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TL:DR; I want to convert a double socket into a triple, I'm not an electrician, am I likely to break my house circuitry?
My home office has a double UK power socket on the wall in an inconvenient place, which means I have to run a power cable across the floor to power my PC. I'm looking at extending the socket to another location, using some flat power cables run under the carpet, doing either:
1) wiring a plug up to one end and a socket on the other (basically making it an extension cord); or
2) wiring one end into the double socket and the other end into a plug (effectively turning my double wall socket into a triple).
Either way, my PC runs off an 8-socket power strip which will be plugged into this, and the other 2 sockets will be rarely used (maybe for the vacuum cleaner or something).
Is there anything that I should be careful about if I do either of these things? Is it possible to overload it (more so than I currently could) or anything, would I need to add a fuse in, etc.? I'm competent enough at wiring things, but my knowledge on how the black magic of electricity works is limited.
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>>988462
>im a noob
>how do i kill myself
Seriously, if you have to ask, don't do it.
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>>988465
This.
You don't know the basics. If someone with basic knowledge were to do this, they wouldn't have to ask, seeing as how you do, it's a recipe for disaster.
Leave it alone and just use a shop bought extension lead.
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That's what I needed to hear. Will do the sensible thing and not touch the electrics.
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if by flat power cable you mean 6242y then no you should not run this under carpets, it is designed to go into walls and floor cavities, not be stood on.
if you want an extension lead use a flex like 2182y. if you want it to lay flat on the floor get silicone or rubber flex instead of pvc.
I wouldn't use a 3 socket thing because its stupid. there are rules about how many spurs you can take from a ring final, if the third socket is a spur then you better hope there isn't one there already.
if you aren't sure about wiring i wouldn't suggest swapping a socket as a first project, if you break a ring final you can end up drawing too much current through a broken leg and starting a fire.
if you want to make your own extension lead then go for it, just make sure the flex you choose is protected by the fuse you put in the plug. all plugs have fuses, it won't work without one and its practically (you can probably find one online from china) impossible to buy a plug that doesn't have a fuse in it. sometimes the trailing sockets have a fuse space as well which can seem queer but it can be handy when you need to protect an underrated flex in a iec60309 to bs1363
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>>988462
>flat power cables run under the carpet
yeah, don't do this. ever.
if you have to run cables across the floor, use rubber floor trunking. protects the cable, stops it being a trip hazard, and most importantly doesn't leave hidden nasties for future occupants.
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>>988480
Not him, but out of interest what are the current regs on the number of spurs from a ring final?
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