Club 80-90 Forums

as title i have found some twin core wire on ebay in a 30m roll it says it is 1mm2 and 8.75 amps would this be suitable to wire my led striplights in or is it easier to use a single wire and earth close to the lights i also need to power my fridge and some 12v outlets should i get 2mm2 stuff for that?

Yes 1mm2 is heavy enough for the LED's but earth locally (close to the lamp or mounting of the lamp) the switch to control the lights is often just a switch to ground (earth) to complete the circuit. Fusing is a must, close to the positive feed (5amp should be fine).
Yes 2mm2 (17.5amp) is fine for your fridge feed and 12volt socket outlets....again fuse close to the positive feed (10 amps for your fridge, 15 amps for your 12v outlets)

Martin

How do you get a good earth if your screwing your lamp on to carpeted panels or would you take it back to the fusebox

If you have got twin core, it's fine to take it back to the fuse box and earth it there. If single core, take an earth wire away from the lamp and just earth it to any bodywork nearby. Twin core to earth by fusebox is what I would do if I already had suitable twin core in hand. jfyi = whilst as Martin says, that wire is fine, it is actually pretty overkill for LED's. It is unlikely that any strip of LED's will pull much more than a couple of amps. The current consumption spec should be listed somewhere for what the LED's you bought (or you can work it out, allow about .12 amp per LED).

thank you for all the replies i have been looking at various sites to find info as im starting from scratch with this install i have been trying to find photos of installs

Whilst I agree with John about the rating, the physical thickness makes anything smaller rather fragile and difficult to make 'reliable' terminal ends.
Personally I wouldn't take earths all the way back to the main earth crowns, just earth as close as you can to each of the lamps. As far as the feed goes, I would use just one and 'loop' it to all your lights as the 'total' amp draw will only be 3 - 4 amps.

So this means just the one (fused feed) wire from the fuse box area going to the first of your lights and then looping to the others, each lamp although screwed into carpet/boarding and having a short earth to body close by.

Martin

can you use 2.5mm2 cable for all 12v sockets and leds light as ive already got some in the shed .

Of course you can....no harm in overspeccing the wiring but rate the fusing to the consumer not to the wire, so 5amp for the LED's and 15amp to the 12v outlets, although just check on the socket outlet rating and rate the fuse accordingly.

Martin

Cheers martin

so would this wire be ok for the fridge, outlets and the leds http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261126054335? ... 1423.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bowesy wrote:so would this wire be ok for the fridge, outlets and the leds http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261126054335? ... 1423.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In a word = "Yes" (though it is serious overkill for lighting, but it ain't a problem )