reasons for bridging earths?

[ColJack]

I found mystery terminal block taped up in my loft the other week..
it was righ above where a single socket was on the ring, with both ends of the ring going into the tape and both back out again.. so not a spur..

I was up there again today and decided to do it "right" and change it for a 6 way jb

upon removing the tape however I found that it was not as i feared all 4 ends bodged together..

the legs of the ring go straight through, the insulation stripped back and the earths put into a terminal block..

so I thought to myself, aha, he's found a break in the earth and bodged it..

so i took off the terminal block meaning to put each leg in a seperate one to remove the bridge..

turns out the earths are whole too, just looped and put in each side of the block..

so why would he do this?

it's only a small flat so I can't see it being for reasons of Zs.. ( note to self, check that tomorrow... )

I've removed the block , straightened the cable back out and taped them up as best I can to re-instate the outer sheath..
No Ill effects so far.. sockets still work...

 

[JohnD]

probably he used to have a socket up there (or was preparing to). In the old days it was recommended to strip the cores but not cut them.

This gives less chance of a broken ring but is extra time and work.

 

[ColJack]

sorry, i wasn't clear..

only the outer sheath was stripped back the inner insulation on the red and black was ok..

no cables cut, just bent the earths in half and put each leg into one side of the connector block bridging them together..

 

[ricicle]

(or was preparing to

 

[JohnD]

piece of self-amalgamating tape would do, though an enclosure of some kind would look better. Or, you could finish teh job and put a socket up there! It'll be handy for working tools and when you vacuum.

 

[Richard1]

Could this possibly be a DIY Faraday cage