Joining a cable

mickward

This has been dine in my attic by a spark, cable frim supply panel cut cable moved and another connected on using a strip connector thus is fir a shower I dint think it is right he said it is do I need to make him change it
we put another electric shower in the. House away from bedroom so I can shower in morn time without wakening kids the 2 showers will NOT be operated at the same time

2011

mickward wrote: »

This has been dine in my attic by a spark, cable frim supply panel cut cable moved and another connected on using a strip connector thus is fir a shower I dint think it is right he said it is do I need to make him change it

If the cable is supplying an instantaneous shower (in the region of 8.5kW or more) I would not be satisfied with a cable joined in this manner. This would be considered bad practice.

we put another electric shower in the. House away from bedroom so I can shower in morn time without wakening kids the 2 showers will NOT be operated at the same time

If you have 2 instantaneous showers in a domestic installation they must be installed so that it is not possible for both of them to be operated at the same time.

mickward

I thought this connection was not good enough, what sould I expect him to have done?

The 2 showers cannot run together, he put a switch in the hot press where you have to turn left for old shower, turn right for new shower.

i am just worried about the connection maybe heating up, but i am unsure what way he should have connected it.

2011

mickward wrote: »

I thought this connection was not good enough, what sould I expect him to have done?

If it was my home I would not accept the use of strip connectors for joining a cable carrying >35 amps.

Clearly replacing the cable would be preferable.

The 2 showers cannot run together

Good, in your last post this was not clear as you stated:

the 2 showers will NOT be operated at the same time

he put a switch in the hot press where you have to turn left for old shower, turn right for new shower.

This sounds a little "odd", certainly not the way it is normally done.

mickward

thanks for the replies, but for educatitive purposes can you please explain how this set up should be done, i have him calling back to me tomorrow evening and i would like to walk him around and say to him the strip connector that should be xy and z, canging the wire would be very very messy at the stage we are at now all bathrooms are fresh, so if a proper joint can be made that would be the way,(silly question, but what about soldering?)

then the switch, this was done instead of a relay i think it was called, he said he believed the way he done it was safer, is this correct or wrong, if the switch is ok by what you guys think it does not bother me having to switch from one to the other, that is unless forget to switch it and have to do the nude-ie run throught the house to switch it over to the shower needed:D

looksee

You should not have to tell an electrician how to do his job. Accept your losses (and learn the lesson) and employ a qualified and certified person. Been there, done that! :-)

tomdempsey200

a joint on a shower cable is acceptable if done properly

a manual changeover switch is also an acceptable means of switching between showers

the changeover switch should be located in an accessible position 'outside' hotpress

sounds like you hired a DIY person for Job anyhow

mickward

sunds like you want to start to bash the fella who did the work instead of a constructive answer there guys.

i dont want to tell him how to do the job i just want to know that the job is good, i did hire a qualified and certified electrican and i am afaird that is why i cannot afford to get someone else back to it, ia sorry if that offends anyone on here but that is the simple truth. the guy is a proper electrician i was just unsure of the strip connector as i felt that was the work of a handyman.

any way thank you 2011 for all your help and thank you looksee for an unhelpful post.

tomdempsey200

if you're saying the cable is joined with exposed connectors (no box)..that will need to be remedied

also switch location isn't allowed

anyhow if he's registered reci/ecssa will enforce the remedial work for you if necessary..did you get a certificate?

Mr.Fred

what size cable is it that he's jointed?

Are you sure it's the supply to the shower and not just a control cable switching contactors?

Joints in cable while not ideal are perfectly acceptable once they are done correctly and they are accessible.

2011

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

a joint on a shower cable is acceptable if done properly

Agreed.

a manual changeover switch is also an acceptable means of switching between showers

Agreed, but it is "odd" to have a 2 way switch installed on the supply cable for instantenious showers.
Perhaps this switch is a control switch switching a contactor? It is not possible to know from the information provided.

mickward wrote: »

sunds like you want to start to bash the fella who did the work instead of a constructive answer there guys.

I am not trying to "bash" anyone. Without more detailed information it is not possible to give a more "constructive" reply. This is why posts #2 & #4 carefully worded stating what I would and would not accept, rather than slating someone's work with out all of the information.


For a more detailed answer please answer the following:

What are the ratings of the showers (in kW)?

Can you post a photo of the cable join? Is it in an enclosure?

What size cables are the showers wired in?

What size & type of selector switch is used? Can you post a picture of it? Is it switching a contactor?

Were you issued with a completion certificate?

What are the types & ratings of the protective devices installed in the distribution board? (i.e. RCD & MCB or RCBO)

2011

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

anyhow if he's registered reci/ecssa will enforce the remedial work for you if necessary

Don't bank on that.

A RECI inspector refused to get one of thier electrical contractors to change a 1.5 mm sq. flex supplying a cooker from a 32A B type MCB :eek:

Many houses in that estate are still like that if they would like to challange me on that.

mickward

Hi Lads,

thanks for all the replies, the guy is certified, i have known of him for years now, i got no completion cert he just did the work,pictures and me dont go hand in hand, however, we have the supply which went to pull switch in bathroom, this now goes to a switch, fairly chunky, i will see if there is a model on it in hot press/storage room, from there 2 wires leave one to pull switch in bathroom and one to pull switch at new shower, the pull switches are both the same he changed these round chunky thing with orange light and a wee green and White on/off.

i will just have to see what he says tomorrow evening, but if he wants more money the system will have to stay as is until next year sometime.

Wires in attic not in a box aload of tape around a strio connector, thats my question here really everything else seems good and professional, it was just when i looked in the attic

Mr.Fred

mickward wrote: »

Wires in attic not in a box aload of tape around a strio connector,

Simple answer so this is a hazard and well below standard it should be rectified immediately. I wouldn't hand over any more money till this is resolved.

tomdempsey200

he's not a competent electrician if he joined and taped up a instantaneous shower cable

changeover switch in hot press not allowed but prob done for aesthetics..it may not be a hazard

2011

mickward wrote: »

Wires in attic not in a box aload of tape around a strio connector, thats my question here really everything else seems good and professional, it was just when i looked in the attic

That is no way to join a cable!
However how serious an issue this is really depends on the size of the load. You still have given no indication as to what type of shower units are installed! What make & model???

tomdempsey200

mickward wrote: »

this now goes to a switch, fairly chunky,

manual changeover by the sound of it anyhow..never done that but nothing wrong with it

DublinDilbert

I'm not in the electrical trade as such, but i've seen this done in two family member's houses. One where they asked an electrician to add a plug socket for an extractor fan, so he cut into the cooker supply cable, put in a joint and took off some 2.5 to supply the extractor fan. The other looked like he just cut the shower cable too short and decided to add on an extra few feet to go down to the isolator switch.

mickward

Sorry for the delay, main bathroom is a Trton T90Z and in the new shower there is a mains feed Galaxy 2000.

i dont know that is why i asked here, i see no problem with the switch and the 2 units cannot operate together, however i was only worried that the joint would heat, i was going to go at it myself and then decided not too and i have the electrican calling today, what i was asking for is what way it should be done, i have to go with a joint now as i am not ripping up tiles and ceilings to get at cables, but how should it be jointed? is it soldered, is it a strip connector in a box as suggested?

Sir Arthur Daley

A soldered joint would be an excellent solution but uncommon here, i feel connectors in a joint box will be the solution.

gctest50

You should be a able to put in a new cable without ripping out tiles - the cables in the walls are usually in conduit.

(a bit like the photo attached to this post )

.G.

If the cable is jointed properly there is no risk due to heat,it should however be terminated inside a properly secured junction box,not covered in tape.The properly jointed connection will not cause any issues due to heat generation if it is covered in tape but can pose shock risks if the tape were to come off and somebody in the attic came in contact with exposed copper.

As for the switch,I've seen a simple 2 way lighting switch controlling a suitably rated contactor before and it was fine.Without seeing the actual setup nobody here can tell you if its safe or not.

To put it simply,you said you know him years and you hired him to do the job so you will have to trust him that he has done the job safely or get someone else to check it.

tomdempsey200

WikiHow wrote: »

A soldered joint would be an excellent solution but uncommon here, i feel connectors in a joint box will be the solution.

the wiring rules says to avoid solder joints for power wiring
not that they're used anyhow