The big difference in the electric terminology and installation regulations and practice in each country!

[Megawatt]

I’m from the US and I’m just trying to learn how UK does things and the terminology of what I call something verses what y’all call materials. I read some of this and I mostly don’t know what being said and I’ve been doing this for 32 years

 

[Silly Sausage]

We don't use Fire nu... sorry, I mean Wire nuts over here for starters.

 

[westward10]

Put up a list of your terminology and members will see if they can give interpretations.

 

[Megawatt]

We don't use Fire nu... sorry, I mean Wire nuts over here for starters.

we use them all the time for smaller wire

 

[Megawatt]

Do y’all run conduit or approved cables

 

[Megawatt]

Do y’all run conduit or approved cables

what would a service look like on a single family dwelling

 

[telectrix]

in domestics, we generally use twin& earth cable. :

hot wire we call line(brown) . neutral (Blue), and what you would call the ground wire, we call it "circuit protective conductor (cpc). OH, and due to some silly farts back in the 1970's all our cable is metric.

that's a start

 

[James]

Not to confuse matters, we often call the cpc or ground wire an earth wire.
Not that this is the correct technical term
Just a throwback from the past.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Why not grab yourself an old copy of our equivalent of the NEC (BS7671, aka the 'wiring regs'.) It would take a long time to run through each difference but you could get most of the story even though the book isn't fully up to date.

One of the main differences is that BS7671 is less prescriptive than the NEC. There's less talk of how many wires you may join in a particular size of box, and more emphasis on calculating and evaluating the characteristics of each cable and material and assessing the suitability for yourself. We're also much more into testing. Not only volt drop and ampacity but earth fault and short-circuit loop impedances and their corresponding fault currents are all assessed for every circuit before installation, and then tested afterwards and compared to the curves of the breakers to ensure they will operate correctly, before a circuit is considered ready for use.

Some important supply differences:

Our supplies are 50 Hz (=cycles), so induction motors run at approximately 1000, 1500, 3000 rpm instead of 1200, 1800, 3600.

Domestic services are 230V single phase, typically 100A. Line (=hot) and neutral are provided by the network, sometimes earth too, otherwise a rod is used. Only the network operator is allowed to combine (=bond) neutral and earth, they may not be linked in the distribution board (=panel). Split phase (as in typical US services with two lines each 120V to neutral and 240V between them) is never used, although a very few old rural installations where the high voltage supply is only single-phase have 240-0-240 with 480V between lines.

Industrial and commercial services are normally 3-phase 4-wire star (=wye) 400V line-line, 230V line-neutral, from the same distribution cables as the domestic single-phase but with all three phases present instead of just one. There are no open delta, edge grounded or high-leg asymmetrical configurations. An increasing number of larger industrial loads are 690/400V.

More later on materials and circuits...

 

[Megawatt]

Why not grab yourself an old copy of our equivalent of the NEC (BS7671, aka the 'wiring regs'.) It would take a long time to run through each difference but you could get most of the story even though the book isn't fully up to date.

One of the main differences is that BS7671 is less prescriptive than the NEC. There's less talk of how many wires you may join in a particular size of box, and more emphasis on calculating and evaluating the characteristics of each cable and material and assessing the suitability for yourself. We're also much more into testing. Not only volt drop and ampacity but earth fault and short-circuit loop impedances and their corresponding fault currents are all assessed for every circuit before installation, and then tested afterwards and compared to the curves of the breakers to ensure they will operate correctly, before a circuit is considered ready for use.

Some important supply differences:

Our supplies are 50 Hz (=cycles), so induction motors run at approximately 1000, 1500, 3000 rpm instead of 1200, 1800, 3600.

Domestic services are 230V single phase, typically 100A. Line (=hot) and neutral are provided by the network, sometimes earth too, otherwise a rod is used. Only the network operator is allowed to combine (=bond) neutral and earth, they may not be linked in the distribution board (=panel). Split phase (as in typical US services with two lines each 120V to neutral and 240V between them) is never used, although a very few old rural installations where the high voltage supply is only single-phase have 240-0-240 with 480V between lines.

Industrial and commercial services are normally 3-phase 4-wire star (=wye) 400V line-line, 230V line-neutral, from the same distribution cables as the domestic single-phase but with all three phases present instead of just one. There are no open delta, edge grounded or high-leg asymmetrical configurations. An increasing number of larger industrial loads are 690/400V.

