Is something wrong with the fixed wiring?

[mcaddy]

I'm looking at buying a house, it's a few doors up and was built at the same time (Dec 2009) as the one I'm currently in.

Whilst taking a look around I spotted a couple of sockets had scorch marks around the live pin socket.



I'd always assumed this was a sign of an overloaded socket, however I just wanted to check to see if this could be caused be any more serious issues in the fixed wiring?

The house has been rented for 3+ years so who knows what the tenants have been plugging in. I checked the back of the socket in the above photo and it was in a very bad way, If all that is required is a change of socket than I'm happy but if it's going to need more work/investigations then I'd probably be looking for some money off the price or work completed prior to sale.

Regards


Mike

 

[Darkwood]

Welcome to the forum Mike

 

[DPG]

Possibly cheap unbranded sockets used with high power appliances. Daz

 

[Lucien Nunes]

This is usually caused by either poor-quality sockets with faulty contacts used with high-load appliances, or a plug with loose fuse contacts which in this case might have been moved around various sockets, burning each one it was used with. Either way the result is excessive resistance at one end of the pin or the other, causing heat. It cannot be caused by faulty wiring.

One possibility is that some unsuitable appliance like a cooker has been connected to a plug with its fuse bypassed to allow greater than 13A load, which could cause a similar effect. If all the sockets are on rings or radials there would be no possibility of damage to the fixed wiring as the MCBs in the distribution board would prevent it. If any of the affected sockets are spurs off rings, their cables might have been marginally overloaded as a result, but the likelihood of damage is small.

 

[mcaddy]

This is usually caused by either poor-quality sockets with faulty contacts used with high-load appliances, or a plug with loose fuse contacts which in this case might have been moved around various sockets, burning each one it was used with. Either way the result is excessive resistance at one end of the pin or the other, causing heat. It cannot be caused by faulty wiring.

That was my suspicion, I have an almost identical house baring a few less rooms and I've not seen anything to suggest that the wiring hasn't been done to a good standard. I'll forward on the photos to the vendor and see if they want to take a couple hundred off the sale price for my time and materials.

 

[Guitarist]

I'd put my money on cheap sockets being heavily loaded. Change them all to MK and make sure you check the ring continuity when you've finished.

 

[amlu]

get a trusted local electrician to do an EICR (electrical installation condition report). helps avoiding big problems later on.

 

[Guitarist]

get a trusted local electrician to do an EICR (electrical installation condition report). helps avoiding big problems later on.

My bad... I assumed that Mike was an electrician and was just after some advice.

 

[richy3333]

Not seen the suggestion that MK is a good brand for a long time. Their stuff went down the toilet years ago and when they stopped manufacturing in the uk.

 

[Guitarist]

Not seen the suggestion that MK is a good brand for a long time. Their stuff went down the toilet years ago and when they stopped manufacturing in the uk.

Sockets are still manufactured in the UK. I find them the best, as they take 2 cores beautifully without any bare wire showing, plus all entries are inline. Also, the screws fill the terminal area properly, which means the wire isn't pushed down the side of the screw when tightening.