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Bonding a metal bath

David-Adams
Good evening


I am having one of those moments where I can’t sleep because I am worrying about something I probably don’t need to. That’s the rational part of me talking, unfortunately the anxiety monster won’t b***** off. 


We have just had our old cast iron bath replaced with a nice new shiny steel one. The old bath was bonded back to the terminal block by main consumer unit over 6mm earth cable via the airing cupboard. We also have an electric shower. 


The new bath has no taps on it (they are wall-mounted and fed by copper pipes). The waste is all plastic. The electric shower has been replaced with a new electric shower. The copper pipes in the airing cupboard have been connected via a new 4mm earth cable. My electrician says that according to the 18th edition, there is no requirement for the metal bath to be bonded. 


I have no reason to doubt him, except for the anxiety monster eating away at my brain I mentioned earlier. What limited literature I have found seems to suggest this is correct, but in some circles it is a hotly debated topic with contradicting views. I was just wondering if someone could confirm this for me please. I would also be interested in understanding why this is the case to satisfy my own natural curiosity of all things!


Many thanks in advance
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    341bb50f3849051dad8f4ead161e0220-huge-20190328_141715.jpg

    The bath waste was being removed,  the basin waste at the back tucked through the wall into a hopper head without directly contacting it.

  • 0

    Sparkingchip:
    341bb50f3849051dad8f4ead161e0220-huge-20190328_141715.jpg

    The bath waste was being removed,  the basin waste at the back tucked through the wall into a hopper head without directly contacting it.

     




    Not only the bath waste, but the whole damned bath! But why is there a coffee grinder there? ?

  • 0
    A negative head single impeller shower pump to fill the new bath up with hot water before it goes cold and to over power the thermostatic mixing valve in the new mono block mixer tap.


    That is a pressure vessel sitting on top of it that helps it to know when someone has turned the hot tap on.


    Once again it will be plastic pipework from the new isolating valves to the mono block thermostatic mixer tap mounted in a fibreglass bath with a plastic waste pipe, the risk of electric shocks whilst using the bath is minimal, it’s the old basin and taps that were retained that presents a risk due to possible faults outside of the bathroom livening up the pipework to it and its taps.


    Andy B.
  • 0
    Thank you all for some very informative replies. Having done some reading I had come to pretty much the same conclusion as all of you. Well, most of you...
  • 0
    Thank you all for some very informative replies. Having done some reading I had come to pretty much the same conclusion as all of you. Well, most of you...


    It makes a lot of sense for it to not be bonded now. My initial reading of the regulations just confused me a bit, they would struggle to win any awards from the Plain English Campaign, especially if you are somewhat unfamiliar with the regulations as a whole. 


    Thanks again. Just got to bond my radiator, cistern, cat basket and nail clippers now...
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    Chris Pearson:




    Legh Richardson:
    "people used to do that (including things like window frames) and a myth has come about that the 15th required bonding everything"


    They did. It was standard practice in the 70s and 80s to Equipotentially Bond the Crittle window frames that were fitted in prefabricated houses as the supporting studding was fixed into the ground floor and the ceiling.




    Oh my word! I must run some green and yellow up to the 1920s Crittall windows in my conservatory. Oh yes, and I mustn't forget to bond the steel framework, which being buried in the floor, might well be an extraneous CP. It will complement the 1980s SRCDs. ?



    Lol ....So you are suggesting that metal crittle windows fixed into the ground are not extraneous conductive parts?


    Legh

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    bob-tahoma:

     Thanks again. Just got to bond my radiator, cistern, cat basket and nail clippers now...




    ??


    Don't forget to bond the cat!

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    Here at Kelly towers when the SEB installed our new RCD consumer unit the bloke said he needed to check the earthing in the bathroom  he ran a bit of green/yellow from the radiator to be he cold pipe then to the hot pipe  then up through the cavity wall to the back of the shower switch which was now bulging with earthing wires the whole lot is then connected to the main house earth by a ten mill earth lead and thru the shower supply cable does this sound about right?  Also up until a few years ago I used to take a mains radio in to the bathroom and on a few occasions I oticed that when the metal chain of the bath plug touched the taps the radio would crackle running the water and getting the chain and overflow it was attached to wet stopped he crackle I tried o measure between taps and chain but could see no voltage ther thoughts please. I don't know if it makes a difference but the AM station I was listening to was quite weak
  • 0
    About eight years ago my daughter bought a house that had been rewired shortly before the sale by a Part P registered electrician. The plastic water supply had a foot long piece of copper pipe inserted after the stop tap into the plastic pipe work of the house, it had been re-plumbed in plastic as well. This had been very neatly bonded, or earthed depending on your definition of connecting a random bit of copper to the MET,  with 10mm G/Y!  I did find a few other oddities like missing blanks in the CU but otherwise it had been well installed. I did take a photo of the piece of copper pipe but cannot find it in the many thousands I have.
  • 0
    I saw earth clamps on rubber hoses feeding showers in a council cricket pavillion once.

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