More later on materials and circuits...

Very good information and I’ve wired quite a few European equipment and yes all the wire was in millimeters with European drawings which uses different symbols. I was wiring a machine for a man from Finland and he couldn’t understand that if we could we had to run it in pipe. He was a cool guy just trouble with communication

 

[Megawatt]

Very good information and I’ve wired quite a few European equipment and yes all the wire was in millimeters with European drawings which uses different symbols. I was wiring a machine for a man from Finland and he couldn’t understand that if we could we had to run it in pipe. He was a cool guy just trouble with communication

Do y’all have to draw permits and when you are finished get it inspected

 

[Megawatt]

On single family dwellings it’s 240vac single phases with 2 hots and a grounded conductor-and we, not the power company drive 2 rods at the service 6 feet apart and bond the neutral bar in the main panel and bond the water lines if there is galvanized piping When you have to bury wire it has to be 24 inches to the top of the pipe

 

[Megawatt]

On single family dwellings it’s 240vac single phases with 2 hots and a grounded conductor-and we, not the power company drive 2 rods at the service 6 feet apart and bond the neutral bar in the main panel and bond the water lines if there is galvanized piping When you have to bury wire it has to be 24 inches to the top of the pipe

The manufacturing plants are mostly 480 vac delta ungrounded systems. That makes you have to lnstall a lot of transformers to get you 208/120 on the secondary side of the transformers. We do have plants that have 480 vac 3 phase star connections also

 

[Megawatt]

Put up a list of your terminology and members will see if they can give interpretations.

What do spured fuses mean

 

[westward10]

What do spured fuses mean

The correct terminology is fuse connection unit which are often called spurs as they are often used for spurring from a ring final circuit. It is essentially a double-pole switch which incorporates a fuse, up to 13A to protect the load side circuit.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

A fused spur is a lower-rated branch circuit made from a higher-rated circuit, via a local fuse to protect the branch. This is done using a standard device called a fused connection unit, example here: BG fused connection unit . It often includes a double-pole switch to provide isolation if needed, and/or a power indicator, but it must contain a BS1362 cartridge fuse, the same type as used in our fused plugs. Most common fuses are 3 & 13A (also available 1, 2, 5, 7 & 10A).

For example, If you want a small supply for an outside light and there is a 32A circuit for socket outlets nearby, then you can install a fused connection unit with a 3A fuse to make a branch circuit for the light, instead of running a new lighting circuit all the way back to the panel. A fused connection unit can also used to connect a permanently installed appliance such as duct fan, instead of a plug and socket outlet. to stop people unplugging it to use the outlet. Here it's not technically a 'spur' but we have a habit of calling the fused connection unit itself a spur, or spur box.

Fused connection units were invented alongside fused plugs and the scheme of using socket outlet circuits of much higher rating than the plugs themselves. 32A circuits are popular, offering 7.4 kilowatts per circuit (compared to the 2.4kW of a 20A 120V outlet circuit), so a large number of typical appliances can be powered from one circuit. This is only possible due to the presence of fuses.

 

[FatAlan]

Do y’all have to draw permits and when you are finished get it inspected

This question probably hasn’t been answered yet as it’s a contentious and complicated subject. In short experienced and competent sparks are expected to test and certify their own installations. Certain domestic work has to be notified to to the local authority.
How much do you have to pay to draw a permit? Presumably that covers the cost of a third party inspection?

 

[Megawatt]

This question probably hasn’t been answered yet as it’s a contentious and complicated subject. In short experienced and competent sparks are expected to test and certify their own installations. Certain domestic work has to be notified to to the local authority.
How much do you have to pay to draw a permit? Presumably that covers the cost of a third party inspection?

Depending on what you are getting a permit for it cost around $100.00. I worked out of town in another state and they charged by the amp which at that time we was working on a 4000 amp switch gear which I had to pay and it’s was around $ 650.00 US dollars and they would not take nothing but cash. Every state . County, and inspectors are different and have their rules

 

[Megawatt]

Depending on what you are getting a permit for it cost around $100.00. I worked out of town in another state and they charged by the amp which at that time we was working on a 4000 amp switch gear which I had to pay and it’s was around $ 650.00 US dollars and they would not take nothing but cash. Every state . County, and inspectors are different and have their rules

Yes fatalan I do add that price to the customer

 

[Megawatt]

I don’t even know half of what you was saying

We use breakers as our overcurrent protection not fuses