Neutral earth fault

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It could be that the faulty leg has been manufactured in floor void and jointed there, and taking feeds from a common cable. So you may not be able to split the circuit fully and that is the reason for identical readings appearing at multiple outlets.
It has now come to a point that testing has served it's purpose and invasive investigation is required.

I came across a similar problem when I went to a trip fault, where a floor socket had been disconnected from a section of a circuit and just dropped in to the floor void and then came influenced by water ingress.

 

[Scuttler01]

Ok, got somewhere today. Found the wiring in my house for the sockets appears to zig zag from downstairs to upstairs. I pulled up floorboard near socket 2 and saw both cables disapear downstairs!The 3 sockets I mentioned yesterday spanning 2 bedrooms had 2 faults on. The first fault was due to a nicked neutral core in the downstairs lounge(socket 3 in bedroom 2)! It was touching the metal back box. Great...easy fix, the second fault is in the kitchen which feeds my socket 1 in bedroom 1! I found a fused spur behind my fridge freezer. This spur feeds under cabinet lights snd also appears to act as a junction box for another 3 sets of live cables - this is a nightmare and well crammed in. 1 of those live cables goes approximately 3ft to the left to feed a socket above a worktop. It's this length that is neutral to earth short. Looking at the way the cable exits/enters, I'm guessing a rogue screw from fixing the kitchen cabinets has hit the spot. I disconnected this cable and run a temporary line just to prove it and success!! So, I rewired as original for now as I need to chop wall out and get a new cable in (wife wants to cook so that's stopped me today). Thanks for the advice yesterday!

 

[JohnW2]

Ok, got somewhere today.

That sound unnecessarily modest - you appear to have cracked it. I have to say that you were very unlucky to have two separate N-E faults on the same circuit, but I suppose you got to the stage yesterday which seemed to indicate that there was not really any other possible explanation. Well done!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Scuttler01]

Thanks...I just wish houses came with wiring diagrams!!