Farm electrics

[fergiedoctor]

I've finally got round to looking at sorting the electrics out in my workshop today, and before I start I am fully aware that I shouldn't be tackling this job myself however its not my place I only rent it and should a qualified sparky take a look I'm sure he would suffer heart failure and condemn the lot!

Basically the building used to be a sawmill, as a result I've got a very good three phase supply however the lights and 240 sockets are piggybacked across off another shed via a 2.5mm cable, i have two three phase fuse boxes both with their own neutral and earth bars, my question is can anybody see a problem with me picking up from one of the 3 phase boxes via some heavy 3 core cable a live from the red phase, a neutral and earth from the bars and feeding it into a household consumer unit to give me independent control and protection of the lights? Or would anyone recommend a better way of doing it?

Thanks in advance

 

[joe soapy]

no problems with that

 

[Pete]

Your last line of the first paragraph has made me feel a little unwell, however, I will try to help you with this if I can.

When you say "three phase fuse boxes" what exactly do you mean, are they actual fuse boxes/distribution boards with fuses/mcbs or switch fuses? A photo would help if possible.

 

[roscoe erf]

i was told you could not do this safely as if there was a fault the fuse trip would not work or something along those lines

 

[Inky]

I take it the sockets on the 2.5mm is a radial circuit (i.e not a ring with two 2.5mm cables going back to the other building)?

The easiest way to give you control and protection on the light is to install an FCU (fused switch) where the lights spur off the socket circuit.

By the way you are talking you don't want to be playing around with 3-phase and installing a new consumer yourself, get some qualified to do it if you want a CU installed. electricians see all sorts and are not going to turn their nose up at your current setup, most old buildings have been added to over the years before newer regs came in and before anyone cared to much.

You can install a single phase CU off a 3 phase board.