breaker ?
 
I'm pretty sure that the schematic of Brown (line) to Neutral is probably just an error by the artist producing the drawings for the manual and that no body has picked up on it before. Just contact the manufacturer directly and ask for confirmation.
 
I can see what you are saying it looks like a pictoral error.
 
Agreed- a) we are dealing with a different set of regulations and b) whilst the OP may be a very capable chap, the fact that the answer to this question was not abundantly clear when first setting eyes on the illustration, suggests not enough experience to safely tackle a CU installation.

Re upgrading to SP+N, the supply may previously have been a small TP+N service, which was once common on the continent, where the total capacity was adequate but no one phase could carry any large loads so cookers etc all needed to be three-phase too, which made things complicated and limited diversity,
 
Looks like different methods of connecting the supply to the CU utilizing different styles of bus bars,
If you follow the wires the brown wire goes to the brown bus bar and the blue wire to the blue bus bar
Pierre this is your big chance. Go out and sort it for him and then fill the boot up with Vin Rouge.
 
I can see what you are saying it looks like a pictoral error.
I noted that as well but wasn't sure if the L lable was on the top of
Pierre this is your big chance. Go out and sort it for him and then fill the boot up with Vin Rouge.
If he pays for air fares hotels for Mr and Mrs Pierre hes on:p
 
Agreed- a) we are dealing with a different set of regulations and b) whilst the OP may be a very capable chap, the fact that the answer to this question was not abundantly clear when first setting eyes on the illustration, suggests not enough experience to safely tackle a CU installation.

Re upgrading to SP+N, the supply may previously have been a small TP+N service, which was once common on the continent, where the total capacity was adequate but no one phase could carry any large loads so cookers etc all needed to be three-phase too, which made things complicated and limited diversity,
Hi yes the farmhouse was supplied by triphase which it needed for milking machines and well pumps and stuff. Had EDF to change the supply over to monophase which is all i need for a small domestic installation (we have 6 large rooms/bathroom including a 37sq m kitchen but we're only having 12 double sockets, 12 lights, a water heater and electric oven/extractor fan. We may in the future put some electric rads in to complement the wood burners but we'll see how we go.

I know it's a different set of regs and appreciate all the help and insight on here but regs aside, i was just after the electrical theory of wiring L+N to N+L.

Seems from the two guys above though that it may be an illustration fault as it's the only picture i've ever seen in a book that looks like this and if it is an illustration fault (and nobody is pulling my leg) then the publishers should probably be notified of it because it's aimed at DIY'ers, written by qualified French professionals and someone who didn't notice the discrepancy could do it wrong. Again, i don't know if this would be dangerous because everybody seems apprehensive to actually say what they think about it for some reason, but it would be good to point it out to the authors at least !
 
Yes i was in the equivalent of B&Q yesterday and they didn't have any single pole trips.
You will not get single pole trips in france, their regs are for duel pole. I lived and worked in France for 12 years so know my way around their regs. If you PM me i will help you out where i can.

Victor
 
Et voilà. On, working, certified as safe.

How's that for not being able to follow a schematic drawn up by an electrician ?

Hope you wash-ups can find the money to do the next nonsense pointless upgrade to the regs.

Get some.

View attachment 35221
 
You will not get single pole trips in france, their regs are for duel pole. I lived and worked in France for 12 years so know my way around their regs. If you PM me i will help you out where i can.

Victor
Thanks mate but i've finished the job now. Just have to wire up my balon and then wire that up to the heures creuses switch and we're ready to rock.
 

Reply to French wiring book showing Type AC 40a breaker with N and L wired opposite in the Electrical Wiring, Theories and Regulations area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock