any electricians on ? ? ?

[Guest]

Hi folks

Just been doing some work in the kitchen, Well we had a socket directly above the Hob ( this is of course crazy )

the bungalow was rewired in the 80's and we do plan to have it rewired in a year or 2, just getting moved in and the place homely and liveable in todays world ( moved in last Feb )

so the issue ( i can take pics if you want )

The double socket was directly above the hob, next to it was a fused spur that fed the extractor fan on the outside wall ( the fan was crazy large ( think a plane engine size ) and has been removed ) this fused switch was a spur from the double socket , so easy enough to remove

so we have hacked the tiles off the wall and could see the cable trucking above the wall unit directly above the socket

so my plan was the cut the trucking out, get the cable out of it ( from the socket ), fit a switched fused spur above the wall unit, then just run some more cable behind the wall unit and fit another double socket away from the hob

it was a simple job and a nice afternoons work for a sparky, though no-one wanted the job ( but thats another story ) so as it was
within my skillset ( Im a carpenter ) , i purchased some 2.5mm cable, a switched fused spur , 25mm surface backbox, a double socket, a 2G metal sunk in the wall back box, a packet of rubber grommits and some earth sheathing

I kill the power and away i go, remove the fused spur ( that fed the fan ) removed the double socket ( by cutting the cables behind the sockets )

then i noticed the trunking has 2 cables coming down the wall, one is white and one is grey ? ? ? both 2.5mm

So i look at the rear of the socket and fused spur, it went like this

white cable comes down into the double socket, then cable runs to fused spur ( now this was expected ) to the supply terminals , then a 1.5mm cable leaves the load terminal and heads to the fan ( now gone )

jobs a good un, BUT from the fused spur supply terminal was another 2.5 mm cable that ran back up the wall ( the in question cable )

SO i go around and try and fine a socket that doesnt work ? ? its surely a spur to another socket ? ? , i cannot find one, so i think i will just leave the cable

So i wire the the white cable ( that fed the socket ) to a switched fused spur, so i can run some cable from the load side to a double socket away from the hob

so i have the grey cable that i dont know what it fed and cannot find anything, i decide to wire a socket on that and leave it ontop of the wall unit to keep it safe ( incase when i put the power back on its live )

I pack away, walk around the bungalow checked all the sockets, they were all working, so where does this grey 2.5mm go ? ? ?, imagine my surprise when i plug something in the socket ( the grey cable ) and it works

So both the white and grey cable were live ? ? ?

any advice ? ? ? ? I would get a sparky out, but after phoning 9 local ones to do the above job and no-one wanting to do it, a few were honest enough to say " oh thats too small a job for me to come and do " i gave up and did it myself ( it looked straight forward to me )

[123]

I don't have any advice except to say that you do realise what you've just done is against the law (since Blair changed it) and you've posted about it on a public site.

If I was you I'd delete the post.

Note if you ever want to sell your house and don't disclose you did electrics yourself (and are later proved to have done so) you will be in massive trouble and owe the purchasers a lot of money (assuming their solicitor allows them to complete the purchase)

Get a proper sparky out (pay them more if needed) and sort out your problem before it becomes a nightmare

[newstewart]

I’m sure that you can carry out certain electrical works but you have to it inspected by electrician or local council.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

It's not unlawful. If it was I would currently be over the wall!

However the work should be certified by an Electrician at a later date.

[Guest]

freeimage.host/i/9d51259e-8a...82df093.KQThGt


Pic of socket and switched spur

now i am thinking i should connect both L and N from both cables to the same matching connections in the fused spur above the kitchen unit ( so 2 X L into L and 2 X N into N )

[MOUSEMARSH]

If I read your description correctly the two cables in the trunking are your ring main, which is fed both ways from your consumer unit and hence why they are both live. If this is the case they should be connected together in the socket or 1 to the socket and one to the spur unit with a link in between. If you are unsure then get a sparky in. At the end of the day it should be part p certified anyway. Like Mr Tom I do my own electrical works but have a friend who certifies it for me.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by MOUSEMARSH

If I read your description correctly the two cables in the trunking are your ring main, which is fed both ways from your consumer unit and hence why they are both live. If this is the case they should be connected together in the socket or 1 to the socket and one to the spur unit with a link in between. If you are unsure then get a sparky in. At the end of the day it should be part p certified anyway. Like Mr Tom I do my own electrical works but have a friend who certifies it for me.

See more...

so both L in the same L terminal ( say the Fused spur )

both in the N of the same terminal ( fused spur )

I am having the CU changed, he was coming in the 1st lockdown but we didnt want him here, he said he had loads on so could we wait during the summer, it wasnt urgent, so we waitied

I will get him to look at it

[doodles]

In no way am I offering professional advice. Let's just say I'm a bloke in the pub you are chatting through a hypothetical situation. Is the kitchen socket supply on a ring? Could someone in the past decided to continue the ring from the socket to the fused spur and out of the supply terminal. If I am reading your post correctly. The white wiring could be from a remodelling.
It's worth checking at your consumer unit to see if the kitchen is on a ring. If you are comfortable doing this and there are two wires going into the breaker consider isolating the supply -either totally - or on that circuit via the breaker and remove one of the wires. Put an isolator block on the exposed wire and re-energize the circuit. If one of sockets you have added doesn't work you know you have broken the circuit. Isolate the supply before putting the wire back in.
If your consumer unit is an old fuse type board and not one with MCBs please be very careful or get an electrician.

[mickey house]

As an electrician I won't risk giving you advice over a forum but I think you've been extremely unlucky to have had 9 electricians turn the job down as I have never personally encountered that before. I would advise using Checkatrade (if you haven't already).

Part P of the building regs applies to England and Wales, and you are allowed to do basic electrical jobs if you are competent to do so and they meet the required standard (such as replacing sockets/switches that aren't in areas like a bathroom or outside etc), but if you don't use a Part P registered electrician to do jobs like fitting new circuits or extending circuits, then you MUST notify your local council BEFORE starting any such electrical work and not afterwards because despite being NICEIC registered I wasn't allowed to sign off electrical work people had done. Although people might find an electrician who is willing to sign off work after they (Joe Public ) has done it, and give them an electrical certificate it is actually illegal to do so.

I'm not sure how much the council charge for testing and certification of work you do yourself (around £350 at a guess) but as above this must always be done prior to starting the work.

I had many homeowners calling me to furnish them with an electrical certificate for work they did and the answer was always no as I wasn't prepared to risk being prosecuted if an issue later occurred (fire or electrocution) for a certificate I falsified stating I had done the work when I hadn't.

[doodles]

And I wholeheartedly echo what MH says.