Installing plug sockets in steel furniture.

[mainline]

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Why?
The units are not exposed conductive parts nor are they extraneous conductive parts.

Would you say the same for a washing machine or a tumble dryer ?

 

[James]

Would you say the same for a washing machine or a tumble dryer ?

My washing machine and tumble drier are bonded to earth via the cpc in the supply cable.
being an appliance they are subject to different standards but the fundamental principals are the same.

if a metal object can become live during a fault, then it should have a return path so the protective device can operate.

I don't understand why you seem to have such an aversion to earthing / bonding / attaching to cpc the body of a metal object that has cables running through it.

 

[DPG]

Big metal box with wires in it and sockets fitted to it? Yes I'd say the metal case should be connected to earth.

 

[pc1966]

Why? The structure is neither an exposed conductive part nor an extraneous conductive part.

As @James has said, it is conductive object with cables running through it. That is only a missing grommet / misplaced screw away from a Line-chassis fault, so like any Class I item I would expect the metalwork to be earthed.

 

[DPG]

My washing machine and tumble drier are bonded to earth via the cpc in the supply cable.
being an appliance they are subject to different standards but the fundamental principals are the same.

if a metal object can become live during a fault, then it should have a return path so the protective device can operate.

I don't understand why you seem to have such an aversion to earthing / bonding / attaching to cpc the body of a metal object that has cables running through it.

I think @mainline is actually agreeing with us isn't he?

 

[James]

yes he is, I was responding to the previous post I think!

 

[loz2754]

I'm not averse to it. I guess I'm playing devil's advocate. An item of furniture is not in itself electrical equipment no matter if it's made of metal. The electrical equipment is the socket, which is to be attached to the furniture. Any cables supplying the socket would be insulated and sheathed. If you fixed a socket to a cable tray, would you then have to earth the cable tray?
Or if a socket was to be affixed to a stainless steel splashback, would you have to earth the splashback? A metal suspended ceiling light fitting is in direct contact with a metal ceiling grid, would you have to earth the grid?

And as an aside, the term "bonded" was used earlier, which is not the correct term for this sort of situation.

Like I said, I'm not averse to the furniture being earthed, but I also think that it's not an automatic assumption that it has to be, based on the definitions found in BS7671. When referring to equipment that could become live under fault conditions, the definition of such equipment does not include furniture. Unless of course the manufacturer of said furniture has designed it in such a way that it is part of the electrical equipment, and explicitly provides an earthing point to facilitate the connection to earth.

 

[loz2754]

Would you say the same for a washing machine or a tumble dryer ?

No I would not, because a washing machine and dryer are items of electrical equipment.

 

[loz2754]

Just a note to add:

If the furniture manufacturer designs electrical items into their products, do they then, in effect, become electrical equipment manufacturers, with all the legal requirements that that would entail, such as declaration of conformity to product standards etc?

 

[mainline]

My washing machine and tumble drier are bonded to earth via the cpc in the supply cable.
being an appliance they are subject to different standards but the fundamental principals are the same.

if a metal object can become live during a fault, then it should have a return path so the protective device can operate.

I don't understand why you seem to have such an aversion to earthing / bonding / attaching to cpc the body of a metal object that has cables running through it.

If you read my post properly you would see that I don’t have an aversion to earthing in fact it’s the opposite