D.I.Y. REWIRE-- A Step By Step Guide.

[GLENNSPARK]

Sorry about that guys. Feel free to kick my shins wont you. lol

 

[ruston]

Sorry about that guys. Feel free to kick my shins wont you. lol

Whats nice about this forum is that everyone has responded in a responsible and reasonable manner, and have not responded by insults and derision so prevalent on other forums. As the consensus is that safety is utermost and that information is not given wiily nilly to boost the ego of the poster is admirable. So no you do'nt need your shins kicked lol.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

I do have a way of running with it though...bad habit really.........

 

[rsmck]

I'm really want to avoid getting drawn into this further however, since some of you have posed questions to me directly..

Well why don't you enlighten us as to what it is that you do for a living - and I'm sure that some of us could tell you how to do your job a lot better as well.

I have never, at any point, tried to suggest to anyone here that I could do their job "better" nor tried to tell them how to do it.

Instead of watching all of these rogue trader like TV programmes, why don't you trust the 99% of decent tradesmen out there to do a proper job and not rip you off.

My reference above wasn't from watching TV, however I accept the majority of tradesmen aren't out to rip me off. To be honest - cost is a factor in choosing to rewire my own home however it's not the only one.

To be fair if you do'nt give any indication of your level of skill or knowledge do you really expect to get a favorable response. A lot of your calculations regarding cpd's will be influenced by the earthing arrangement to your property for a start. Do you know what this is? That is just the basics to start from, you really do'nt want a correspondence course rewire.

Generally I've had favourable responses - it just seems the whole purpose of this thread was to belittle DIYers.... Oh and the earthing arrangement is TN-S, and I assume you meant CPC ? If there are CPD calculations then I guess I have missed something.

Like des says....most diyers wont understand the concept of Zs and why its so important and even if they had read it someware would they know about "rule of thumb" and which value to apply it to (measured or tabulated) also, would they concider rcd times or even the reason that cable clips have maximum spacing allowances etc? Or how about safe zones and adiquate protection for non rcd protected circuits or even not to run data or alarm cables in parrallel with final circuits. I am not saying that a diyer isn`t capable of installing but that the install may not be compliant.......

All very valid points and yes, in my case, I've considered them... On a related note (sorry to side track) my understanding is the rules relating to running data cables in parallel with power circuits are recommendations rather than a requirement. Where possible I've kept a 50mm separation but there are a few places they run closer I don't believe this would affect compliance however.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

no but loop certainly is......

 

[telectrix]

CPD, circuit protection device. e.g fuse, MCB. RCBO.

 

[Des 56]

Generally I've had favourable responses - it just seems the whole purpose of this thread was to belittle DIYers...

What would be the benefit to anybody on an electricians forum to belittle diyers
The forum is frequented by mainly sparks apprentices and to a much lesser and infrequent extent, general public

If your assumption were the case,who is reading these posts to feel belittled ?

The initial post was almost certainly a very humurous, tongue in cheek topic, by a well respected spark who has given untold amounts of very worthwhile advise to many, who were probably diyers and possibly out of their depth,that is a very unreasonable opinion you have

gratitude for the advise he has given would have been more appropriate

 

[rsmck]

CPD, circuit protection device. e.g fuse, MCB. RCBO.

Noted, thankyou, hadn't recognised it being called a CPD - and yes, appropriate ones have been used

 

[rsmck]

The initial post was almost certainly a very humurous, tongue in cheek topic, by a well respected spark who has given untold amounts of very worthwhile advise to many, who were probably diyers and possibly out of their depth,that is a very unreasonable opinion you have

gratitude for the advise he has given would have been more appropriate

Sorry if I misconstrued it's original intention ... and yes, I am indeed very grateful for the advice given

 

[ruston]

Sorry if I misconstrued it's original intention ... and yes, I am indeed very grateful for the advice given

Spot on and good luck. Whatever you do though get it checked out. You can understand the reluctance of people not wanting to give advice on the heading of your post though . General questions may have yielded better replies if your level of understanding had been more prevalent.

 

[JamesBrownLive]

LOL! Isn`t there a book going round called "part p doctor"? Havn`t looked at it though so i cant comment on the contents........

It's actually an interesting read, but its target audience is people who intend to undertake 'defined scope' work, i.e. kitchen fitters, HVAC etc, and not DIYers.

 

[TPES]

Although I do agree with all the other electricians on this thread to "get an electrician", as I do think you will certainly be out your depth at some point through your DIY project (and is it really worth taking the risk of your home with your family in?)

I do admire your interest to even join this forum and further your knowledge, and you seem to have done your research on the basics.
Even though there will be errors made you do seem to have made more effort than most DIYers.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

It was just the picture of a bloke with steinels as a stephescope that got me jb. Had me thinking it was aimed at diyers so i had visions of people poking around with those pound shop neon screwdrivers which i think are damn right dangerous and should be banned. i bought some insulated screwdrivers a while back with one of those things thrown in and it went straight in the bin.......

 

[mickys86]

After seeing a post tue other day marked "CU installation step by step. I really thought this was going to be a serious thread. I was also expecting the same op as well haha

 

[rsmck]

Although I do agree with all the other electricians on this thread to "get an electrician".

Spot on and good luck. Whatever you do though get it checked out. You can understand the reluctance of people not wanting to give advice on the heading of your post though . General questions may have yielded better replies if your level of understanding had been more prevalent.

Worth noting, if these are aimed at me, that I was not the OP of this thread ... the thread itself was started by an electrician, I just joined a bit of lively debate.. I wouldn't start a thread by asking for a step-by-step guide to rewiring... I would agree that anyone doing so (if asking for advice that way) is probably out of their depth and even I would be the amongst the first to say "call an electrician"

It's also worth noting that whilst I will happily undertake electrical work in my own house, and do minor things for family members like change a light fitting or connect a new appliance etc - I'd never undertake any major electrical work in anyone else's home.. I'd always advise they call an electrician and there's a few who I'll happily recommend who I've dealt with before

 

[LlandrilloSpark]

Sorry to be short and blunt rsmck but I don't agree with what your doing, without formal and proper training (not books) I don't agree with you rewiring your house or anybody else for that matter, its wrong and dangerous and should be outlawed IMHO, Electricians don't sit maybe 15 separate exams over 4-5 years sometimes spending £1000's in course fee's and maybe an Apprenticeship and another £500 on a part p competent persons scheme for nothing you know, annoys me that somebody who can buy a £60 bs7671 and a book of amazon thinks they can rewire a house CORRECTLY

 

[TPES]

rsmck you seem to be a sound bloke, giving good replys and not having an attitude as most would on forums, this is what makes this forum different to others I think, which is why I've been a member of this forum longer than any other and check in on here daily.

The important thing is not to get your intentions mixed up with your capabilities, and I'm sure your not...

 

[rsmck]

Sorry to be short and blunt rsmck but I don't agree with what your doing, without formal and proper training (not books) I don't agree with you rewiring your house or anybody else for that matter, its wrong and dangerous and should be outlawed IMHO

Noted.

Electricians don't sit maybe 15 separate exams over 4-5 years sometimes spending £1000's in course fee's and maybe an Apprenticeship and another £500 on a part p competent persons scheme for nothing you know

It depends on the electrician I guess, but there's a lot out there that have undertaken much shorter courses and still advertise themselves as electricians. Obviously the Part P scheme is a bit of a moot point in my case..

annoys me that somebody who can buy a £60 bs7671 and a book of amazon thinks they can rewire a house CORRECTLY

I appreciate there's things learned by experience - same is true of everything - but I've always been a believer that formal training, whilst beneficial, is not a pre-requisite and that you can teach yourself most things if you need to (look at what they did with the ATA's Ferry Pilot's Notes from WWII if you want an extreme example )

Everyone has their own interpretation of "correctly", there is more than one way to rewire a house. I am not claiming I am rewiring my home exactly as you would nor that your own experience and training most likely would lead you to do some things differently. But rather that it is done safely and, as far as reasonably practicable, in compliance with the 17th Edition of BS7671 which is good enough for me

 

[rsmck]

rsmck you seem to be a sound bloke, giving good replys and not having an attitude as most would on forums.

Thankyou

The important thing is not to get your intentions mixed up with your capabilities, and I'm sure your not...

I'll do my best not to. If I am ever unsure (about anything) then I will ask someone - either via forums such as this or via some professionals I know personally (sadly none of which live locally!).

If I don't understand the REASON behind the answer, I won't do it. I will never just blindly follow instructions. When I reach the point that I don't understand why something is done a particular way, or why a particular regulation is what it is, then I would employ a professional.

This applies to everything, not just electrical work. I also accept my small house is very different from much larger projects that you're all trained to work with - your training will cover a lot more than what I need for this particular purpose.

p.s. my real work (both my full time job and a completely different hobby that's rapidly became a part-time job) involves a good understanding of electricity - so I'm not completely 'new' to the concepts

 

[TPES]

Sorry to be short and blunt rsmck but I don't agree with what your doing, without formal and proper training (not books) I don't agree with you rewiring your house or anybody else for that matter, its wrong and dangerous and should be outlawed IMHO, Electricians don't sit maybe 15 separate exams over 4-5 years sometimes spending £1000's in course fee's and maybe an Apprenticeship and another £500 on a part p competent persons scheme for nothing you know, annoys me that somebody who can buy a £60 bs7671 and a book of amazon thinks they can rewire a house CORRECTLY

Agreed