Power toothbrushes in bathroom (NO shavers only socket)

E

esrevinU

New Member
Hi,

I need to power two electric toothbrushes in bathroom. Which option can I use, other than an ”Shavers only” socket? (and PLEASE, I want alternatives not questions about why not using the shavers socket)

Thanks!
 
Why don’t you use a shaver socket ?? .......... o_O why try reinvent the wheel :confused:

Anyway,,,,,,,, as far as I know (I’m diy) the regs state that you can have a socket in a bathroom as long as it’s 3m away from a bath and/or shower and water jets

Or under the bath, with a panel fitted that requires a tool (screwdriver) to remove panel (say for a shower pump/whirlpool bath)

May be other get out clauses but...... unusual I guess ..... and for a very good reason :eek:
 
Do you need to charge the toothbrushes in the bathroom? I don’t have an electric toothbrush at the moment but I recall getting about 2 weeks from a charge when I did.

What make/type of toothbrushes are they? I had a Philips one that could use a USB cable plugged into its case. I don’t whether you could put a USB socket in a bathroom???
 
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robertpstubbs said:
Do you need to charge the toothbrushes in the bathroom? I don’t have an electric toothbrush at the moment but I recall getting about 2 weeks from a charge when I did.

What make/type of toothbrushes are they? I had a Philips one that could use a USB cable plugged into its case. I don’t whether you could put a USB socket in a bathroom???
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You probably could if it were SELV, but I'm not sure that many/any are.

EDIT. There are some. A brief Google came up with this one. https://www.legrand.com/ecatalogue/753312-double-usb-charging-socket-valena.html
 
You can't have a socket within the zones, but you can have a FCU (spur unit for permanently connected appliances). Cut the plug off the charger and connect it to a FCU that is protected by a 30mA RCD at the supply. Is this a better or alternative wheel?
 
Bob Rathbone said:
You can't have a socket within the zones, but you can have a FCU (spur unit for permanently connected appliances). Cut the plug off the charger and connect it to a FCU that is protected by a 30mA RCD at the supply. Is this a better or alternative wheel?
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I’m sure that is not permitted unless the charger is SELV. It won’t be.
The whole basis is the initial “S” in SELV. Ever wondered what it means??
 
The chargers for toothbrushes are induction coupled to the toothbrush base, well the Braun ones are. 'S' is for 'separated' but you know that Bazza. Electrical separation for my suggestion is provided by induction coupling in the charger, clearly you would not be able to connect an IEC or a figure of '8' lead for use with a toothbrush charger. I have been careless and assumed some knowledge on behalf of the OP.
 
Bob Rathbone said:
You can't have a socket within the zones, but you can have a FCU (spur unit for permanently connected appliances). Cut the plug off the charger and connect it to a FCU that is protected by a 30mA RCD at the supply. Is this a better or alternative wheel?
Click to expand...
Bazza said:
I’m sure that is not permitted unless the charger is SELV. It won’t be.
The whole basis is the initial “S” in SELV. Ever wondered what it means??
Click to expand...

Almost certainly a NO. The charger could still get immersed and thus cause a problem as there will be no separation.

The S could be "separated" as in BS7671 or "safety" in BS EN 60335
 
I know there are some dental hygiene units that use over the power available at a tooth brush and shaver supply socket, however the UK versions are rechargeable so charged up first then used so the charge load is within to output of the shaver socket, it is only the grey imports which cause problems.
 
spinlondon said:
Those units are intended for only one item to be plugged in at a time.
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I know that, the original poster asked for an item that was not for shavers only. I did not say plug in two items, he would need two units.
 
Many units like this
61qz%2BQeD8dL._AC_UL115_.jpg
use more than the standard 20 VA supplied from a shaver socket. Also as said one socket per item so two sockets required for two tooth brushes if using at same time I would assume also two sinks.

If it is rechargeable then no need to be recharged in the bathroom, so normal way is use rechargeable tooth brushes, since if rechargeable the use is not intermittent it should not be recharged from a shaver socket even if a shaver, the socket auto turns off when item is unplugged and can in some models over heat if used for an extended time.

I would expect the type with a tooth brush on the legend can be used to charge with, however not seen any spec sheet that says either way, and when I first started to shave around 1965 I know there were cordless shavers then, so there have been rechargeable shavers for many years, but also seen many shaving points discoloured where clearly they got too hot.

I have not seen any tooth brush that needs to be plugged in while using, only the units shown above need to be mains powered to use, and UK versions of them are normally rechargeable.
 
From what I can see shaver sockets for bathrooms made to the BS have to incorporate an overload cutout https://professional-electrician.com/technical/socket-outlets-shavers/
A shaver supply unit complying with BS EN 61558-2-5 may be installed in zone 2 of a location containing a bath or shower (Regulation 701.512.3 refers)...........A thermal cut-out is provided in a shaver supply unit to limit the temperature of the transformer under conditions of short-circuit or overload. The cut-out may be of either the self-resetting type or the manually resetting type.
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If this is the case, I suggest it is OK to plug anything in that doesn't cause the overload to operate.
 
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