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difference in cables

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:47 am
by rambo77
hi could somebody advise me on the different cables ie what the differents between

3 core and normal twin and earth
grey sheathed cable and white sheathed

im putting sockets into my conservatory which im using 2.5 grey twin and earth

and 1.5 grey for my wall lights

but the different types of cables confuse me
can anyone put me straight

Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:26 pm
by sparx
Hi, don't know where to start with this post as if you are so unsure of cable types you probably shouldn't be doing it yourself!!!!!!
For infomation only; older wiring used grey or white sheath at random, new cables are grey for ordinary circuits and white is low smoke & fume cable used for safety circuits (at higher cost).
All power cables 2.5mm2 upwards for domestic wiring will be twin & Earths,
lighting 1.0/1.5 mm2 with earths may be twin or 3 core/E.
Twin Brown/Blue for looping from mains to each light, twin Brown/Brown should be used between light & switch (cheap-skates use Brown/Blue and sleeve blue with brown sleeving!).
3 Core/E goes between 2 way switches & new colours are Brn/Blk/Grey+E the blk/grey should be over sleeved brn also as all are live @ some point.
Sometimes 3Core/E used to bring Live to double sw. & grey/ blk used as sw. lives to 2 fittings but that's getting a bit far in I think for now,
see forum 'wiring lights' in full colour, also plenty DIY books on sale (unfortunately!), regards SPARX