circuits off a battery?

[Doc Hudson]

how about a 12volt battery and an inverter if you want it seperate from the mains ,plus the rcd for protection.I take it you dont want to knock out thee house electrics

A hello and welcome to the club of posting members ferret, thats another interesting suggestion to this topic, Thank you.

Doc H.

 

[ferret]

ive used batteries and inverters many times to avoid using low voltage stuff in places with out mains and in micro generation projects,should solve his problem nicely

 

[Evans Electric]

Years ago you could get 12v BC B22d cap lamps , I thought you could have used proper ceiling roses etc ,wired up your 2ways etc and power from an alarm battery.

Anyway from what I can see on the web those BC lamps are no longer available.

If you are a novice I would strongly recommend that you DO NOT practice using 240 volts unless you have someone competent to help.

Deke

Oh and welcome to the Forum , they are all mad on here except me BTW.

 

[The Godfather]

helloi want to practice a few circuits on a board at home.

just want to practice a simple ring circuit with maybe 4 sockets.

mainly i want to practice wiring up lighting circuits-

with 2/3 ceiling roses, two way switching, intermediate etc etc-different combinations,

want to practice with single core and twin+earth.

i have all the bits i need.

just wondering if i can power this with a battery.

i really want to power the circuit,so-

other than going from the mains,what kind of battery can i use,if at all.

what type of battery,size,voltage etc, and wheres the best place to get them.

also,has anyone any links to online guides/vids on how to do this/set it up?

im a novice,as you may of guessed,so all advice appreciated

cheers

(Welcome to the forum)

You've had many a suggestion already, but the Don would like to know your actual level of understanding.

The Godfather

 

[sparkyork]

i would go for 230v and get it working correctly, there is no point practising if your not practising correctly i am sure the guys here will be on hand to help you out .. go for it m8

the lighting circuits will work just the same, the only difference been that its a lot safer using low voltage, i would strongly recommend NOT using 230v if your not sure of your abilities, its not something you just have a play with (as im sure you understand hence your op).

 

[steptoe]

isolation transformer or genny?!

a genny is TOTALLY different to mains electricity.

generally designed for IT earthing so of absolutely no use whatsoever for testing in this scenario.

 

[Andy™]

a genny is TOTALLY different to mains electricity.generally designed for IT earthing so of absolutely no use whatsoever for testing in this scenario.

would work quite well if you linked neutral to earth to give a TNS supply

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

you can get resistors you can add to the ring main to substitute longer cables.

As Andy says you can put resistors in series with your cables, but obviously if you were trying to simulate realistic cable lengths the actual resistor values would need to be appropriate...

If you just stuck a 1ohm resistor in each each leg of the circuit.

that would be equivalent to:-

55m of 1.0mm

82m of 1.5mm

135m of 2.5mm

216m of 4.0mm

324m of 6.0mm

546m of 10.0mm

maybe a bit on the high side for a realistic simulation.

more practical figures would be say considering a 10m length of cable

10m of 1.0mm is 0.18ohm

10m of 1.5mm is 0.12ohm

10m of 2.5mm is 0.07ohm

10m of 4.0mm is 0.05ohm

10m of 6.0mm is 0.03ohm

10m of 10.0mm is 0.01ohm

If you are wanting to uses resistors to get these values you may need to parallel a few together to drop the values down.

 

[Andy™]

purely for testing purposes, you could probably use 0.5W carbon resistors (much cheaper). wouldnt last too long if you plugged a 3KW heater into the circuit though

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

helloi want to practice a few circuits on a board at home.

just want to practice a simple ring circuit with maybe 4 sockets.

mainly i want to practice wiring up lighting circuits-

with 2/3 ceiling roses, two way switching, intermediate etc etc-different combinations,

want to practice with single core and twin+earth.

i have all the bits i need.

just wondering if i can power this with a battery.

i really want to power the circuit,so-

other than going from the mains,what kind of battery can i use,if at all.

what type of battery,size,voltage etc, and wheres the best place to get them.

also,has anyone any links to online guides/vids on how to do this/set it up?

im a novice,as you may of guessed,so all advice appreciated

cheers

Hello experimental, welcome to the forum..... Guiness Drink

I think the Don has already asked for a bit more info about your experience?

this would help.

