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DIY Lightbulb Limiter, how to ground the 2 elements in the most robust way?
Hi all
So, fairly simple question but not sure which would be considered the most robust...
I'm making a DIY lightbulb limiter, a wooden box with plug socket and bulb socket on it. I need the earth on the plug socket, of course, but the bulb socket is also metal and requires safety earthing. Given that pig tailing with a screw on wirenut is not an accredited method here in the uk I wanted to pick brains on my other options -
1 - strip back the ground wire sleeve a few inches from the end, AND at the end, fold the exposed area in the middle of the sleeve and use that for the lightbulb. It's stranded core, I feel like this would probably be ok but I'm worried it might be considered bad practice...
2 - Install a chassis ground point like on a metal amp, wall earth to that, 2 wires off to the plug socket and bulb socket. I am kind of comfortable with this form but means the earth wire from the wall now has a non-continuos route to the ground pin of the plug socket... and I know that's frowned upon and, well, I don't want to cut corners on the safety earth of the DUT. Maybe it's not a problem if I follow the usual standards for a really secure safety ground... EDIT, less into this ATM, 3 mains earth connections on one terminal? Thinking more of making a ground strip with 3 terminals...
3 - Buy something like a terminal block with gangs to allow safe connection of more than 2 wires, comfortable wit this too but has the same problem as no. 2...
4 - Ground the bulb socket, with a separate wire, on the back-chassis of the plug socket by screwing it down to the mounting bolts on the inside side
It's a somewhat small thing technically but as it's such a hugely important thing, safety wise, I wanted to run ideas here too. I will probably ask the electrician at my work too when he's next in, before I build anything. As ever, I know the risks and am solely responsible for my final decision on how to connect it!
So, fairly simple question but not sure which would be considered the most robust...
I'm making a DIY lightbulb limiter, a wooden box with plug socket and bulb socket on it. I need the earth on the plug socket, of course, but the bulb socket is also metal and requires safety earthing. Given that pig tailing with a screw on wirenut is not an accredited method here in the uk I wanted to pick brains on my other options -
1 - strip back the ground wire sleeve a few inches from the end, AND at the end, fold the exposed area in the middle of the sleeve and use that for the lightbulb. It's stranded core, I feel like this would probably be ok but I'm worried it might be considered bad practice...
2 - Install a chassis ground point like on a metal amp, wall earth to that, 2 wires off to the plug socket and bulb socket. I am kind of comfortable with this form but means the earth wire from the wall now has a non-continuos route to the ground pin of the plug socket... and I know that's frowned upon and, well, I don't want to cut corners on the safety earth of the DUT. Maybe it's not a problem if I follow the usual standards for a really secure safety ground... EDIT, less into this ATM, 3 mains earth connections on one terminal? Thinking more of making a ground strip with 3 terminals...
3 - Buy something like a terminal block with gangs to allow safe connection of more than 2 wires, comfortable wit this too but has the same problem as no. 2...
4 - Ground the bulb socket, with a separate wire, on the back-chassis of the plug socket by screwing it down to the mounting bolts on the inside side
It's a somewhat small thing technically but as it's such a hugely important thing, safety wise, I wanted to run ideas here too. I will probably ask the electrician at my work too when he's next in, before I build anything. As ever, I know the risks and am solely responsible for my final decision on how to connect it!
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