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Hi all,
Im replacing my garage lights which are old fluroescent tubes that ive had up for years.
Bought the new lights which are IP65 and full plastic body. I notice after opening the light up they need an earth but i currently don't have an earth only twin core cable. With them being full plastic body lights can i still install them without the earth?
Thanks
not a sparky by any means but id say you can only go earthless if youre fitting double insulated lights. they should have the 'square inside a square' sign on them to show this.
the formatting options seem to have disappeared so i cant add the relevant pic but a quick google should show it you.
like i said tho, im no sparky.
Do they say T2 on the packaging anywhere?
Return and get some equivalent LED strip lights ?
The LED battens I fitted a few weeks ago can be daisy chained together. The battens themselves didn't need to be earthed, but they had earth connections so the earth could be 'daisy chained'. I guess in case a light further down needed to be earthed. I wired them with twin and earth.
I an not an electrician.
Speaking as a designer of LED drivers and luminaries, it depends.
The regs require provision of an earth terminal, for proper "parking" or through wiring of the earth, even though the fitting itself doesn't need an earth. Typically of plastic bodied, double insulated fittings. If the earth terminal at the "field wiring" terminal does not connect internally to anything, then I wouldn't worry about it, but also see what the installation instructions supplied with the fitting have to say.
The majority of LED drivers at this power level (25-40W for a batten) are in plastic cases themselves, with no earth. Occasionally metal case drivers are found, which probably are earthed.
Does the earth terminal in the light connect to anything, or is it just a point to connect the earth wire to so that it’s not left floating around (which encourages some people to cut it off)?
As long as you dont lick the lights you will be fine.... note. Not a sparky.
Out of interest, is there any reason why you could not just hammer an earth spike into the ground and connect to it?
As most above, IANAE ⚡☠️⚡
Out of interest, is there any reason why you could not just hammer an earth spike into the ground and connect to it?
You can, but they can also be a PITA. Any changes in the soil will alter their effectiveness; drier conditions tend to be worse, but freezing ground can upset things too. Corrosion is a problem in the ground too and you mustn't have too many too close together, so it's really a job for someone with experience
Longer spikes tend to be better but you've got to get it into the ground without destroying either it or a buried service pipe/cable
You can get earthing plates that you need to dig down and bury, but most of the same problems apply