Hook Up At Home & Peugeot Boxer Floor Mats

[Gravemaurice]

Hi,

 

This a two parter post for advice;

 

Hook Up - I'd like to put an external power point on the house to hook up at home without having to feed the cable out of a window or the considerable distance from the garage.

 

I see Screwfix do the external sockets however I hoped to find one that was in some way secure. That had a lockable cover to prevent anyone interfering with the socket but I can't seem to see one.

 

Has anyone else sourced such a secured socket?

 

Also, I've been looking at tailored floor mats for the Peugeot Boxer 2013 cab - there are one or two on eBay, without pictures, and again I thought why not ask my fellow motorhomers on the forum if anyone has experience or advice, good or bad, about what's out there.

 

Thanks in advance again for any feedback.

[lennyhb]

You could fit the socket in a waterproof enclosure and change the screws on the lid for tamper proof screws.

 

I made my own mats from gel backed carpet, light & durable and cheap.

[Robinhood]

I have an external socket on the side of my garage. Whilst it is not "secure", it IS switched inside the (lockable) garage, and therefore isolated when we are not at home.

 

The latest wiring regulations are now extremely strict on what you can and cant do, and if you wish to install yourself, you may fall foul of them.

 

One of my ex-work colleagues was relating how he had bought an armoured cable external extension "kit" from Wickes only last week allowing him to side-step the regulations.

It has all the components required, but is intended to be passed through a wall close to an existing socket, and plugged in via a 13 amp plug - no alteration to existing circuitry required. Regulations, eh!

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

http://www.vancomfort.co.uk/cabmats.htm

 

http://www.onlinecarmats.co.uk/peugeot/boxer/peugeot-boxer-van-2006-onwards-car-mats.html

 

lots of choice on ebay as well

 

edit: I doubt Robins Wickes kit is in any way compliant with electrical installation regs! if your taking the feed from an internal socket just fit a switched spur..or from a garage take it to fuse board and switch from there, can also fit a key switch to wall next to external IP65 socket...thats if your a qualified electrician that is.....

 

 

[AliB]

It is possible to get outdoor sockets and boxes which have two lugs allowing the fitment of a small padlock.

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/level5/module.jsp?moduleId=cpc/676334.xml

For safety reasons the socket needs to be switched from the inside. Like Robin says, simply turn the power off from inside when not in use.

 

My own arrangement is a fused spur with a switch then a cable through the wall to the outside rated socket.

[AliB]

JudgeMental - 2014-01-26 3:11 PM

 

 

edit: I doubt Robins Wickes kit is in any way compliant with electrical installation regs! .....

 

 

The beauty of the Wickes offering is that you are not altering the wiring off the building, so no regulations appy.

It is classed as an extension cable that plugs into a existing 13A socket.

[sshortcircuit]

I assume you live in Scotland, on the basis you referred to a visit to Knowepark Caravans elsewhere. Only electrical works that are part of a building warrant need to be notified. You do need to ensure it is installed in accordance with the regulation but thankfully up here in Scotland there is no paperwork to local authorities. (We are smart up here :-D )

[Guest JudgeMental]

AliB - 2014-01-26 3:59 PM

 

JudgeMental - 2014-01-26 3:11 PM

 

 

edit: I doubt Robins Wickes kit is in any way compliant with electrical installation regs! .....

 

 

The beauty of the Wickes offering is that you are not altering the wiring off the building, so no regulations appy.

It is classed as an extension cable that plugs into a existing 13A socket.

 

its an exterior socket so "notifiable" under building regs *-)

[Gravemaurice]

Thanks. I have no shortage of sparkies in the family but it is the security of the socket which seems to be eluding me.

 

Isolating the socket power supply is covered but I want to be able to lock the fitting up to prevent any smart arsenal pulling the plug out when the van is hooked up.

 

 

[lennyhb]

Whats to stop them pulling it out of the van?

[Guest JudgeMental]

Gravemaurice - 2014-01-26 4:37 PM

 

Thanks. I have no shortage of sparkies in the family but it is the security of the socket which seems to be eluding me.

 

Isolating the socket power supply is covered but I want to be able to lock the fitting up to prevent any smart arsenal pulling the plug out when the van is hooked up.

 

 

make sure whoever fits it is has P certification and can supply a cert:-S

 

here you go, but its cheaper and easier to switch/isolate from indoors

 

http://www.mkelectric.com/en-gb/Products/WD/IngressProtected/mastersealplus/Socketoutlets/Pages/56487.aspx

 

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partp/

 

[Robinhood]

JudgeMental - 2014-01-26 3:11 PM

 

http://www.vancomfort.co.uk/cabmats.htm

 

http://www.onlinecarmats.co.uk/peugeot/boxer/peugeot-boxer-van-2006-onwards-car-mats.html

 

lots of choice on ebay as well

 

edit: I doubt Robins Wickes kit is in any way compliant with electrical installation regs! if your taking the feed from an internal socket just fit a switched spur..or from a garage take it to fuse board and switch from there, can also fit a key switch to wall next to external IP65 socket...thats if your a qualified electrician that is.....

 

 

.....doubt away! The kits are, however, constructed specifically to conform with DIY installation and Building Regs requirements.

 

See extract from building regs attached.

 

Neither would sheds, detached garages or greenhouses automatically be "notifiable locations", though some work in them could certainly be defined as notifiable.

