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Dedicated Mains

We had similar in a former house which fed the lounge for hi-fi and TV, not sure it made a lot of difference but it gave peace of mind knowing the kit was on a separate circuit. the one important thing to remember is to bring all the earths to a single well grounded point to avoid differentials which can cause problems.
Thanks, it's part of a bigger plan, we have Solar which we’ll be extending and possibly putting in a battery, have moved some company IT kit home so have a few UPS/Servers in a comms cab and we’re gonna get a generator installed. Also have a whole home auto lighting and blinds project ongoing. Figure may as well give the AV system a dedicated supply.
 
No. Your power cable are not rated to go inside the wall and twin and earth is not designed to be flexible so you can't run it all the way to your kit. You can do these things, you can do anything you want, but it'll be illegal and void your home insurance. There are other reasons why you shouldn't do it but the short answer is no.

This stuff “Neotech NEP-3001 III Mains Power Cable” states “Suitable for use as a home made power lead or dedicated mains spur wiring”.

Therefore if it can be used as both, could it be used in the scenario i suggest. Or do we have to have a plug and socket in between equipment and CU.

Looking at this product i could use it to come off CU and also as a mains lead, i just can’t bypass plug n socket.
 
Or do we have to have a plug and socket in between equipment and CU.

Have you ever thought about why there are different types of cable and different sizes of fuses in plugs? Go and read up on that. All of the rules and regulations are for solid reasons, mostly to stop you burning your house down or blowing yourself into the next life. Once you understand why things are the way they are you'll be less inclined to thinking about mad ideas like this.
 
Have you ever thought about why there are different types of cable and different sizes of fuses in plugs? Go and read up on that. All of the rules and regulations are for solid reasons, mostly to stop you burning your house down or blowing yourself into the next life. Once you understand why things are the way they are you'll be less inclined to thinking about mad ideas like this.

Totally understand cable types n sizes and fuses. The cable above is rated at, ive not looked it up but lets say 30amps, you make a standard power lead to your amp and no doubt you leave the 13amp fuse in the plug that came with the plug.

So why not cut the plug n socket out the equation and connect it directly to a CU with a 6a RCBO
 
You need to follow the manufacturers instructions to be compliant with the regs, I think. Like an oven, say, you need to be able to shut it off locally.
 
By the way not intending to do this, im just curious why it is not allowed.

Would be helpful to have an explanation if someone would be god enough.
 
You need to follow the manufacturers instructions to be compliant with the regs, I think. Like an oven, say, you need to be able to shut it off locally.
You would be able shut it off locally by pulling out the IEC, surely that’s no difference to pulling out the plug.
 
You would be able shut it off locally by pulling out the IEC, surely that’s no difference to pulling out the plug.

But the cable is still live and can't be removed from the wall. And is also carrying too much current potential. It would be very unsafe. Your Hi-Fi kit only needs a few amps and you want to put 30A behind it? Nothing in the house uses that and you really don't want it lurking in the same space as human beings, on account of what it can do to them.
 
The IEC is only rated to 10A I believe, so you can't have a 30A feed.
But it would be protected by an 6a breaker, that is protecting the plug cable n all. The equipment probably has it’s own glass fuse. Appreciate I’m playing devils advocate here but each time i look at it there is protection.

agreed if i have a 32a breaker and 30a cable but if the breaker is 6a ?
 
But the cable is still live and can't be removed from the wall. And is also carrying too much current potential. It would be very unsafe. Your Hi-Fi kit only needs a few amps and you want to put 30A behind it? Nothing in the house uses that and you really don't want it lurking in the same space as human beings, on account of what it can do to them.

much specialist knowledge do you posses
 
But the cable is still live and can't be removed from the wall. And is also carrying too much current potential. It would be very unsafe. Your Hi-Fi kit only needs a few amps and you want to put 30A behind it? Nothing in the house uses that and you really don't want it lurking in the same space as human beings, on account of what it can do to them.
There are comments about using 10mm T&E that can handle a damn site more current. Im not saying giving it 30a im saying cable is capable and protected by 6a breaker in the CU.

how is this worse than a 13a fuse in a plug.

if you unplug the cable out of your kit do you switch it off at the wall first? Must admit i do not but probably good practice to do so.
 
