I am putting extra sockets in my house in Hungary. I had a reel of twin & earth from UK but I have used that up and they don't sell it here. Standard practice here is to run individual wires in conduit so that is what I'm attempting to do. I have a reel of flexible conduit but I'm finding it very difficult to thread the wires through. The run I'm trying to do is about 4 metres but I've only managed to feed about 3 metres through. Is it just that the flexible stuff is unsuitable for long runs and I should mainly use the rigid conduit? The conduit is loose on the floor, not set into plasterwork or anything at this stage.
Threading Conduit
- Thread starter fidom
- Start date
We don't tend to use flexible conduit much in the UK except occasionally as a means for final connection to machines. I would think ridgid conduit would be easier to thread but you still need periodic inspection openings if you are running cables long distances in it.
Is UK twin and earth legal in Hungary? It is not in many places due to no insulation on the earth.
You need one of these: http://www.screwfix.com/p/cable-flex-draw-tape/75807?_requestid=219414 otherwise known as a draw wire
I worked on a French property which has the same installation method you are using. For some lengths i measured of the correct length of conduit, took the conduit outside and weighted it each end (brick on top) wired it and then installed the flexi conduit pre-wired - the draw wire incorporated into the flexi conduit was adequate for pulling through.
Thanks, undistilled. I have ordered the threading tool plus a load of other stuff from Screwfix. I see they have changed their policy about delivery charges. When I lived in Scotland I used to get a lot of stuff from Screwfix but then they started charging £12 for delivery to certain postcode areas, including mine. I had not ordered from them since, although I have bought things over the counter at their Nuneaton shop during trips to England.
Many people have the view that our electrical standards must be the finest on earth and that our materials and methods are of course superior to any other country's, which can simply be ignored.
I thought that pre-wired conduit was usually used?
That pre-wired stuff looks quite user friendly ban-all-sheds, I suppose it comes down to cost. French electricians use a fancy tool to push a draw wire through the conduit once installed.
I spent three weeks in Hungary this year, Fidom, and I replaced a small consumer unit for a friend. I would be interested if you could keep us updated on how your progress and how easy/difficult it is to negotiate with officials to comply with building regs etc. As an aside I am impressed with the seals they put on the supply meters - no spark can mess with those and remake them! Szervusz!
I spent three weeks in Hungary this year, Fidom, and I replaced a small consumer unit for a friend. I would be interested if you could keep us updated on how your progress and how easy/difficult it is to negotiate with officials to comply with building regs etc. As an aside I am impressed with the seals they put on the supply meters - no spark can mess with those and remake them! Szervusz!
By the way, Fidom, I think you will find that cable in Hungary is solid and not stranded. If kept straight and with the cables staggered and taped to a nice tapered end you should be able to push 4m through without too much difficulty. Stranded cable just buckles and bends back on itself after a short distance.
Hungarian wiring is horrible, especially in older houses like mine. Most of the wires are aluminium rather than copper. The joints in the junction boxes are simply twisted together and wrapped with insulting tape. Half the sockets have no earth. The supply for the house is only 20 amps so I can't have an electric cooker. I could get this uprated to 32 amps but it would mean making a hole in the roof, fitting a pole and making a hole in an outside wall for a meter box. I already have all those things but they won't re-use any of the existing stuff, it all has to be duplicated. My plan is to get an additional supply to one of my outbuildings then run a cable from there to the house.
The stuff I bought is stranded. I got it from a big electrical merchant, not a DIY place so I would have thought it is the stuff the sparkies use. I did find that it would not go through the holes in one of the sockets I bought. I'm told I have to get some crimp ends to go with the stranded wire.
I understand - thats why I replaced the CU no functional earth, no rcd.... shared neutrals....blue cable for permanent live.. I bought my stuff from OBI but nothing matched Schneider MCBs, Chint RCD, non descript enclosure... I made up the board in the store before I was satisfied it would all work together. Best bet is to stick with known, quality products. On the France rewire we wasted a lot of time using stores own brand stuff before using quality Schneider products which was expensive but easy to install. All accessories were push fit as well and it seems that these are fine for solid cable but not very friendly when using stranded cable. Best of luck with it!
Mine does not even have the luxury of a consumer unit! The lighting and sockets are all on the same circuit which just relies on a circuit breaker before the meter. There is another meter for cheap rate which just goes to the water heater. Again there is circuit breaker before the meter and that is the only way to switch off the hot water. These are in the meter box in the verandah so if I turn the power off to go away some joker could come and turn it on again. The same applies to the water, the only place to turn it off is a manhole in the front garden.
When I saw the topic title I thought the Q was about this:
