Electricians in the UK may be surprised by the electrical wiring techniques used in Spain. While electrical wiring is supposed to be harmonised across Europe, Spain has adopted a very different approach to wiring everything from consumer units, lighting circuits and even earthing arrangements.
Gordon Routledge dropped in to see local electrician Mark Fradley of 9 Plus Instalaciones to go under the cover.
🕐 TIME STAMPS 🕕
======================
00:00 Electrical wiring on holiday
00:24 Electrician to the rich and famous Mark Fradley
00:40 Meanwhile, in the plant room - yes, it's a landlords supply
01:00 Time switch contactors
02:00 Overvoltage & Surge protection
02:54 Under the consumer unit cover
04:50 A different way of earthing
05:50 Power distribution to apartments
07:47 Bottle fuses
09:10 Busbars
09:57 Plastic conduit installation
10:30 Junction boxes (register boxes)
11:00 Plastic cable tray
12:00 Light switch wiring
13:04 Time for lunch!
======================
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#efixx #electricalwiring #electrician
Maybe this is a theme you could pursue on a regular basis traveling around the world with an expat electrician on local around the world. Australia, Canada, South Africa, South America etc.
We’d love too
A lot to learn, apple's and oranges. Fruit but not as you know it. They tell you your credentials are international, but you will still have to challenge the qualifications at the place of Jurisdiction.
Don’t come to the US. You’ll puke.
I'd like to see you compare the differences between Canada and the US despite being relatively similar.
You mean a British immigrant
I am an electrician in the US and it is amazing how different components and installation are between our countries. Thank you for taking the time to put these videos together for us to learn from you! After watching a few of your videos I had no choice but to click subscribe...looking forward to the next!
Thanks for the great feedback. We are heading back to a few projects in Italy next week. So more learning for us all. We are also keen to visit the US at some point. Cheers Gordon
I’m an electrician from Mallorca (Spain) and for me is normal what i saw in this video, what is different or strange for me is what i see in your other videos haha i think that with my knoledgment i can’t do an installation in england, i would need some lessons. Love your videos ❤️ i learn different techniques for my proffession
Probably get arrested if you did that type of wiring in the UK joking but it would never pass as any fault in the earth at the beginning could make every single metal casing live from one live to earth fault somewhere wherever true earth is in the system, hay at least they are using ac only rated RCDs What I find surprising is these RCBOs are very standard but are not used world wide (usa makes there own stuff up with new names so they can be ignored) That bus layout for 3 phase must have gotten expensive and dangerous sometimes when they got bridged
Thanks - UK wiring methods are very different. I like some of the approaches used in Spain.
@@leexgx Ill never understand why America and the UK decided to go with metal enclosures for everything, seems like it just greatly complicates things
@@liquidsnake6879 I am french and I am curious now, what are you thinking of about "metal enclosures" ?
@@tom-sn4gd They don't seem to have a lot of PVC junction boxes, consumer units etc, everything seems to be made of metal, i'm guessing aluminum, you see it frequently on US or UK videos sometimes even the conduits are made of metal and there's special tools they use to bend the metal conduits, stuff like that and ofc they need to ground the enclosures themselves because they are metallic, the Americans often put a special green screw on their junction boxes just to hold the CPC and connect it to the enclosure, just seems like a lot of hassle to me when you could just make the things out of PVC.
The fun thing is that it is mounted on an industrial standard rail so you can buy unusual components that easily fit in your breaker box. That can be a simple power supply for your doorbell but also contactors, programmable mini controllers or even a ups controller/converter that is connected to a few car batteries in your basement. Everything is possible and you can also easily mix manufacturers inside the breaker box (not on a busbar because busbar height is not standardized). This system is just fun and we can buy all the standard components in any diy shop, no need to go to specialized shops for making your own breaker box from scratch.
Connecting a few car batteries to the grid isn't as simple as it sounds when it comes to codes though...
@@rkan2 yes but if it is just a ups behind 1 circuit breaker, and it's connected with same wire diameter as the rest of that circuit, it should be ok i believe. But it was a bad example anyway, it's too big for household breaker boxes and too expensive. There are several diy videos on KZhead to modify a consumer ups to work with car batteries, that is cheaper and easier and never an issue for the code ;)
Thanks to the EU all electricity materials are standardised and thus usable in all EU countries. For the installation part there are different regulations/traditions: here in Portugal, they will put all ceiling lights in all rooms on one circuit and everything else divided into cicuits per room. They also don’t like to use the attic for the cables leading to lots of horizontal cuts in the walls.
and in Portugal I've seen that the public garages have emergency lights at the top of columns and at the bottom too
A bit strange to connect all the ceiling lights on one switch!If there is a problem with it you have no light working everywhere!We do it by floor or even by room. So when there is a short cut or so,their is always light in the next room.
@@jooproos6559 Fully agree. The only reason I could come up with is that the load on the ceiling lights is relatively stable and due to the fixed installation not very prone to failures. And you have always light everywhere. But probably its just a tradition…
Do you know what kind of trip curve you use there for the breakers? Had an argument with a German a few days ago. They use B for everything.
Doesnt look very smart to me.A shortcut in one room and the whole house is dark!!🤣
Those timer relays are very common in Europe for lighting. You can wire as many momentary switches to it in parallel as you like. You can also get a toggle version of this relay so that it works without a time delay. It's actually simpler than two-way lighting normally works in the UK.
Sounds like a good idea 👍
Yes, in blocks with several apartments in it that's a common thing here in Germany. I have one installed in my house, because I was too lazy to install a four way with four switches in it. So I only need a permanent line and a switched line from the retracting switches. The light switch itself is like shown here, sitting on a DIN rail. I used a 5-core cable supply cable. Brown as permanent line, black as switched line to the light fittings, grey for the switched line from the retracting switches, and blue and green/yellow for the regular purpose of neutral and CPC. But these guys are also available in a version that doesn't require a DIN-rail, you can also have them in a format that fits in a junction box. Now even with wireless switches, in addition to the wired switches. There are also models were you can use a different voltage than the 230V for the switching process, between 8 and 230VUC (universal current, so works with both, AC or DC). That comes from East Germany, they used low voltage from the door chime transformer to operate the contactor, and that one itself switches then the 230V for the light fittings. So they usually have thin bell wires on the light switches in the staircases of big apartment blocks. Of course there's a proper galvanic isolation between the mains and the low voltage.
@@Marcel_Germann Thanks for your comment. I was going to post a question regarding the control cable for the light switches. I have seen lighting installed in the UK with low voltage control cable. I think it was an AMX system that is typically marketed as high end for millionaire mansions.
In Finland office lighting is predominantly done using pulse relays. Its almost rare to see the lighting current go through the switches. Knocking down a wall is easier, when you only have outlets and push switches. Never seen one inside a residential apartment or house here, except for apartment building halls and public spaces.
@@ridetheion5584 Yes, these switches also feature such things like switching when the sine wave passes zero. That reduces the arcing on the contacts of the switch and increases the life time. And you will never notice the delay.
A hell of a difference to the all too prevalent rats nests that I was so familiar with, when on holiday; even in the more ‘modern’ hotels! …….yes! I did have to open the box for a wee look. Didn’t you?
in rural Crete, - you find which wire is which using a neon tester... - the green can be live.... - either other cable can be worked out using a test meter.... - various colours of cable of various lengths can be found connected end to end with tape around and often buried in plaster...
This is fascinating. In many ways superior to what we have here. The incoming supply arrangements are very well thought out. Like the conduit in preference to flat twin everywhere
Where is here xx
@@chrisolsen4578 uk
Europe has way better standards compare to us.
Wow that is so different then the US. Great video! Thanks for sharing.
It's almost the same system we use in Italy, except for the busbar distribution with accessible disconnector, here all wires above the meter are property of the distribution company (that almost everywere is enel e-distribuzione, the ex state owned monopolist). The switchboard at the beginning is a little undersized for all the switches installed, no space for upgrades. The use of insulated copper busbars or cables to jumper the circuit breakers is up to the electrician, maybe how much they valued their time.
Do you know what kind of trip curve you use there for the breakers? Had an argument with a German a few days ago. They use B for everything.
Most places I have stayed you can just unclip the front of the consumer unit. I have also seen uncased DP isolation switches hanging off of overhead external wiring!
Very interesting. I worked with Spanish electrical engineers on solar projects. I see now where they are coming from. We have very different specifications for DB boards and conduit work here in South Africa. We may be a 3rd world country, but our local SANS wiring code is one of the strictest. Yon don't bring in conduit into a DB or junction box. You have to use a male adapter. All breakers have to be top fed, unless labeled so. If fault level is 10kA or more, type tested enclosure.
I would agree that proper termination for conduit should be mandatory as well as your other issues. But then again, I live in The Netherlands and we have equally strict rules. So I don't mind we agree on these issues. Electricity should be as save as reasonably possible.
Pretty sure you will love the Switzerland instalation, wiring,… and even the apprenticeship is very different from other country and i will even say unique 😁
Sounds like another great place to visit.
I'm from Brazil, and it's very similar to our system, but here we don't use cables to jumper the circuit breakers, but 1, 2 or 3-way insulated copper busbars.
Here in Spain depends on the electrician. In my house the circuit breakers have a proper jumper not cables
In Spain either can be used. In modern installations they tend to use the bars because it's faster to install, but more expensive.
I personally use busbar here in Madrid,because it is faster to install.
I am an American living in Brazil. I bought my house >20 years ago, it had been lived in by Brazilians for 20 years previously. I have had 4 electricians do intensive work. In these 20 years I have learned some lessons here. 1. Nobody is certified. 2. Their first diagnosis of any problem is "rewire the entire house". 3. You have to monitor everything they do closely as in looking over their shoulder. 4. They arrive without the proper test equipment. 5. Your knowledge needs to be greater or equal to theirs. 6. Expect shoddy workmanship and be prepared to insist they do their work a certain way with you showing them, if required. 7. You cannot leave them alone in your house. 8. The Brazilian products they use are often sub-par quality. 9. Some electrical products are sold without any state or professional accreditation. 10. The electrician may show up in worn shorts, a sloppy t-shirt, and possibly flip-flops....but they are rubber. Last week I hired a tile mason to extend my patio 1m x 2m using all the remaining matching tiles I have. This man is ~60 and has been doing brick and tile work for ~40 years. He laid the extension higher than the rest of the patio so now all rainwater instead of draining like before congregates in the middle of the patio. We get rain here nearly every day. He has dramatically lowered the value of my house. I could literally strangle him I am sooo angry. Yes, I am to 100% to blame...I treated him like an adult....a professional with decades of experience instead of the f**king idiot he is.
@@Mark-gg6iy Como você mora a 20 anos no Brasil, vou te responder em português. Primeiro, lamento por suas experiencias ruins com os "profissionais" brasileiros. Segundo, não entendi seu desabafo aqui, não critiquei o sistema espanhol, apenas relatei uma diferença, por aqui geralmente usamos barramentos de cobre, apenas isso. Se alguém entendeu como uma critica, peço desculpas desde já. Terceiro, existem sim profissionais certificados e muito competente por aqui, que seguem as normas ABNT (Algumas até mais rígidas do que em seu pais) e que usam produtos certificados pelo INMETRO e você, como contratante pode exigir esses certificados de qualificação técnica (Temos ótimas escolas por aqui. inclusive vencedoras do Worldskills) e que o produtos utilizados nas obras sejam certificados, o que não garante qualidade, assim como em seu pais existem marcas e produtos certificados pela UL/CSA mas, de baixa qualidade. Por ultimo novamente lamento por sua experiencia, o mercado está repleto de bons e maus profissionais e em caso de danos, como ocorreu em sua residência, procure o tribunal de pequenas causas para tentar uma resolução amigável ou até mesmo litigiosa.
Very very interesting to learn about other Countries methods and this gave us the full insight of the Good, The Bad and the Ugly
This is an embarrassment, this board was a mess... We don't do that type of work.
Lol, this really is a next level of nerdiness. And I watch nerdy stuff a lot. Love it.
Thanks 🙏
Something different.. Please send Gary out to India to see there wiring, I need a laugh
It’s on this list 😂
@@efixx
Have to say I like the clear lids on the boxes, good for identifying burning cables. Used to work on machine control panels with open copper busbars and bottle fuses many years ago didn’t like them then look even worse now😂. The bottle fuses used to arc on the busbar till the connection burnt up. Some good ideas some shocking
What a brilliant video! I’m sitting here in my holiday apartment in Puerto de la Cruz in the north of Tenerife wondering if I should pop the cover off the very new, neat-looking CU in our holiday apartment but Mrs Alex Greyhead might kill me if I trip the power… :-D
😂 Enjoy your hols
¡Me gusta! ⚡🇪🇸👍 I admit I know next to nothing about Spanish domestic and commercial wiring regulations...But one thing I *can* say is that when it comes to railway traction supply, I have very high confidence ADIF/ReNFE have got it down to a fine art! 🚄🇪🇸❤🔥
here in usa it's totally different. the panel has bus bars and all the breakers just clip in. you only need to connect the output wires which usually run down the sides on each side. there will be a main breaker at the top usually the middle where the main power comes in to the panel. ground fault breakers can be on an individual output but not the whole panel. typical panel is 100 amps up to 400 amps capacity. voltage is usually 240 v split to 2 120v circuits 180 degrees out of phase and a neutral busbar so you can have 120 and 240 v.
And it looks like it's unchanged since Edison designed it.
@@LeifNelandDk Not at all. Edison's system was DC and very short haul. If you must credit one name only, make it Westinghouse. I'd be surprised if there had ever been an Edison installation within 2000km of my domicile. NYC is not the USA. And 1876 is not 2023, Leif.
@@d.jensen5153 Exactly. Edison really liked DC for some reason. Biggest problem with DC is it's very hard to change voltages (you can now with DC/DC converters, but those didn't exist in his day). So, many of the Edison installations had multiple supply lines with different voltages for different needs. And because you couldn't step voltages up then back down, distribution was really hard due to high current and large drops. That was really the genius of Tesla inventing AC and Westinghouse popularizing it. The last DC distribution died, I heard, in 2007 (was actually AC distribution but the power company provided DC for some very old installations that had never needed to upgrade)!. We do have HVDC for some large transmission lines, but you'll never see that for local distribution. Don't know what Europe's electrical system historically looked like, but the US system really does actually seem pretty well designed. The design has been mostly the same for probably the last 50 years or so (main supply current has gone up and breakers have replaced fuses). Basic design has been a thing longer than that. Split phase may seem confusing, but it's really great because with a simple arrangement you can have 220V for large appliances and somewhat safer 110V for normal outlets. We usually have more circuits in our panels because of the 110V, but that isn't a bad thing - if a breaker trips, most of the power stays on in your house. It's also nice because, in many houses, a circuit just serves one or two rooms, so that's nice and neat. Downside is you can't run a welder in your bedroom, like the brits can. We still actually do have three phase power widely available though, just not commonly in people's houses (very few people need it in their house). It's common in businesses and industrial settings. It's actually readily available near most people's house - the step down transformers that feeds most houses commonly run on two or three of the legs of the three phase.
Damn 100-400amps. My apartment is 40 amp max. Houses could go to 100amps, but anything above that is a mansion or commercial building.
In Israel the electrics are very simmilar to the mainland European regs. Only we use single pole MCB's, not double pole, and RCB's are not used on every circuit, only one for the whole apartment / flat, unless it's a big house. We have just recently required type A for new builds.
Same here in the Netherlands, there's no RCB for each circuit, IIRC code stipulates that up to 5 16A circuits can be served by one RCB.
@@kaasmeester5903 Sounds about right. Most flats / single familiy houses in Israel, older and new builds are 32 to 50 something Amp supply from the electrial utility supplier, 230V nominal single phase. One RCB / RCCB per familiy dwelling seems suffice to me.
I think Israeli electrics are fairly similar to German except for the sockets. Germany now insists on at least two RCDs to prevent the entire house/flat from being plunged into darkness. Germany was also an extremely early adopter of type A back in the early 1990s. Do you know what type of supply(ies) Isreal uses? TN or TT?
@@Ragnar8504 In Israel we typically have a TN-C-S for recent installations (at least in the last 30 years). The Zero "ballance" is generated at the secondary (400V) winding of the last step down traffo (primary 22K/33K to secondary 400) . This acts as the Neutral return path, and also as the zero point for the three phases, ie 230V Ph-N. For industrial installations, at the main building supply & distribution panel, this C-common is split into the dedicated Neutral buss and dedicated Ground buss. The Ground buss is then bonded to the buildings structural metal work (concrete reebar, water/gas lines, metalic fitting etc..) which in turn is bonded to the ground rods system for that building. This Earth bonding path reduces possible voltage potential between conductive surfaces (metalic parts of a building, water/gas pipes, working surfaces like industrial kitchens, parts of machinery) , and the immidiate earth mass. Thus reducing risk of electrocution.
@@trespire Were older installations TT or TN-C? And on an unrelated note, do you know anything about the history of the mains sockets you use? Apparently the old-style design used in Israel is identical to HNA, a 1930s design from Germany. I wonder how that became Israel's official standard!
Wow. I thought that wiring is Spain would be similar to that here in France... not so! Next time you guys are anywhere near Finistère let me know, I'll show you how we do it here. And believe it or not, three phase is very common in domestic homes here!
Thanks - we’ll make a note for when we can find an excuse to visit France! 👍
2nd that. Pop over to Brittany. France has gone from some scary wiring in the 1960s to very sensible stuff, today.
@@decibel_tastic2869 Totally agree, I live in france with an electrical wiring from the 70's, you can plug an earthed equipment in a socket without earth without modifying anything.
@@tom-sn4gd I assume there's method to that madness though. The original idea behind non-earthed electrical installation was called "isolated room". Basically if you're sufficiently isolated from earth potential you could touch a live conductor without getting a shock because no current can flow through your body. Isolated rooms had requirements such as non-conductive floors (timber or lino), no extraneous conductive parts (metal water and gas pipes, central heating pipes and radiators, etc.). In such a room, using a class-0 appliance (only basic insulation over live parts) without risk. A class-1 (earthed) appliance in such a room simply turns into class-0, no harm done. Conversely, using a class-0 device in a room with earth potential can be quite dangerous in the event of a fault. That's why Schuko and French plugs fit non-earthed sockets perfectly fine but the old round-faced class-0 plugs don't fit CEE 7/3 or 7/5 sockets. With stoves/fires being replaced with central heating throughout Europe post-WWII, properly isolated rooms became increasingly rare and more and more countries required earthing of domestic installations. Czechoslovakia was first in the mid-1930s, Germany and Austria followed in 1958 and the Scandinavians dragged their feet well into the 1990s. Czechoslovakia as well as parts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland created their own new problems in the process, favouring TN-C installations (two- or four-wire with a PEN conductor throughout the entire fixed installation, very dangerous in the case of a poor connection, a broken PEN causes all class-1 appliances that are turned on to become live), which were only banned in the 1970s when the minimum size for PEN conductors was increased to 10 mm2 copper or 16 mm2 aluminium from the original 1.5 copper/2.5 aluminium.
three phase is common mostly in the country side and in places where people needs more kVA. Maximum for single phase is 12kVA and 36kVA for three phase supply.
I only work on railway/stations and seeing these corner cuts are wild lol we get butchered for missing spring washers
Hahaa. As it should be.
So I’m watching this as a Maltese living in Spain. Malta’s electrics are virtually identical to the UK, and when I first started learning about the electrics in Spain it made so much more sense (the caja de registro idea is so simple yet it blew my mind as to why we don’t do that). Yes you do come across “shortcuts” by electricians in Spain a lot more than you do in the UK, but in terms of the actual by-the-book design, the Spanish/European system is WAY better than the UK one.
Agree - lots of good practices
Malta is an awesome nation, really nice beaches and landscapes!
@@EEST-Militia and horrible electrics....lazy sparkys + butchered UK standards are a scary combination.
I like many features of the wiring on this apartment building. There are only a few things preventing me from giving it my seal of approval, but that's something I almost never give.
Pastie white southern Ontario guy here - I’ve done years of residential electrical and millwright electrical as well. I find it interesting how the European electrical very much reminds of me industrial component electrical, like PLC.
Oh, mate, you'd have kittens if you saw what the wiring was like in my previous flat in Sant Pere de Ribes. Nothing was grounded, most of it was still fabric-wrapped cables, and there was a wonderful water feature in the front bedroom that leaked directly down into the switch box when it rained. Fantastic safety rating. The church next door got struck by lightning once, and I got shocked through the case of my MacBook (those things are dangerous, I tell you).
Except the use of busbars, it is very similar with installations I've encountered in Belgium!
Interesting. Definitely looks more like industrial wiring than domestic. Lovely workmanship. I wonder how wiring in detached houses looks like.
Is that surge protector blown? It's usually green for protected and red for unprotected.
No stupid metal casings anywhere.
that's how I do it here in Australia, we , by law must have RCD's, sparkies here with a van and a fluke charge 120 hour, on wages they'd get 50 to 70, however, industrial electricians earn 2-300000 at the mines, most savvy men here do there own as we cannot afford a sparky
@efixx Hi! I'm a noob and I do not understand how there is just 1 single phase coming into the first panel, then 3-phase into the other panels. How 1-phase got converted into 3-phase imbetween? Thanks!
Here in the US we would never put PVC (plastic pipe) together without gluing it. We also don't use as many two pole breakers unless the circuit requires 220 or 480 volts or we have two single pole circuits sharing the same neutral. I also found it odd that you would run flexible conduit into a box with no connector or insulating bushing. I do like the clear covers on the power distribution centers though.
I think the PVC pipes used in US are not the same than in Spain. Here we use PVC push-in sleeves that if u use it properly u don´t need to glue it. The L sleeve that u can see in the video is probably due to poor execution.
Us is not up-to-date
The US has clearly polarised power sockets. Due to the Schuko plug, and it's yse in much of Europe, polarisation on single phase really isn't something that's actually done in many, if not most countries as there's little point. It does lead to such things as there's a 50:50 chance the outside screw on an Edison table lamp is live (hot in US parlance - and at 230v), and it also means that there's a 50:50 chance that an appliance with a single pole switch will remain energised even when turned off. Interestingly, the reason why Schuko is not polarised is probably because German supplies started out as 110 + 110 V with a central reference to ground/earth (the latter was always there). So very much like a US 240V circuit, but without the option for a ground referenced neutral. However, it seems that Germany later migrated to using three phase distribution and the individual power circuits became single phase 220V + neutral, but without any polarisation. This history seems somewhat obscure, and I had to do some digging around (Schuko os quite an old system Hence there is no history of polarisation and the proliferation of dual pole switches and breakers. It's unclear to me if the Germans (and other Europeans) extend this to things like light switches, as whilst the power outlets don't allow for polarisation, the cable used is colour coded for live + neutral + ground/earth so it's certainly possible. I certainly wouldn't want a 50:50 chance a ceiling light fitting had a "hot" component when changing a bulb, even if the wall switch is turned off.
Wires into the walls do have polarization. Blue is neutral, brown/black is live, so the light switch should be in the live, and the bulb screw in the blue. Nondeterministic polarization starts at plugs, so yes, in a tabletop lamp pluged to the wall you can have a live screw. Unplug it.
@@TheEulerID switches receptacles etc in USA have markings as to polarity (hot/neutral) so properly wired you wont have an issue with having energized wiring where you dont expect it such as a switched off outlet.
Haha yes! Always do that no matter what country we go! Always look out for a switchboard at a museum 😂
What an informative video, great to see. Question....Did Gordon get there with all of his suitcases? He must've had some kind of mishap on the way?
For once everything went smoothly Dean 😂
I'm always amazed how different countries do things. I'm in the Philippines at the moment and it's HORRIFIC from a UK point of view but it works! Which is all the locals care about. Similar to Spain they seem to wire back to local junction boxes and everything is on 1 circuit... Lights, sockets, air con everything. I'm in a domestic house but from what I've been told by the sparky doing our house it's similar in an industrial unit but with some more local isolation.
Actually by Philippine standards, you should have at least 3 separate circuits in your home: 15A for lights, using 1.6mm AWG14 wires; 20A for outlets using 2.0mm AWG12 wires and 30A for aircons using 2.6mm AWG10 wires. For a new home the electrical engineer will usually use more than one circuit for each category, depending on the number of rooms. This will be shown on your blueprints. The mains connection will be at least 60A. All is based on the Philippine Electrical Code which is based on the US NEC 2017. Earth wires are often neglected, but are theoretically required for all outlets. In practice at least aircons and major appliances will have an outlet with an earth connection. As you say it generally works, but all houses we rented have had substandard electrical installations with glaring faults that could have caused fires.
@@ChristianWagner888 we're in the provenances and only have a 30a supply with a double pole throw switch. 2 fuses and that's it. I don't mind doing things out here and "trying" to bring the circuits up to a "better standard" but if I'm not here and the family calls out a local sparky he needs to know what's been done. In the past I've left diagrams only to find he's rewired it all when I'm not around. 🤣🤣
@@anotherledfreak8649 well, we do have a better standard here in Davao City already. One way to improve safety a bit would be to add a 30mA RCD in front of your main outlet circuit(s) together with a 20A circuit breaker. This will prevent people getting electrocuted. For fire safety, it would be preferable though to replace your 30A double pole throw switch with a modern panel board using MCB circuit breakers with at least 3 circuits. Chint is quite inexpensive and has sufficient quality.
@@ChristianWagner888 it's a work in progress 😊. I've already spoken to our guy here and what we need to have in place. Here on Roxas (outskirts) it's just another issue to overcome. Lol Trying to implement UK electrical ideas is hard work especially when I'm not here to oversea the work and argue with the local sparky. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Not everything has ended in a circuit in Spain for many years, it is rare to find something like this in Spain unless the house is very old and has not been inhabited for years, the protection box corresponds to a garage, the houses must have 5 circuits at least, in some things you are right, but what I see in videos from the UK and the USA is for reasons related to wooden houses, or that you use materials with "modernized" designs from the past, in the USA in videos I see that they use electrical wiring a single copper wire per pole, instead of multi-wire cabling, which was prohibited or stopped being used years ago in other countries and here, I suppose that replacing it with another cable at this point would be to change not only the cable, it would be How to change the direction of driving on UK roads, here all the wiring and conduits are halogen-free and do not spread flames, there is an EU standardization in almost everything, another example: I saw a documentary about an aquatic amusement park in the Canary Islands from English owners, who used a piping system under an archaic UK pool, complicated to install that leaked at the slightest, and they were proud, the reason why this system is surely only used in the UK is not because it is a good system, it is because it is the one you have been using for decades, to think that all the advances/brands in electricity and plumbing etc that arrive in Spain are from France and especially Germany, not many arrive from the UK it seems to me, that is for a reason And it is true that here in Spain we could work better, that often depends on what they are willing to pay. I'm sorry, maybe it's not understood by the translation.
When taking out the bottle fuses (8:10) is there anything protecting the bus bars? If not, one slip of the hand could result in the electrician touching a live bus bar, and that doesn’t sound safe.
There is a clear plastic screen if you look carefully - but only in newer versions.,
The average low voltage electricians gloves are rated for 600 volts, so not a big issue.
Inspection boxes shall be at no more than 15m distance "generally". By that I mean the Low Voltage Regulation specifies if the installation is indoors, outdoors, in garages, places with risk of explosion or with posible presence of fumes, etc. There are a lot of different cases. The tubing we use is normally PVC as it's not as time consuming to work with as steel, any metal tubing, boxes or trays need to be earthed, if their not that's a no-go and the installation won't pass inspection. All the wiring has to be flexible, no rigid wires are allowed in new installations since 2003. Every single circuit has to have its own earthing coming from the main earthing point... I lived in Scotland for 3 years and got to see different installations there from domestic to industrial and I won't say one style is better or worse than other, regulations are in place everywhere and they make sense. It's pretty cool to see different approaches for the matter.
Same same in Russia. We use IEK Armat series of breakers, RCDs, etc.
Come to Australia, they solder the cpc's for the lighting circuits! (And neutrals in some cases)
I don’t know why you don’t just use “Wago” so much quicker and safer
@@perryoffler4802 i do myself and I agree with you!
@@nathanblyth6739 then you must be a good electrician!
@@perryoffler4802 touche’
Superinmunizado is the word you were missing in the CC. Literal meaning "super-immunized" probably against voltage surges
nope thats the ac protector that go first connected to the main circuit and the cables from the provider Super inmunized differentials are used for this: (current parasites¿?¿?¿) está diseñado para evitar que salte por parásitos en la corriente -producidos por equipos informáticos, electrónicos o lámparas LED-.
Interesting, and though I understand some of it, some is just too technical for me. It's a much more elaborate system than is found in home construction in the US.
Maybe you should ask about regs and how them come applied ..... formula's and appliences...i really think continental regs are so bad or not followed by sparks
As a Swede, now I'm curious how it looks in the UK because to me most of this looks familiar.
Big "EAC" mark, I like it. 😃
Correct me if I am wrong but I get the impression from American KZhead vids that the USA always has radial power point circuits. Some have said there is a movement to adopt this system in the UK . Are we following their example ?
While some electricians in the UK prefer radial circuits. The UK ring final circuit isn’t going anywhere - we had this confirmed by the IET in a recent live stream 👉kzhead.info/sun/apSJc9Buj4ugp2w/bejne.html
Ring final circuits are only used in countries influenced by UK wiring practices and I can't see any new countries adopting them. I do see an increasing number of UK electricians prefer radial circuits over ring final circuits though. Rings had an advantage over dedicated 15-amp radials for each BS 546 15-amp socket as required by the regs back in the late 1940s but these days the advantages are marginal at best. Two 20-amp radials use virtually the same length of 2.5 T&E but provide more power than a 32-amp RFC. There's no risk of overloading an unevenly loaded or broken ring and testing is easier and faster (no end-to end and figure-8 tests necessary).
Yes, the US uses radial wiring. It does simplify circuit isolation and fault finding. However some of the equipment I have seen in videos from other parts of the world impresses me in how well they work. The workmanship of some installs in these on the other hand would not pass inspections here.
@@Ragnar8504 I would still want a 32A radial in my kitchen, and that's perfectly possible with 4 mm^2 cabling, albeit that only some sockets will allow 3 x 4 mm^2 cables for spurs.
Thank you Google algorhytms for offering me this video! Didn't understand any of it though....
Gordon have some Arepa. A typical Tenerife dish. I am sure Mark will know where to get some. They seem to be lacking a certain amount of BS7671 or whatever the European harminised standard is that they tell us to conform to in the UK.
Sounds like I need a return visit.
@@efixx absolutely
Why Brits always think their ways are the right ones, I worked in UK for 40 as elect engineer (both industrial and domestic) and you should criticise your own before talking about others, remember canaries are island almost 2300km from main land
We’ve aired our own dirty washing on many occasions. 👉kzhead.info/sun/i9yId5mdqJ-Be6M/bejne.html 👉kzhead.info/sun/ac2Jftt5pKBrpKc/bejne.html
Guys, what are rcbo's called in Spain?
Love to see you look at Australian installations.
Just send us those tickets 🎫
Would be very interesting to hear how someone from uk could possibly work in Spain.are the qualifications from UK valid over there or you need to take any courses?
You need to take an extensive retraining course
You should try The Gambia for a holiday, and check out the wiring at the same time, All UK sockets, lights etc.
On it 👍
The Gambia was part of the Commonwealth, so some British electrics.
Right at the end, you mentioned the trio to the wholesalers, but I don't see it. The one that's there is for the T-shirt.
still need some b-roll from you Mark - register box etc.
@@efixx of course, I'll get on to that
I always wonder about foreign electrics.....but the last thing on my mind on holiday, is work. I'd be a dead man if the wife caught with a screwdriver ,😂😂😂
Totally agree… hence it’s a Gordon video 👍🏻
looks very similar to newer installations in India (yes we do have an earth bar)
Different from how! You silly Guiri !
Single phase circuits should be protected by single pole mcb,s on the live side. If you switch a double pole mcb back on with the short fault still on the circuit get ready for a big bang and flash and watch your fingers while your holding the metal lid open !😮
Quite similar to Italy actually
Trip to the States when? Or maybe a reaction video to an Electrician U video?
Good idea 👍
Mira el British que morenazo tiene 😉 claro, vive en Tenerife 🤣🤣. Nice video men.
Is it double poled because every 230V device gets two phases instead of a single phase and neutral? As far as I know Norway has such a system, where each phase has 135ish V from the center tap but no neutral is wired in, and 230V devices get two phases with 120 degree diffenrce for the right voltage.
If I remember correctly Norway and the US both use a split phase system. 240 volts is a single phase. The secondary side of the transformer is tapped in the center to provide a neutral, thus providing 2 120 volt hots and a neutral. If you install a double pole breaker in your box you will still get 240 volts with no neutral.
@@willgallatin2802 Interesting, must research more. Essentially it would work the same from the point of view of a ca. 230V device. Then the US split phase would have the center tap wired to a neutral rail, and would have a 120V output available, which I don't think is done in very many places in the Europe by default. I have understood Norway would have 135V from the center point to each of 3 legs but the center is only wired to the earth rail if even there. This had something to do with keeping one broken wire from børking the whole branch in the mountainous terrain where repairs can be challenging. Then at the house feed there would be 230V from leg to leg, essentially each socket gets one side of "delta" wring, and the house earthing would more or less just keep the chassis of each device at the same potential. This is different form Sweden and Finland for example, where the majority of buildings get three 230V legs with the center point fed in as neutral in a "wye" fashion. There would be ca. 400V leg to leg (delta) but that configuration would be more often used in industrial than in domestic settings.
@@jussikuusela7345 In the US it's also common for larger buildings to have 120V/208V "wye" service. 277V/480V wye and 240V delta is also common for very large buildings and industrial facilities. Another type that is common in some places but isn't used much in new installations is 120V/240V "high leg" delta where two legs are 120v between line and neutral but any two legs are 240V line to line.
It's 230V between phase and neutral except in a few places where old 127/220V transformers weren't replaced and they supply two phases. In the case of the video I think it's all double pole because it's a simple panel made using cheap CHINT mechanisms and it's a bit easier to wire everything the same way downstream the RCB, also this way you can have the end of each circuit at the same point and totally independent of other circuits. For some circuits/loads it is mandatory by law to use double pole switches, for example for water heaters and washing machines.
