M
moody89
Hi all! I havent posted much on these forums but have been an avid reader and member for some time now - its a great resource for information and problem solving. Anyway, I'm looking for some advice/opinions on this particular issue.
Was asked to have a look at a job (all local authority work) where another electrician had wired the kitchen. Apparently upon testing there was no end to end continuity on the ring main supplying the sockets. After having a nose about I traced the issue to a lovely collection of junction boxes undeaneath the floor boards above the kitchen. It wasn't hard to find - there was sheet flooring as opposed to actual floorboards and you could see where a circular saw had been used to gain access. From here on it's probably easier if I draw what I discovered rather than attempt to explain it since in all honesty it's still pickling my brain trying to get my head around what he was attempting! You'll have to excuse my quick attempt at a diagram:
The cable coming in on the left hand side is one leg of the ring which is JB'd to accomodate the spur in the bedroom upstairs. That leg then continues downstairs supply several sockets in the kitchen (only one shown on diagram for simplicity) and then back up to another JB which is only used to extend the cable to a socket in the neighbouring bedroom. The return leg from that socket (shown on the diagram) was wrapped in insulation tape over it's end and was left live underneath the floor. Needless to say alarm bells were ringing. I have no idea what wiring arrangements were in place before he changed things but I'll be sure to ask him this and a few other questions when I see him next! Essentially, he has a broken ring and half of the sockets in the kitchen and the one in the bedroom form part of a series of consecutive spurs in 2.5mm cable all protected by a 32A MCB! At this point in time, I'm just the poor guy they sent to correct it! My question is: is there any way to correct this mess so that a proper ring final circuit can be reinstated? Surely there should be if one existed originally but as I mentioned this has been pickling me all afternoon and I'm going to be seeing ring mains in my sleep if I can't get my head around this asap! Obviously the return leg from the bedroom socket has to be reinstated as part of the ring main somehow but where!? What was going on before he made changes! Cheers for any feedback guys, it's very much appreciated!
Was asked to have a look at a job (all local authority work) where another electrician had wired the kitchen. Apparently upon testing there was no end to end continuity on the ring main supplying the sockets. After having a nose about I traced the issue to a lovely collection of junction boxes undeaneath the floor boards above the kitchen. It wasn't hard to find - there was sheet flooring as opposed to actual floorboards and you could see where a circular saw had been used to gain access. From here on it's probably easier if I draw what I discovered rather than attempt to explain it since in all honesty it's still pickling my brain trying to get my head around what he was attempting! You'll have to excuse my quick attempt at a diagram:
The cable coming in on the left hand side is one leg of the ring which is JB'd to accomodate the spur in the bedroom upstairs. That leg then continues downstairs supply several sockets in the kitchen (only one shown on diagram for simplicity) and then back up to another JB which is only used to extend the cable to a socket in the neighbouring bedroom. The return leg from that socket (shown on the diagram) was wrapped in insulation tape over it's end and was left live underneath the floor. Needless to say alarm bells were ringing. I have no idea what wiring arrangements were in place before he changed things but I'll be sure to ask him this and a few other questions when I see him next! Essentially, he has a broken ring and half of the sockets in the kitchen and the one in the bedroom form part of a series of consecutive spurs in 2.5mm cable all protected by a 32A MCB! At this point in time, I'm just the poor guy they sent to correct it! My question is: is there any way to correct this mess so that a proper ring final circuit can be reinstated? Surely there should be if one existed originally but as I mentioned this has been pickling me all afternoon and I'm going to be seeing ring mains in my sleep if I can't get my head around this asap! Obviously the return leg from the bedroom socket has to be reinstated as part of the ring main somehow but where!? What was going on before he made changes! Cheers for any feedback guys, it's very much appreciated!
