So, following on from the inflatable filth pond thread, I’ll need some way of powering said pond.

I could get an all weather extension lead (whilst aware of all the internet stories about them) but before I ring the electrician for a quote I was wondering what’s actually possible to do “properly”?

I have a socket in a conservatory and basically want power at the bottom of the garden, about 20m away.

There isn’t anything solid to run cables on or to – only a fairly rickety fence.

So, would an electrician be able to run something permanent in the flower bed along the fence and can it legally terminate on a wooden structure?!

Ta

The actual rules are pretty vague and talk about cables being safe from damage or mounted securely but don’t specify any details. Some will happily mount to a fence, or run a cable through a flower bed, others won’t. Ideally you’d bury the cable (and properly, armoured cable, 600mm deep, warning tape above) but that adds quite a bit of work, although it is work you can do yourself. No problem with the termination being on wood, although it does need to be weatherproof somehow.

I’d either run outdoor cable (armoured) along the fence or stick normal cable in conduit along the fence..

eg plastic 20mm conduit

[url=https://flic.kr/p/pZxwA8]Outside lights[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

steel conduit

[url=https://flic.kr/p/e74g9b]Kitchen end[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

Assuming you have an RCD on the consumer unit it’s all pretty safe regardless, but I prefer conduit as everything gets covered by shrubs etc and the conduit means I can’t easily cut the cable using a hedge trimmer etc. Likewise a neighbour is less likely to nick the cable if nailing into their side of the fence eg for a trellis etc…

I’ve got cables running everywhere in the garden, lights, sockets, wifi all over the place….

I’m getting this done and it’s going over ground in parts and terminated on a fence. Armoured cable and (good) sparky had no qualms.

The conduit idea seems sensible.

Does anyone happen to have a very very rough idea of cost for such things?!

I’m assuming I’m not allowed to do this myself (not sure I’d want to anyway tbh)

Does anyone happen to have a very very rough idea of cost for such things?!

Conduit is very cheap.

I’m assuming I’m not allowed to do this myself (not sure I’d want to anyway tbh)

You can DIY, if the house end just plugs in somewhere rather than wired in. If you wire it in permantly you need to get it signed off (what I did).

Wait, I missed the sex pond thread? Been looking at buying one to end this glorious weather. Where there any conclusions? Lay Z Spa or Intec?

Oh and on electrics, I’ve always understood it that if you’re plugging and unplugging at the house end, it doesn’t count as an installation, so sparky regs don’t really apply, but don’t be daft, have an RCD, nice thick cable rated for full load of the heater and pump, and don’t run it off the same circuit where you might have washer, dryer, dishwasher and kettle all going at once.

Wait, I missed the sex pond thread? Been looking at buying one to end this glorious weather. Where there any conclusions? Lay Z Spa or Intec?

Well, I spent literally weeks looking for somewhere that had stock. The closest I came was the Canadian spa company who let you order online and await delivery in June or July. For info the code Maple10 gave 10% off when I tried 😃

Oh and on electrics, I’ve always understood it that if you’re plugging and unplugging at the house end, it doesn’t count as an installation,

I’m guessing that’s not really any different to using an all weather extension lead? If my house has RCD’s then would an additional one on the plug interfere with it?

I’m guessing that’s not really any different to using an all weather extension lead?

In terms of regs.

I don’t like extension leads as they are just lying on the ground (or hung on a fence) so easy to get damaged when mowing lawns, pruning etc. 20mm plastic conduit is about 50p a meter at Screwfix, so just use that and fix it to a fence with some nice bright warning stickers on it.

Just looks so much neater eg

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qgUd3o]Outside lights[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

NB Before I stuck ‘Danger 230v’ stickers all over the conduit…

If my house has RCD’s then would an additional one on the plug interfere with it?

No, but it’s unnecessary if you’re consumer unit has it built in (which all modern ones do).

We did similar – I wanted power at the bottom of the garden for a decked area (previously shown on here 😉 ) and wanted to be able to switch the lights on and off from inside the house, so I dug a trench 12” deep and ran armoured cable from outside the house near an existing light switch to the decking then just got an electrician in to wire it up and test it.

I am not sure if it is 100% legal as there is a standard 3-pin double socket (waterproof obviously) at the decking so it *looks like a 13a circuit but it’s only a 5a circuit. Obviously I know not to plug in a power tool or whatever into it but someone else could (we have labelled it though).

My current (soon to be replaced) shed has a double socket in it fed from the garage through trucking cable. The control is a light switch rather than a plug socket. Its wired into the consumer unit as ‘downstairs lighting’ it usually powers a lamp in the shed and the occasional use of power tools. I am replacing the socket when the new shed arrives as I will be relocating it in a more practical place and its plastic and I think a metal one will be better inside. I’m also renewing all the external trunking as its a bit weathered, we’ve been here 15 years and it was in a good while before that.

I am not sure if it is 100% legal as there is a standard 3-pin double socket (waterproof obviously) at the decking so it *looks like a 13a circuit but it’s only a 5a circuit. Obviously I know not to plug in a power tool or whatever into it but someone else could (we have labelled it though).

No problem with restricting current to a lower rating. The problem is when it’s the way round eg I found double sockets wired as spurs in my house when I was investigating the wiring. Two 13A loads would technically over load the cable. Fair to say all the electricians who has worked on the house previously were conmen!

Hello again

Does anyone know if a version of this exists with a very long cable? I can’t seem to find anything like it.. the inbuilt RCD seems kind a good idea?!

Outdoor socket thing

I imagine you’ll be plugging it into a socket that is already rcd protected so another rcd adds nothing. If the socket isn’t protected then it really should be if you are using it for gardening tools.

If that extension really is what you want then buy a socket, buy some decent cable (maybe arctic cable) and wire it up. Easy job and likely to be better than a ready made

Just buy an extension lead of suitable length and an RCD plug and replace the plug on the lead with the RCD one?

eg https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/1498981-13a-30ma-plug-in-rcd-socket-black

The house has RCBO’s I think.

I thought it might just be easier to have an RCD on the conservatory socket so if it trips I don’t have to rummage to find the consumer unit. However – would the RCD trip first or both together?

It seems cable is £10, RCD maybe £20 and then the waterproof socket on top so perhaps not a whole lot cheaper to DIY?

so, the saga continues (related to the decking saga).

So, if I wanted say 25M of cable from my conservatory to a weatherproof double 13A socket – what diameter cable should I go for? The inflatable filth pond draws a fair bit of current I guess and I’m assuming the length of cable has a bearing?

All depends how it is connected at the house end. You can just use normal 13A cable if its plugged in at the house end and therefore fused at 13A – basically the same as using a 13A extension lead.

In my experience outdoor waterproof sockets often aren’t that waterproof.