A question for the sparkys

Flink_Poyd

I'm thinking of changing a few of the socket gangs in the house for ones with USBs on, 2 kids, lots of tablets/phones that cause argument over who charges what and where. 
 I took a look at the the one in the lounge which isn't chopped into the wall and it has a single earth. Looking at the ones in Screwfix shows they all have a double earth. 
 Is there a way these can be wired in from a single earth or am I doomed to the constant bickering of 2 children?

Danny1969

It's probably a spur, so only one live \ Nu \ earth as not on a ring .... you can still put a USB faceplate on it 

paul_c2

I don't recognise the terms "single earth" or "double earth" but the above deduction - that the socket is on a spur - seems a reasonable guess. As above, yes the socket can be replaced with a USB one. Bear in mind the new socket might be slightly deeper. Also if the old ones are double-pole switched, there may be a good reason for this so the replacements should also be double-pole switched.

Flink_Poyd

So just ignore the other earth? It must be in the socket for some reason. 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-13a-2g-sp-switched-socket-3-1a-2g-usb-charger-brushed-stainless-steel/4962p

Flink_Poyd

paul_c2 said:

I don't recognise the terms "single earth" or "double earth" but the above deduction - that the socket is on a spur - seems a reasonable guess. As above, yes the socket can be replaced with a USB one. Bear in mind the new socket might be slightly deeper. Also if the old ones are double-pole switched, there may be a good reason for this so the replacements should also be double-pole switched.

Sorry it says twin earth and single pole switched. Still not sure of how I'd wire it to be honest

paul_c2

There's 2 earth terminals (which connect to the same conductor) to make it easier to install. If the back box is also metal (the type which is recessed into eg brickwork are normally metal) it also needs to be earthed with a short run of wire. Given that there's variations on wiring a socket:

socket in a radial - 2 sets of wires
socket at the end of a spur - 1 set of wires
socket in a radial, which has a spur taken off at that point - 3 sets of wires

You can see that there's the possibility of up to 4 earth wires needing to be connected. Hence there's 2 connection points.

grungebob

Im not a sparky, this is only my uneducated view but I did something similar to what your trying to do.

Im my bedroom I had a single socket with single earth and replaced for double socket with double USB ports.  I had some twin and earth cable left from another DIY job, I cut out a strip of the earth used some earth shielding tube and slipped it over the strip of earth and bridged the two earth  terminals in the new socket back to the earth lead of the incoming supply so that if either socket or usb needed to discharge to earth they could.

Again im not saying this is the correct way to do it and im not suggesting you do the same im merely telling you what i did in this situation.

spark240

Ok, so Im reading you have a socket with 1 x twin & earth cable, probably red, black and an earth if its a bit old ?

You can fit the new USB socket to this, Red/ Live, Black / Neutral and earth in either of the socket earth terminals ( they are linked internally) 

Your other sockets have 2 x twin and earth cables?...same connections, you can split the 2 earths onto separate terminals if you want or stick them both in the same one. 

Beware - some cheaper usb sockets are very deep and you will struggle to get it back, others have a spacer ring with them to give you a bit more depth. 

FX_Munkee

You just need to use one of the Earth connections, the'yre on the same bus so it will make no differnece. Also looking at the image you posted the Earth bus is exposed to the mounting screws so no need to run a separate earth cable to the patress box if it's a metal one.

boogieman

Make sure you buy decent quality sockets. The cheap ones with USB ports can be dangerous. There was a thing on the tv a while back saying the cheap ones have little or no shielding between the mains and the USB so there's the potential to get full mains voltage at the USB port. Also the cheap ones are unregulated so the voltage can spike and fry your phone/tablet. 

paul_c2

The Screwfix ones are fine (a link was posted earlier), I installed 1x similar socket in my kitchen when I refurbished it. I was keeping costs down (and I don't have kids) so I only bought (and only needed) one, but its quite handy so long as the sockets themselves are handy too.

boogieman

LAP (Screwfix own brand) stuff is ok but it's definitely made down to a price. I have used it in the past but MK is much better. 

bloodandtears

I also read they could set fire..

I bought this.. http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/optimum-4-usb-mains-charger-b-m-store-4-99-1693491

Flink_Poyd

bloodandtears said:

I also read they could set fire..

I bought this.. http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/optimum-4-usb-mains-charger-b-m-store-4-99-1693491

Would be nice to have it a bit tidier by having the socket but I could just end up with one of these. 

http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/5589612.htm

FX_Munkee

The one you linked to is ASTA approved which is pretty much the same as BEAB (same company I believe) so I don't think it's in the same league as the uber cheap Chinese ones that seem to cause fires.