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

so where did the garage come in to this...OP said : "an external power point on the house"

 

NOTIFIABLE *-)

[Robinhood]

JudgeMental - 2014-01-26 4:52 PM

 

so where did the garage come in to this...OP said : "an external power point on the house"

 

NOTIFIABLE *-)

 

....well my original post (which you chose to dispute as above, and which was the subject of my response) was re a greenhouse.

 

You now seem to be switching arguments. ;-)

 

...but if you want to argue the outdoor socket point, then I refer you to the third paragraph here:

 

http://www.niceic.com/Uploads/File8952.pdf

 

Non-Notifiable! (under certain, easily conformed with, conditions - such as a prefabricated kit ;-) ).

 

 

[Colin Leake]

We had our house rewired to bring it up to the latest spec when we had a new kitchen fitted. We have a weather proof external socket which is feed through the wall with a 13amp plug in a switched socket. The electrician told me that this is fine but if I did as I was thinking of doing replace this with s switched fused spur he would have to do the work and certify it. In the end I did the work he checked it and covered it on the new certificate.

 

Seems that if you take the power from a mains 13amp plug you can do almost anything you like as it does not count as being part of the household wiring.

 

I did have to do away with the automatic change over relays I was using to switch the lights to a generator powered circuit in the event of a power failure. He agreed that they were quite safe and indeed inherently fail safe but they simply did not,fit with the regulations. He did fit manual change over switches for all three lighting circuits so no harm done.

[Gravemaurice]

lennyhb - 2014-01-26 4:40 PM

 

Whats to stop them pulling it out of the van?

 

The socket on the van is lock fast.

[Robinhood]

The "Part P" regulations introduced in 2005/6 made it very difficult to legally carry out DIY electrical "improvements", as they made the great majority of changes notifiable under the building regulations, and thus required an (expensive and inconvenient) inspection, or the use of a qualified self-certifying electrician.

 

The revised "Part P" regulations introduced in 2013 removed much of this (and a large amount of the paperchase, potentially along with a substantial part of the electricians' monopoly).

 

Not unsurprisingly (IMO), the industry continue to obfuscate somewhat on just what is now exempt from notification (and therefore more easily undertaken by a competent DIY'er), and much of the (online) published information still relates to the pre-2013 situation.

 

The following demonstrates why it is worthwhile keeping up to date if you feel competent to do your own electrical work (to BS7671 of course).

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cutting-red-tape-will-save-homeowners-240-on-diy-electrical-jobs-says-don-foster

 

...and the following planning guidelines extract is the most succinct "current situation" I can find:

 

===

 

"Notifiable Works" requiring the submission of a Building Regulation application are works comprising of -

a) The installation of a new circuit (which seems to equate to a new link to the consumer unit)

b) The replacement of a consumer unit

c) Any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a "special location"

 

"special location" means -

 

(a) specific defined zone(s) within a room containing a bath or a shower, related to the space surrounding a bath tap or shower head (diagrams are widely available)

 

(b) a room containing a swimming pool or a sauna heater.

 

"Non-Notifiable Works" are all other electrical works that are not quoted above in the "Notifiable Works" section, namely additions and alterations to existing installations outside "special locations", and replacements, repairs and maintenance anywhere.

 

===

 

I went through a fair amount of this with the electrician who did my bathroom, just before the regulations changed (and frankly, he was considerably less clued-up about the then-relevant conditions than I was :-S )

 

Apologies to the further move off-topic, but it seemed relevant to a number of the posts above.

[sshortcircuit]

Robinhood - 2014-01-26 8:14 PM

 

The "Part P" regulations introduced in 2005/6 made it very difficult to legally carry out DIY electrical "improvements", as they made the great majority of changes notifiable under the building regulations, and thus required an (expensive and inconvenient) inspection, or the use of a qualified self-certifying electrician.

 

The revised "Part P" regulations introduced in 2013 removed much of this (and a large amount of the paperchase, potentially along with a substantial part of the electricians' monopoly).

 

Not unsurprisingly (IMO), the industry continue to obfuscate somewhat on just what is now exempt from notification (and therefore more easily undertaken by a competent DIY'er), and much of the (online) published information still relates to the pre-2013 situation.

 

The following demonstrates why it is worthwhile keeping up to date if you feel competent to do your own electrical work (to BS7671 of course).

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cutting-red-tape-will-save-homeowners-240-on-diy-electrical-jobs-says-don-foster

 

...and the following planning guidelines extract is the most succinct "current situation" I can find:

 

===

 

"Notifiable Works" requiring the submission of a Building Regulation application are works comprising of -

a) The installation of a new circuit (which seems to equate to a new link to the consumer unit)

b) The replacement of a consumer unit

c) Any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a "special location"

 

"special location" means -

 

(a) specific defined zone(s) within a room containing a bath or a shower, related to the space surrounding a bath tap or shower head (diagrams are widely available)

 

(b) a room containing a swimming pool or a sauna heater.

 

"Non-Notifiable Works" are all other electrical works that are not quoted above in the "Notifiable Works" section, namely additions and alterations to existing installations outside "special locations", and replacements, repairs and maintenance anywhere.

 

===

 

I went through a fair amount of this with the electrician who did my bathroom, just before the regulations changed (and frankly, he was considerably less clued-up about the then-relevant conditions than I was :-S )

 

Apologies to the further move off-topic, but it seemed relevant to a number of the posts above.

 

Thank goodness the OP lives in Scotland. :-D