Looking at your post I get the impression its the various configurations and methods for wiring lighting circuits that is one of your key interests...

If so and you are still a bit unfamiliar with...

looping at ceiling roses,

looping at switches,

Two way,

Three way etc..

I would very strongly suggest you use a 12v supply of some sort....

various options have been posted..

you could also use a standard SELV lighting transformer do it 12v

and get a few SELV 12v lamps

But just do all your switching on the 12v side NOT the 230v side.

Main reason..

IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY WIRED YOUR SWITCH WRONG, DIRECTLY ACROSS LIVE AND NEUTRAL...

you get a big flash and pop as the fuse goes bang when you operate your switch!

Not good! :_|

(I have seen a few DIY light replacements with switch put direct across the supply! )

bit safer if you make these mistakes on 12v IMHO.

do you have any test meters?

voltage detectors?

Basic multimeter?

HTH

Spec Loc

Guiness DrinkGuiness Drink

 

[Andy™]

(I have seen a few DIY light replacements with switch put direct across the supply! )

Just a few?!

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

purely for testing purposes, you could probably use 0.5W carbon resistors (much cheaper). wouldnt last too long if you plugged a 3KW heater into the circuit though

oh yes well spotted..Applaud SmileyGuiness Drink

I should have added..

I would only stick resistors in for DEAD TESTING simulations..

meter readings etc..

NOT live working!

Blushing

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

just a few?!... hundred!

:^O :^O:^O:^O

 

[Apache]

Just a few?!

why would you have a neutral in the switch?

Thought majority of lighting wired from the rose rather than the switch (although I know it is possible to connect the neutrals in the switch)?

 

[steptoe]

why would you have a neutral in the switch?Thought majority of lighting wired from the rose rather than the switch (although I know it is possible to connect the neutrals in the switch)?

becoming more common place now tho Apache,

esp in some spider lighting systems, or for wall lights.

 

[Andy™]

why would you have a neutral in the switch?Thought majority of lighting wired from the rose rather than the switch (although I know it is possible to connect the neutrals in the switch)?

youll find that most of the time a spark goes to sort a DIY light change, they have connected all reds in 1 terminal and all blacks in another. so a direct short accross switch. which often welds switch shut, so whatever other combination they try (after reading the instructions), it still wont work because they dont know they have destroyed the switch

But as steps says, loop in switch is becoming more used (personally, i still loop at the light)

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

why would you have a neutral in the switch?Thought majority of lighting wired from the rose rather than the switch (although I know it is possible to connect the neutrals in the switch)?

NO..

it all depends on the type of lights..

arrangement of the building etc..

Anyway it is AT the rose where many DIYers mess up their wires..

buy new light fitting.

Undo all wires take down old one..

Go to put up new fitting.. BUT..

find they have three cables.. all Brown+Blue (or Red+Black old money)

{no twin browns or brown sleeved blue's!}

So just join all Browns into live connector of new lamp

Join all Blues into neutral connector of new lamp

Re secure light

Switch on...

BANG!

direct short across supply! :_|

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

youll find that most of the time a spark goes to sort a DIY light change, they have connected all reds in 1 terminal and all blacks in another. so a direct short accross switch. which often welds switch shut, so whatever other combination they try (after reading the instructions), it still wont work because they dont know they have destroyed the switchBut as steps says, loop in switch is becoming more used (personally, i still loop at the light)

ohhhhhhhh!] X(

I was just saying that!

:^O :^O:^O:^O

 

[Andy™]

NO..it all depends on the type of lights..

arrangement of the building etc..

Anyway it is AT the rose where many DIYers mess up their wires..

buy new light fitting.

Undo all wires take down old one..

Go to put up new fitting.. BUT..

find they have three cables.. all Brown+Blue (or Red+Black old money)

{no twin browns or brown sleeved blue's!}

So just join all Browns into live connector of new lamp

Join all Blues into neutral connector of new lamp

Re secure light

Switch on...

BANG!

direct short across supply! :_|

and of course, it was wired the same way with the older, working light

 

[Andy™]

ohhhhhhhh!] X( I was just saying that!

:^O :^O:^O:^O

Snap