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I'm have some alterations done in my living room and i'm moving my flat screen tv, xbox, blu-ray player, freeview box and surround sound system from one side of the room to the other. The original position had a twin socket with surge protected extension but the wife wants three twin sockets when we move the room around. The spot where we are moving it to only has a single socket. I was thinking of changing the single to a double and linking to the second twin socket. Should i add in a fused spur between the second and third socket? Or maybe change the single to a fused spur and add the three sockets on to that.
 
If the single socket is on the ring you could chop a double box in where the single socket is, the chop another socket or two next to that, then put each cable from the existing ring in the end boxes with links in between putting them all on the ring with no need for a spur. You can also get surge protected sockets however they are expensive.
 
Take the cables out of the single, there should be 2, dig out for your 3 back boxes, take one of the cables to the first back box, and extend and move the other to the third one, then join 1 to 2 and 2 to 3, fit your socket outlets,this will ensure you keep the ring main integrity. Now the complicated bit, whilst i have no objections to people doing it themselves, get a sparky in to test the circuit properly, and to check what you have done is safe and compliant. You will need to RCD protect the modified part of the circuit. This sort of work is not rocket science, but must be done properly and safely, and i doubt that you will have the proper test kit. You will have done the donkey work, so dont spoil it by not making sure it is safe for the sake of a few quid.

Cheers..........Howard
 
you can get a conversion kit to turn a double socket in to a triple socket. You could maybe change the single for double box with a triple socket on it and then spur off of that with a double socket, provided it is a ring. I have never used a triple socket kit so I don't know if they are recommended, or what peoples views are on them.
 
you can get a conversion kit to turn a double socket in to a triple socket. You could maybe change the single for double box with a triple socket on it and then spur off of that with a double socket, provided it is a ring. I have never used a triple socket kit so I don't know if they are recommended, or what peoples views are on them.

I fitted one recently, a single to triple conversion, it just goes straight onto the existing single backbox and has a fuse built in like a fused spur. A bit ugly, but does a job, and gets rid of extension leads and adaptors, Ok behind the telly where it cant be seen.

Cheers..........Howard
 
MK also do triple socket-outlets with triple back boxes, as do probably other manufacturers. These are fused with a 13A fuse. Unfortunately only one can be spurred directly off of a final circuit without using an FCU.
 
I'm have some alterations done in my living room and i'm moving my flat screen tv, xbox, blu-ray player, freeview box and surround sound system from one side of the room to the other. The original position had a twin socket with surge protected extension but the wife wants three twin sockets when we move the room around. The spot where we are moving it to only has a single socket. I was thinking of changing the single to a double and linking to the second twin socket. Should i add in a fused spur between the second and third socket? Or maybe change the single to a fused spur and add the three sockets on to that.
I would go for changing the single to a fused spur and adding the three sockets on to that. I guess you are an electrician, if not hire one for this job.

Cheers!
 
Ok so the single socket is a spur as it only has single cables behind it so i'll probably change it to a fused spur and run the three sockets off that. With me running so many electrical items off the twin sockets will a 13A fuse be ok for the fused spur? Should i run 2.5 right through from the fused spur?
 
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if you replace the single socket with a fused spur (FCU), you will have the single 2.5mm cable feeding it protected by a 32A MCB, whnich means that the FCU needs to be fitted at the socket on the ring final that the spurred cable comes from. 2other alternatives spring to mind. 1. extend the ring final with 2 cables to your new sockets. 2 . if the loading on the ring is faily light,( i.e. no kitchen appliances or other heavy loads ) you could replace the 32A MCB with a 16A or 20A, . option 1 is the better way.
 
Ok so i've checked all the sockets in the living room which consists of 2 2 gang and 1 1 gang. Only one of the 2 gang sockets is on the ring main ( 2 cables in the back of the socket for L/N/E) strangely and that is at the other side of the room! One of the line cables has a connector block on it with an extended piece of live cable ( obviously the guy who fitted it cut the cable too short). Would it be safe to extend the ring main here or should i fit the fused spur and run it to the three sockets on the other wall? I also find it strange that the lounge sockets aren't on the ring main? Wouldn't that have been the logical choice?
 
just because 1 socket has 2 cables doesn't necessarily mean it's on the ring. it could be a radial or spur, 1 cable in and 1 out. you really need to test continuity and determine exactly which sockets if any are on the ring, and go from there. i honestly think it's time to call in a more experienced , competent spark as a mistake could prove to have disasterous consequences.
 
The single socket could be a spur (in which case you can't add to it without protecting it with a fuse) or it could be the end of a radial, in which case you can. The triple sockets usually have a fuse built into them so that would count.
If it's a ring circuit it would be best to extend that and add 2 doubles, but that could involve a bit of building work (lifting floorboards, chasing walls etc).
In either case as mentioned any addition would require rcd protection which you may or may not have already.

What is the rating of the breaker for that circuit, and what size cables are they - 2.5mm or 4mm?
 
That sounds like there is a ring present somewhere and the single socket spurs off it.
Like I said if you're adding extra sockets it would be best to find the ring and extend that, even take out the existing spur, that way you don't have to have extra fuses everywhere.

Better still plug all your av equipment into one of those multiway extension sockets where if you turn the telly off it all goes off, thereby saving yourself a lot of work and saving the planet into the bargain.
 

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