You could also go to the CU and throw the breaker if you wanted, same a throwing the switch on the socket. More hassle obviously but doable
 
or dedicated mains spur

I'd lose faith in anything/one who makes a contradiction like that. A spur cannot be dedicated in the electrical sense.

O.P. I suggest, looking at your comments above re. eradicating (superfluous?) connections in the radial circuits, that you read my post a page or so back. I'm not really sure what it is that you're getting at, as you obv. have some knowledge, but to my mind, don't seem to have a clear plan of what you're considering. E.G Why would you want to switch off at the c.u. as you would (or not) a wall socket? Occasional testing is desirable, but otherwise........
 
Many years ago I put in a seperate consumer unit for my system and ran very expensive Kimber cable to an American outlet in the floor. Not a spur as a cable went and another came back. Sparky mate took tails into the main consumer unit.psst, no big deal? Just had a new shower put in and the sparky looked, listened and wired the hi-fi CU straight ofF the incoming, by passing the main CU. Night and Day no but a definite improvement. However, entering the room, there's all kind of FOO...
 
I'd lose faith in anything/one who makes a contradiction like that. A spur cannot be dedicated in the electrical sense.

O.P. I suggest, looking at your comments above re. eradicating (superfluous?) connections in the radial circuits, that you read my post a page or so back. I'm not really sure what it is that you're getting at, as you obv. have some knowledge, but to my mind, don't seem to have a clear plan of what you're considering. E.G Why would you want to switch off at the c.u. as you would (or not) a wall socket? Occasional testing is desirable, but otherwise........
Mike, i think most non sparks, I’m sure you’ll be surprised to know i fall into this bracket ;), refer to single connections as spurs although appreciate it is technically the wrong term.

Anyhow….
What i would like to know, why you could not take some of the aforementioned Neotech cable and run it directly from the CU in plastic conduit on say a 6a RCBO and terminate with an IEC connector for an amplifier. Let’s say it’s 5m in length.

Negating the need for a socket and plug.

As long as the RCBO protects the cable and person why is this any different to having a fuse in a plug, other than not being able to isolate at the amplifier. Hence you could go to the CU and drop the RCBO, if required.

People spend large sums on audiophile sockets, plugs n fuses. In this scenario you wouldn’t need them.

It may not meet regs but technically is there any reason for not doing this.
 
Mike, i think most non sparks, I’m sure you’ll be surprised to know i fall into this bracket ;), refer to single connections as spurs although appreciate it is technically the wrong term.

Anyhow….
What i would like to know, why you could not take some of the aforementioned Neotech cable and run it directly from the CU in plastic conduit on say a 6a RCBO and terminate with an IEC connector for an amplifier. Let’s say it’s 5m in length.

Negating the need for a socket and plug.

As long as the RCBO protects the cable and person why is this any different to having a fuse in a plug, other than not being able to isolate at the amplifier. Hence you could go to the CU and drop the RCBO, if required.

People spend large sums on audiophile sockets, plugs n fuses. In this scenario you wouldn’t need them.

It may not meet regs but technically is there any reason for not doing

It would make more sense to do away with the iec plug & socket and have a length of your preferred Neotech hard wired to the equipment with a 15 a round pin plug on the end. A far better solution electrically speaking.
You could also keep the twin and earth and save a shed load of money.
 
It would make more sense to do away with the iec plug & socket and have a length of your preferred Neotech hard wired to the equipment with a 15 a round pin plug on the end. A far better solution electrically speaking.
You could also keep the twin and earth and save a shed load of money.

Or mount the equipment in the CU and have long speaker cables ;)
 


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