Earthing electrical items????

[gerryh]

.... everything else is wired to a high standard and correctly but for some reason theres no earth ....

I would suggest that not having an earth wire means that the electrical system is NOT "wired to a high standard and correctly"
Cheers
Gerry

[El Cid]

All installations in Spain use an RCD - Residual Current Device. This measures the differential between the live and neutral circuits and trips if it senses a difference. It does not require an earth circuit.

I agree with Gerry that a decent installation will have an earth circuit.

Sid

[spanish_lad]

Everything will work without an earth.. but you probably die / have serious burns if it shorts out and you are touching it.

It's better to have one

[gerryh]

All installations in Spain use an RCD - Residual Current Device....

Sid

Yes, all installations SHOULD have an RCD but I'm pretty sure that there are many older properties, particularly in the campo, or ones that have been wired by an "electrician" that someone met in the local bar.
Cheers
Gerry

[spanish_lad]

Oh the things I've seen.. I could write a book haha.. one house had air conditioning units running on Bell wire.. the metal chandeliers were not earthed... bzzzzz

[knowal]

How on earth do you get a boletin for a property with no earth supply, Akoako?
I'm assuming there is one?

[Wicksey]

When we had a boletin completed the electrician looked at the meter and glanced in the fuse box.How do you know if you have an earth? There are only ever two wires to connect to when installing lamps as far as I can remember. Certainly things that I installed like the extractor fan, only had two wires to connect. I presume the metal strip in some of the wall sockets are supposed to be the earth although not all our sockets have that.

[knowal]

Double insulated appliances do not require an earth, which applies to most plug in lamps.
However an electrician certifying an installation should test outlets to ensure that the earth pins are connected. Should also check the distribution board and RCD.
They are the 2 metal clips top and bottom of a circular Spanish socket and connect when a full plug is plugged in top and bottom.
I can't find the statistics for electrocution accidents in Spain, but I got a belt in the pumphouse once, when I realised the electrician had wired the live on the neutral and vice versa!
You have to be so careful.

[spanish_lad]

Double insulated appliances do not require an earth, which applies to most plug in lamps.
However an electrician certifying an installation should test outlets to ensure that the earth pins are connected. Should also check the distribution board and RCD.
They are the 2 metal clips top and bottom of a circular Spanish socket and connect when a full plug is plugged in top and bottom.
I can't find the statistics for electrocution accidents in Spain, but I got a belt in the pumphouse once, when I realised the electrician had wired the live on the neutral and vice versa!
You have to be so careful.

There is no 'recommended way. Some wire on the left, some wire on the right. On an old house, just guess... I've got led lights in my house that glow when they are turned off.. something is.connected somewhere or wired the wrong way but it's not my house so I don't mess with it.

[spanish_lad]

How on earth do you get a boletin for a property with no earth supply, Akoako?
I'm assuming there is one?

The guy we used to use for bollatins had a machine he plugged in, he said that it was only a legal requirement to have an earth in the kitchen and bathroom, but we 'over wired' every job... my parents house has no earth upstairs, only in the 'reformed' downstairs.

This was a few years ago now.. maybe it's changed.

Re actually having a bollatin, my parents bought their house in 2002 ish.. before the rules changed.. and still don't have one.. things work, leave it alone. There's plenty of reasons that a house wouldn't have a bollatin..