Upstairs and downstairs MCBs connected?

[Eddans]

Hi all new here and wondering if you have seen heard of this situation/problem?

I wanted to remove surface mount sockets from the living room wall to decorate. In my old house I would just flick the mcb off for the downstairs ring and then made sure the sockets were dead before proceeding. However in our new house I done the same and flicked the downstairs mcb off only to find that the sockets were still showing 240v, I went back to the consumer unit to check that I had switched off the the correct mcb for downstairs which I had. Out of curiosity I switched the upstairs ring mcb off as well and found that the all sockets were dead upstairs and downstairs. same happens if I turn upstairs off and leave downstairs on both rings are still live. Any thoughts please as it just don't seem right.
Many thanks

 

[Bobster]

It isn't right and sound like they have interconnected the rings.

Could be a simple mistake in the consumer unit (fuse box). An could possibly be fixed and tested by an electrician in less than 30min.

It could on the other hand be interconnected in a hidden junction box somewhere and be a pig to find. Unfortunatly no way of knowing until its being tested.

However, this work to rectify it is beyond DIY work.

You need to call an electrician in.

 

[telectrix]

sounds like the L for the landing light is taken from downstairs circuit. common back in '60's. not allowed these days.

 

[James]

This is not right.
You have either got an interconnected pair of rings or, the connections in the distribution board are incorrect.
You should get an electrician in to sort, could be some strange DIY wiring hiding in there or a simple fix.

Without the right knowledge and test equipment it will be very hard for you to sort this yourself.

P.s. telectrix, re read the first post. This is socket Rfc x2 not lighting circuits.

 

[CenterSparks]

I would imagine the legs of each ring have been crossed at some point or another, either by mistake or stupidity. If you were to test, I would expect to see each MCB has one leg of each circuit. It's not really something you want to be messing around with unless you know what you're doing and have suitable test equipment. Call a local electrician to take a look.

I presume there is no RCD protection on the circuits?

 

[Eddans]

Didn't expect such fast responses cheers!

CenterSparks there is 1 RCD covering 7 mcbs. I had a quick look and there are 2 lives in the upstairs mcb and 2 in downstairs mcb

 

[Deleted account]

If it’s wired incorrectly at the board easy fix.

If it’s connected at some point in the house can be a bit tricky.

Spark should identify what’s what within 10 - 20 mins of testing.

The fix may take a lot longer depending on what’s wrong.

 

[shaun1]

This is something you need to resolve sooner rather than later as the MCBs will not provide suitable overload protection for the wiring, in their current configuration.

 

[telectrix]

This is not right.
You have either got an interconnected pair of rings or, the connections in the distribution board are incorrect.
You should get an electrician in to sort, could be some strange DIY wiring hiding in there or a simple fix.

Without the right knowledge and test equipment it will be very hard for you to sort this yourself.

P.s. telectrix, re read the first post. This is socket Rfc x2 not lighting circuits.

OOPs. I need to stand in the naughty corner for misreading OP.

 

[Midwest]

Sure it’s not one half of house (ground floor & first floor) on one ring, other half on another?

 

[Eddans]

Sure it’s not one half of house (ground floor & first floor) on one ring, other half on another?

Hi all, thanks for the replies, just to update..electrician said consumer unit is wired fine so must be linked under floorboards somewhere and could take a few days to find, which will obviously be £££. As there is new carpet etc its off the cards at the moment

 

[James]

Hi all, thanks for the replies, just to update..electrician said consumer unit is wired fine so must be linked under floorboards somewhere and could take a few days to find, which will obviously be £££. As there is new carpet etc its off the cards at the moment

A few days?
I would hope to have a fair idea of what is going on after a few hours of testing using a wander lead and taking all the socket faces off.
anybody on here that agrees with that statement and is in Essex?

 

[telectrix]

A few days?
I would hope to have a fair idea of what is going on after a few hours of testing using a wander lead and taking all the socket faces off.
anybody on here that agrees with that statement and is in Essex?

yep half a day should be enough.

 

[ChrisElectrical88]

Jesus, could rewire both circuits in 2 days.

 

[davesparks]

Hi all, thanks for the replies, just to update..electrician said consumer unit is wired fine so must be linked under floorboards somewhere and could take a few days to find, which will obviously be £££. As there is new carpet etc its off the cards at the moment

What have they done temporarily to make this situation safe?

 

[Eddans]

Hi All, better news... the 1st electrician charged £75 for checking the wiring of the 2 MCBs and then wanted a few days to find the problem and more £££. I told another electrician who said No charge if I don't find anything within 1 hour..lol I thought. Anyway he wanted to just have a look at all the sockets in the house at first, he then switched off the MCBs in question and went back to a blanked off socket in the kitchen with tester in hand and bugger me he found a block with 2 cables connected, disconnected them and found that MCB1 is upstairs/downstairs and MCB2
is kitchen and down stairs bathroom. He made both cables safe and said he as seen it loads of times and only charged me £45 but did say that all could do with updated consumer unit and wiring. At least the 2 circuits are now separated and should be safer. I suppose most of you have seen this too?
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davesparks...I forgot to mention that nothing was done by the first electrician to make things safe, he just left..