Electrical question.

[Wscad]

Just had a right good look at the pic again.

As it is, this is a joint box.

The cable with the new colours are bottom entry, which suggests to me it goes to the twin socket, and is a new addition to the original wiring

The old colours are back entry so was perhaps a radial socket as opposed to a socket on a ring main

I’d pop the cover off the consumer unit for a look see. Red & black wires = old wiring

Is there any RCD protection for all circuits? Any re-wireable fuses? Any cartridge fuses? Any mcb’s?

My money is the cable size is 2.5 mm,

It looks to me it’s a DIY job


Final answer

[Wscad]

Oh and that plastic back box is very old

[Sunny]

Oh and that plastic back box is very old

And should be metal, as it's inset. So, I agree - deffo a DIY job.

If you start messing with it @Taipan for the sake of a couple of quid, get that back box swapped too.

[Silly Car]

Three things spring to mind:

1. How accessible is the offending back box and if the answer is anything less than difficult, I’d be questioning the Landlord’s EICR as that should have been coded and rectified?

b. Why is the lever partially open on that Wago and is this causing any arcing / heat?

iii. IIRC it is a rental property and you should leave it alone

Even though I studied electrical and electronic engineering at uni around 1000 years ago, I’m becoming less inclined to do my own electrical jobs especially when I hear about the number of hoops my nephew is jumping through to become a qualified spark.

[Taipan]

Just had a right good look at the pic again.

As it is, this is a joint box.

The cable with the new colours are bottom entry, which suggests to me it goes to the twin socket, and is a new addition to the original wiring

The old colours are back entry so was perhaps a radial socket as opposed to a socket on a ring main

I’d pop the cover off the consumer unit for a look see. Red & black wires = old wiring

Is there any RCD protection for all circuits? Any re-wireable fuses? Any cartridge fuses? Any mcb’s?

My money is the cable size is 2.5 mm,

It looks to me it’s a DIY job


Final answer

Not sure of the build year but I'd guess at 1990s onwards? By the front door is a consumer unit with labelled switches, so i'll maybe see if anything odd is listed on there? The guy who previously owned it fitted the kitchen, so i'm guessing something he did. As soon as i saw different colours, i bailed on doing anything without finding out more. As we all know, water you can see, gas you can smell, but electricity is a silent assassin!

I know a lot of people in various trades, but no sparkies. I cant really ask a mate to ask their mates to do me a favour and I hate asking anything of anyone anyway, so I appreciate your and everyone else's advice here.

[Taipan]

Three things spring to mind:

1. How accessible is the offending back box and if the answer is anything less than difficult, I’d be questioning the Landlord’s EICR as that should have been coded and rectified?

b. Why is the lever partially open on that Wago and is this causing any arcing / heat?

iii. IIRC it is a rental property and you should leave it alone

Even though I studied electrical and electronic engineering at uni around 1000 years ago, I’m becoming less inclined to do my own electrical jobs especially when I hear about the number of hoops my nephew is jumping through to become a qualified spark.

Its very accessible if you slide the fridge/freezer out. I probably caught the Wago flap when I looked to see what was what. Its not a rental, its my Sons first time buy so i have to sort it.

[Nobby]

Oh and that plastic back box is very old

And should be metal, as it's inset. So, I agree - deffo a DIY job.

If you start messing with it @Taipan for the sake of a couple of quid, get that back box swapped too.

Theres nothing wrong with having a Fast Fix box. Leave it.

[Screwdriver]

Probably a cooker socket. Only problem with fitting a 3pin socket is that it will have a dedicated 32A breaker so if you plug anything dodgy into it, it will take 32A before the breaker trips. Not a problem really unless you have a habit of fitting "nevablow" fuses into your devices (i.e. a chunk of nail).

I would look out for a "cooker" breaker in the distribution box, fit a socket to the offending outlet (assuming you're happy to wire sockets), plug in a random power thing and see if it turns off at the breaker.

[Count Steer]

Not sure of the build year but I'd guess at 1990s onwards? By the front door is a consumer unit with labelled switches, so i'll maybe see if anything odd is listed on there? The guy who previously owned it fitted the kitchen, so i'm guessing something he did. As soon as i saw different colours, i bailed on doing anything without finding out more. As we all know, water you can see, gas you can smell, but electricity is a silent assassin!

I know a lot of people in various trades, but no sparkies. I cant really ask a mate to ask their mates to do me a favour and I hate asking anything of anyone anyway, so I appreciate your and everyone else's advice here.

If you get a sparkie in it might be worth asking him/her to check out the whole system and make sure everything is labelled properly etc. (Especially if the previous occupant was a DiY'er).

(When the chap wired and connected up our cabin he put a new consumer unit (the old one had fuses), beefed up the main earth connection and tested everything. Found a dodgily wired (DiY) pair of sockets on the kitchen island and corrected it. Labelled all the RCDs properly. The cabin job took most of the day, the rest of it a couple of hours).

[Wscad]

Take a pic of the consumer/unit/ fuse box.

Remove the lid off the cover of the above and take a pic

Post the pics on here

[Sunny]

Oh and that plastic back box is very old

And should be metal, as it's inset. So, I agree - deffo a DIY job.

If you start messing with it @Taipan for the sake of a couple of quid, get that back box swapped too.

Theres nothing wrong with having a Fast Fix box. Leave it.

Fair point - I've lived in an old house for so long I forgot stud walls were a thing

[Couchy]

Probably a cooker socket. Only problem with fitting a 3pin socket is that it will have a dedicated 32A breaker so if you plug anything dodgy into it, it will take 32A before the breaker trips. Not a problem really unless you have a habit of fitting "nevablow" fuses into your devices (i.e. a chunk of nail).

