Plug & Play hot tub installation

[nickcarter68]

Hi,
I am having a plug & Play hottub delivered I have a double socket outside on garage wall, I need about 5m of cable to reach tub, can anyone advise on what I need to buy to get this installed I.e. socket ,cabling, rcd protection.it says I need 13amp 240v power supply.
Many thanks Nick

 

[telectrix]

extension lead, but make sure it's a quality 1.5mm cable lead. use fully unwound. itit's a plug and play, just plug into your external socket.the spa should have a 10mA RCD built into it's lead.

 

[Midwest]

Whose the manufacture, they (plug & play) normally come with long supply leads anyway, certainly 5m.

 

[Cosy Sparky]

Plug & Play be buggered! It is external to the building, so should have its own earthing system, ie its own earth rod, consumer unit, & RCD protection, all fully tested & certified. How can anyone possibly send out something which is plug & play when they have no idea what the local conditions are like!? If your going to sit in a bucket of water which is connected to the mains, you want to be bloody sure your properly protected.

 

[DPG]

Plug & Play be buggered! It is external to the building, so should have its own earthing system, ie its own earth rod, consumer unit, & RCD protection, all fully tested & certified. How can anyone possibly send out something which is plug & play when they have no idea what the local conditions are like!? If your going to sit in a bucket of water which is connected to the mains, you want to be bloody sure your properly protected.

Why would it want its own consumer unit?

And, as above, they often have a 10mA RCD built in.

 

[littlespark]

A lawnmower could also be described as plug and play, but I’d rather be sitting in a hot tub with its 10mA in line rcd than pushing my qualcast over its own flex with no rcd.

 

[DPG]

A lawnmower could also be described as plug and play, but I’d rather be sitting in a hot tub with its 10mA in line rcd than pushing my qualcast over its own flex with no rcd.

I always use an earth stake, and move it across a couple of feet every time I change direction with the mower.

 

[littlespark]

My outside socket is in the centre of a circular garden. I just press it to on, and let it spiral itself into the middle.

??

 

[pc1966]

I would check your outside sockets already have a working RCD for protection. That might be in your home's CU (consumer unit = fuse box) and it ought to have a 'test' button that simulates a fault to verify it trips OK.

Then what @telectrix said about a proper extension lead.

There is a whole extra point of contention about a hot-tub being similar to a swimming pool that is a "special area" which has additional restrictions in terms of how the supply earth is delivered, etc. I would like to think that a "plug and play" tub has allowed for that in its design, so is basically double-insulated.

If not it is a bit of plug and pray!

 

[telectrix]

Plug & Play be buggered! It is external to the building, so should have its own earthing system, ie its own earth rod, consumer unit, & RCD protection, all fully tested & certified. How can anyone possibly send out something which is plug & play when they have no idea what the local conditions are like!? If your going to sit in a bucket of water which is connected to the mains, you want to be bloody sure your properly protected.

 

[Midwest]

There is a whole extra point of contention about a hot-tub being similar to a swimming pool that is a "special area" which has additional restrictions in terms of how the supply earth is delivered, etc. I would like to think that a "plug and play" tub has allowed for that in its design, so is basically double-insulated.

If you recall my thread on this subject, the Lazy Spa web site did suggest Class2, but in actual fact they are Class1.

It would be interesting to know what make this hot tub is @nickcarter68 ?

 

[Cosy Sparky]

I always use an earth stake, and move it across a couple of feet every time I change direction with the mower.

The mower is 'mobile equipment' and as such should be supplied from a socket suitable for such ie has RCD protection. The hot tub is not mobile & is outside the equipotential zone of the supplying building, so therefore should be treated in exactly the same way as say a remote garage or any other detached building - ie should be provided with its own equipotential zone.

 

[telectrix]

it' comes with a fitted plug and inbuilt 10mA RCD. it is therefore a portable appliance and , as such, makes your post inaccurate and misleading.

 

[loz2754]

therefore should be treated in exactly the same way as say a remote garage or any other detached building - ie should be provided with its own equipotential zone.

Not necessarily, and in many cases an external building can be safely connected to the house earthing arrangements, whether TNS, TNC-S or TT.

 

[telectrix]

if the hot tub is akin to a remote garage, tonite i willl park my van in the hot tub.

 

[DPG]

The mower is 'mobile equipment' and as such should be supplied from a socket suitable for such ie has RCD protection. The hot tub is not mobile & is outside the equipotential zone of the supplying building, so therefore should be treated in exactly the same way as say a remote garage or any other detached building - ie should be provided with its own equipotential zone.

Garages do NOT have to be made TT.

 

[Cosy Sparky]

Garages do NOT have to be made TT.

They do if you are detached AND you are a proper electrician.

 

[telectrix]

They do if you are detached AND you are a proper electrician.

if the garage was a metal structure you could be right. otherwise Bollox.

 

[loz2754]

They do if you are detached AND you are a proper electrician.

I hope you're prepared to back up such a bold blanket statement...

 

[loz2754]

For anyone interested, here's the NICEIC's latest guidance on hot tub installations: