kitchen circuit actually 2 radials

[andy007]

Hi everyone this is my first post so guess you could say im a forum virgin so go easy on me!!!!!!


Anyway was baffled today as i was checking what i thought was a kitchen ring circuit. foud that there were no continuity readings, when i took all sockets off in kitchen found that one cable was going from the consumer to the fridge socket and the other cable was connected to the rest of the sockets in the kitchen (except cooker) the question i am asking is can both ends of theses 2 radials be placed on the same mcb because they were and i scratched my head for ages wondering why i wasnt getting a reading. does this conply with 17th ed regs. I was lead to believe all sockets are meant to be on a ring circuit now rather than radials.

also when testing the earth fault loop impedence Ke value was being displayed as LOW on meter earth was connected to gas, water and supply so not sure why any suggestions (ps I am a new apprentise hope it isnt too obvious) am grateful for any advice.

 

[Phil]

Hi everyone this is my first post so guess you could say im a forum virgin so go easy on me!!!!!!


I was lead to believe all sockets are meant to be on a ring circuit now rather than radials.

welcome to the forum, sockets can be on ring or radial there are good strong arguments for both of these, that`s a can of worms ring or radial discussion.

 

[Notsosmart]

Hi Andy and welcome,

There is not a requirement that sockets have to be on a ring, if they are indeed both radials then the circuit breaker they are connected should be 20Amp at the most. The potential loading within the modern kitchen means that this may not be enough if all the appliances are running.

Are you absolutely certain that it is two radials and that the fridge is not off a spur?

If they are indeed radials IMHO its not good practice to have them both terminating in the same MCB so is there spare room in the CU to add an MCB for the fridge & label the socket accordingly(that way you will not have to install an rcbo)

 

[Hawk81]

what size of breaker where the 2 radials connected into? 16, 20 or 32?

 

[JUD]

What is the CSA of the cables and what is the rating of the breaker?

As long as the cable sizes are correct for the rating of the breaker and the radial to the fridge is only supplying 1 single or 1 double socket then this is effectively a spur.

 

[andy007]

the cable size was 2.5 mm and i think it was on a 32 Amp mcb the fridge had a double socket yes i see now how that could be classed as a spur off the consumer unit all thankfully protected by an RCD. Thanks guys

 

[JUD]

the cable size was 2.5 mm and i think it was on a 32 Amp mcb the fridge had a double socket yes i see now how that could be classed as a spur off the consumer unit all thankfully protected by an RCD. Thanks guys

In that case I would say the fridge socket is supposed to be part of the ring and you have a break somewhere.