@@ruben_balea I thought it might be something like that.
I'm a German Electrician and was shocked, when arrived in Ireland, about the inefficient and expensive British style electro installation. 🤨
I think that British electricians might be shocked by EU limited safety in the installations - in particular that lack of polarised sockets
@@alanpatterson2384 Huh, you are not an educated electrician, are you? I never heard somebody died on the continent when putting the plug 180° turned into the socket. Their system works, and it is safe since decades. There are strict rules and laws about electrical installation, not every old monarchy sparky understand, maybe.😉
Hope you tried El Caldero after those beers down Caleta, best paella in the world!!
We’ll put it on the list for a return visit 👍
They don't have ring mains? They don't have that outside of the UK derived areas. And they're a bad idea.
In UK we are moving over to RCBOs but why are dual pole ones less common given that there is little difference in price? In Europe dual pole switching seems to be the sensible norm.
We used polarised sockets so live is live, neutral is neutral, in eu/other places that stupid round plug and socket isn't polarised (so Live might sometime neutral and neutral might be Live) so you must use a dual pole MCB It's the lack of correct earthing is so bad in many ways this could make every single metal case live because earth was lost somewhere (probably good they don't actually use metal conduit so at least only the fixtures surfaces might be live lol) The thing is the eu and uk has standards for RCBOs for quite some time now (like 10 years) just use RCBO on each individual circuit (split boards are the worst RCBO vs mcb price isn't much different anymore) and why earth is important (not just an after thought that only needs 1 or 3 earth just to make the regs happy there is earth somewhere in the system)
@@leexgx yes, I reformed our property I including the electrics a few years back and all was fine. Recently the overhead power lines (we live in the campo) were replaced and now live and neutral are swapped. We have double pole circuit breakers but now the light switches interrupt the neutral and not the live. Also in the main panel outside there is a fuse which was in the live conductor but is now in the neutral conductor. I’ll probably hot swap the live and neutral coming to the property at some point.
@@kevinmills5293 really the suppler should swap the main line around if everyone supply is reversed, if it's just your feed then reverse the legs that go into the suppler protection fuse (but do note it's usually illegal and very dangerous to mess with, be super careful with hot leg)
@@leexgx Dual pole MCBs have nothing to do with sockets being polarized or not. It would only matter if there was a chance of the L and N conductors being swapped from the supply side, not at the socket. If you install a single pole MCB on your line conductors in the board they will always disconnect L conductors, regardless of the polarity of the plug. This only matters on the appliance side, so all appliances sold in the EU have double pole switches. The reason why Spain or France use double pole MCBs is because they predominantly use TT earthing system, where the potential of N conductor isn't always 0, so it's safer to disconnect it entirely. In TN-C-S systems, used in majority of Europe, N and PE conductors are connected at the meter board or in the main DB anyway so it doesn't make sense to disconnect neutral conductors from safety's point of view. The only practical advantage of double pole MBCs in TN-C-S systems is that it's easier to troubleshoot neutral-to-earth faults if there are multiple MCBs supplied from one RCD. Another reason for double pole MCBs in some regions of Europe is that there are still some areas (mainly in Benelux countries, but not only) with old 127/230V systems, where there's no neutral conductor in domestic circuits as they're fed with L-L voltage.
@@Micha-xl5yc surely it would be easier to use an MEN system than clutter up and over complicate the DB?
I like the fused tap offs.seems like a cheap solution
I am going next time
🇮🇳 is your gig
Hahahaha....to both of you
Wonderful 👍 I'm electric man at Pakistan
How come they switch the neutral and the ground at the breakers here in the United States we put our neutrals and grounds in a main box on the same bus bar and only the live wire from each circuit on the circuit breaker according to the wire size 14 gauge goes on a 15 amp breaker 12-gauge was on a 20 amp breaker 10-gauge was on the 30 amp breaker and we use double pole breakers if it's a 240 v circuit where there is 120 v from the red to white and black to white and 240 volt red to black on a 4 conductor circuit
Not sure I fully understand your question. Neutral does not equal ground necessarily in the US. Neutral carries unbalanced load back to the tansformer between the two split phases. You have to remember that the neutral is just the "middle" of physical windings on a step down transformer and due to physics its never perfectly at half voltage between the hot wires. The ground wire ensures the neutral doesnt have a floating voltage otherwise over time electrical charges (static electricity) will buildup unequally over the transformer windings causing the "120V" to drift all over the place, which is why there is a connection between ground and neutral in the main panel. If there were more than one ground to neutral bond then you create a circulating current when there is a fault. You dont want circulating as that causes all kinds of things to become energized that shouldnt be and can cause arc burns, fires, or kill people. Our ground wire is connected to a copper earthing rod typ 8-10ft into the ground to get to a patch of lower resistance subsoil for a return path back to the transformer with causing large voltages to buildup on the ground. V=IR, higher the R, the higher V and greater chance of causing arcs. Of course there are 240V only devices where you dont need a neutral wire, just both split phases and a ground wire (red, black, and ground). The ground wire just keeps the case around electrical devices from building up an electrical charge. We choose earth voltage (ground) as our reference point so that when we stand on the ground and touch the metal box of a panel there is no voltage difference. Sometimes this can lead to dangerous situations as if there is enough distance between the transformer and house panel or subpanels along with significant soil changes, the neutral voltage may not equal ground voltage. Several ways to correct this is to form a perimeter grid of 4/0 copper wire around the property to ensure a constant low resistance throughout the ground, you then may need to add a layer of rock over the soil to act as a high resistance insulation between the low resistance subsoil and humans living above. Another possibility might be taking a coper wire and connecting the earthing rod at the house with the earthing rod at the transformer, but same thing you may need tons of rock to cover all that distance. In modern times of 2023, there actually isnt a need for 120V anymore. The US is unable to change standards because many monopolies will loose money if people could get away with purchasing less hardware, equipment, and copper wires. Doing this would get rid of double pole breakers, and change everything to 3 conductors. Hot, "new neutral", and ground making all circuits 240v between neutral and hot. But thats for a different conversation, us engineers are just waiting for a giant solar flare to force the US to join the rest of the world, but we want to keep our 60hz; 50hz is dumb.