I would look out for a "cooker" breaker in the distribution box, fit a socket to the offending outlet (assuming you're happy to wire sockets), plug in a random power thing and see if it turns off at the breaker.

You're forgetting the plug has a fuse in, ring mains are 32A protected in pretty much every house

[Taipan]

Take a pic of the consumer/unit/ fuse box.

Remove the lid off the cover of the above and take a pic

Post the pics on here

I'm round there tomorrow and will grab some pics then.

[Rockburner]

Given that this may have an effect on any insurance claim, is it not worth getting an electrician to check the place?


In addition: given that it appears there were open wires visible and he's just moved in: shouldn't the assessor who checked the place prior to the sale have included something in their report?? (unless your son is buying without a mortgage?)

[DefTrap]

In addition: given that it appears there were open wires visible and he's just moved in: shouldn't the assessor who checked the place prior to the sale have included something in their report?? (unless your son is buying without a mortgage?)

IME though -
- 'assessors' are a bit useless. Not prepared to move anything to get a better look, certainly not going to do anything that might involve getting their chinos dirty. If it was hidden by something he'd never have found it. If not hidden he'd have made a note of it because all assessors want to find 'something' right? The assessor we had seemed to be there solely to verify the house actually existed and was broadly in line with the sale price
- it might have happened after tha assesor had been - the previous owner could have ballsed it up when they were moving out. When the previous owner moved out of a place I bought they kindly took all the light bulbs with them ( ) yanking a light fitting in the process, which threw the trip as soon as we tried to turn the light on. Nice. And they managed to crack the bath sometime between purchase and handover.

[Screwdriver]

Probably a cooker socket. Only problem with fitting a 3pin socket is that it will have a dedicated 32A breaker so if you plug anything dodgy into it, it will take 32A before the breaker trips. Not a problem really unless you have a habit of fitting "nevablow" fuses into your devices (i.e. a chunk of nail).

I would look out for a "cooker" breaker in the distribution box, fit a socket to the offending outlet (assuming you're happy to wire sockets), plug in a random power thing and see if it turns off at the breaker.

You're forgetting the plug has a fuse in, ring mains are 32A protected in pretty much every house

No. You're not reading my post. I specifically address that issue.

Read it again.

[Screwdriver]

Given that this may have an effect on any insurance claim, is it not worth getting an electrician to check the place?

When is that ever not the case? Maybe he should call the fire brigade to check the rest of the house. Bring in a buildings inspector to make sure the walls are safe. Get a roofer in to check for leaks and inspect the gutters and drainage just in case...

Looks like a perfectly good outlet to me and while I may be somewhat cavalier in my approach, the OP is looking for practical suggestions.

"Anyone" can wire a plug or socket and if it's a cooker socket (I bet my bottom dollar) there's a good chance it will have its own dedicated 32A breaker.

So an easy test in the real world is to stick a socket on it and see if theres a label on the consumer unit and see what that switches off. Again, with a mains device plugged in, you can test if it works without having to poke around with multimeters.

It's a particularly good test in the real world because if anything goes wrong eg. the breaker doesn't switch off that named socket, you have identified an issue which does need addressing. God forbid switching off the "cooker" breaker also switches off some of the lights!

If you identify a problem then yes of course, bring in an expert.

[Buckaroo]

Given that this may have an effect on any insurance claim, is it not worth getting an electrician to check the place?

When is that ever not the case? Maybe he should call the fire brigade to check the rest of the house. Bring in a buildings inspector to make sure the walls are safe. Get a roofer in to check for leaks and inspect the gutters and drainage just in case...

Looks like a perfectly good outlet to me and while I may be somewhat cavalier in my approach, the OP is looking for practical suggestions.

"Anyone" can wire a plug or socket and if it's a cooker socket (I bet my bottom dollar) there's a good chance it will have its own dedicated 32A breaker.

So an easy test in the real world is to stick a socket on it and see if theres a label on the consumer unit and see what that switches off. Again, with a mains device plugged in, you can test if it works without having to poke around with multimeters.

It's a particularly good test in the real world because if anything goes wrong eg. the breaker doesn't switch off that named socket, you have identified an issue which does need addressing. God forbid switching off the "cooker" breaker also switches off some of the lights!

If you identify a problem then yes of course, bring in an expert.

I think I would first establish the power is off to the aforementioned open box before attempting to fit a 13amp socket outlet. So it will require a multimeter or some test to find the circuit breaker first. You probably meant to say this.

[Screwdriver]

I think I would first establish the power is off to the aforementioned open box before attempting to fit a 13amp socket outlet. So it will require a multimeter or some test to find the circuit breaker first. You probably meant to say this.

No I did not include the obvious need to switch off power at the mains before commencing electrical work any more than I would remind anyone to breathe or pick up a screwdriver from the handle.

Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM is a simple epithet which works here too. The OP asks for electrical advice and the best advice is to get an electrician. A rather obvious suggestion which I need not even ask if the OP considered, it's always best to get a professional.

What's the best way to cook a steak? Get Gordon Ramsey to do it.

[Noggin]

I think I would first establish the power is off to the aforementioned open box before attempting to fit a 13amp socket outlet. So it will require a multimeter or some test to find the circuit breaker first. You probably meant to say this.

What's the best way to cook a steak? Get Gordon Ramsey to do it.

God no - James Martin!! Much better looking