Spell check changed a couple words when I first put the question in I fixed it now you might understand
@@DavidBerquist334 i added more information and also did some edits. Hopefully there is a nugget of information that will make sense to you.
I was in a village in the very north east of Spain. They still used melting fuses. They were big round things that you had to change every time they blew...
It is just the standard for resettable fuses. They still exist everywhere, but some places (like the US) got resettable fuses in most places before others. Just depends when the code was updated.
You should have seen the system I installed in my new house in France.
Let us known when you want a visit 😉
Fuuny its not just me routing about in Spanish world of sparks I was thinking of doing the same jacking in and going abroad 🤔
The regs are only available in Spanish and you need to take an extensive course to register as an electrician.
@@efixx And there is the minor problem of getting a work permit.
I don’t know each of your videos, but if you haven‘t yet then you have to look at a electrical installation in Germany 🇩🇪
One day you will do film about polish consumer unit. 3 fases and about 100 modules. Crazy
We’d love to 👍
3:25 it looks like an Italian Breaker Panel, we also don't use busbars
No ringmains, radial circuits only great idea.
You should not really just put the fuses in your pocket and leave. You need to do LOTO procedure according to the European standard and for Insurance to be valid if there is an accident. All in all this looks quite similar to how it is in Sweden with minor differences.
In Holland,we use the red fuse drill.
I’m Inspired !! Time to book some flights and inspect Tenerife 😊
Go 4 it
Can we visit 👍🏻
Why are those switches so enormous??We in the Netherlands have also switches for phase and zero,but they are half the wide of these switches!(also 16 amp)We have a common at the top fore earth and a main switch on the bottom because always comes the main cable out of the floor.So we dont have all those wires from one switch to the other switch.Because they are connected on the under side by sheets off metal.And that all looks a lot better than all those wires!
I'd love to see you have a look at the Thai system lol
Look at the electrical boxes in USA , Large all metal boxes with bus bars . 100 to 200 a mains 120/240 v . Typical in houses .
Wow, that was an eye opener! Being from North America, I coudn't believe a European country could be so.... Simple. It would have been interesting to see if there are more problems and failures than elswhere.
Why the hell no buzz bars? I suppose that on Gran Canaria it will be likewise. I'll be going there in a few months. I wonder what we'll find. Mayhem, probably.
This is kinda an old geezer version of ØY Electrical 😊. When will you two work together?
😂
I think it’s a france code nfc 15-100
Happy new year 2023 from #PowerLearningChannel
Happy NY to you Sir - good channel
The Way North American wiring systems are is like the difference between people from Mars and people from Earth and I would be extraordinarily lost over there. The basic knowledge of how a power distribution system works and how to wire an outlet and a service box in its principles work the practical work that would require some knowledge I would need to read up on and practice
On the other way,as i'm a electrician who worked in various european conturies,i find the american installations very simple and...with all the respect but a bit hillbilly style at the section of user protection and fire hazard. Like drilling holes thru the wood and passing the cables directly without any external protection.
@@draculakickyourass the 2023 model code in North America is even stricter than what Europe has. Ever circuit is individually GFCI (RCD) and/or AFCI protected with an even stricter trip standard. Wiring that passes through wood is supposed to be shielded with metal to prevent nails from hitting it. The flex conduit isn’t used much here, because it doesn’t meet protection code. The wires need to be in stronger conduit to be left exposed, or it need to be sealed in the wall. 240 circuits are on double pole breakers here. None of those breakers boxes (consume units) would be legal in the USA. They need to be metal here, they need to have more secure covers, they need self closing doors. Very different system.
@@rpvitiello I was not talking about the 2023 code....but about installations i saw ,already made...i don't know when ,in a village house.
Isn’t it rather the UK that does it different to the rest of the world?
Using a higher voltage compared to US has to save copper costs because your amperes are reduced. Would you agree?
Yes that’s correct ✅
I like how electricity is so cheap and abundant we have no need for timer switches. I leave my lights on all day. I also leave air conditioner on all day set to 22C every day irregardless if im home or sleeping or if its 45 deg C outside. I do wish we would retire the archaic 120V. And just use 240VAC everywhere. FYI to all Europeans here all homes in the USA have 240V, the rest of my country men are too ill educated to know that.
In comparison between the EU and BS Standard, I like the British Standard 7671 Wiring system, Some time I travel to the EU event G.I 20mm conduit omega overcoming obstacles existing conduit is bonding free by soft-conduit, @09:10 Busbar system cover is the PLASTIC bonding free again so so so Crazy >.
Different system. Standard Class2 double insulated appliances. The halogen free, self-extinguishing plastic boxes used for the meters are waterproof. Those will never corrode. There is no need to worry about earthing or bonding as the covers cannot be energised by mistake. It will not introduce different potential to the room.
Why are there not uniform electrical regulations in the EU ?
if it works then its fine
That must give you a challenge when testing… Eeerrr hmmmm what testing Lol
That panel is a mess, they should have used a "peine" which is a premade bridge between all the magnetos, so you only have wires coming out of them, half the wiring out so it's much easier to service
CHiNT, that's China Int(erruptor maybe ?). They now dominate the market, costing one third of the European makers. Even the national former monopolyst The company marked on the meters in this videos, which evidently operates in multiple countries) uses them in the meters. Only Siemens seems able to price competitively some of their products.