Removing a Double socket off the ring main

[JonnyMac2016]

I'm not going to be doing this myself, but just interested to see how it works......

What is the exact process for removing a double plug socket off of the ring main? I've attached an image showing the current set up - the plug to be removed is downstairs in the living room but for whatever reason is actually on the upstairs ring main.

I guess that the process involves removing the wiring to the living room socket and connecting the two bedroom sockets directly together. However from the upstairs bedroom sockets how would you know for sure which of the two wires at the back of the socket goes down to the living room socket?

 

[Lectrician]

The easiest way would be to locate where the two cables emerge in the floor void, cut them, joint them with a maintenance free joint box. The cables should both rise vertically from the socket into the ceiling void. You could lift the floor, or open the ceiling if required.

 

[JohnW2]

What is the exact process for removing a double plug socket off of the ring main? I've attached an image showing the current set up - the plug to be removed is downstairs in the living room but for whatever reason is actually on the upstairs ring main.

Why do you want to remove it - just for aesthetic reasons, or what?

If you simply weren't happy with having a downstairs socket on the upstairs circuit (which isn't that uncommon), if it were aesthetically acceptable to you, the very simplest solution would be to replace the socket with a blank plate and join the cables in a connector block behind that blank plate.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JonnyMac2016]

The easiest way would be to locate where the two cables emerge in the floor void, cut them, joint them with a maintenance free joint box. The cables should both rise vertically from the socket into the ceiling void. You could lift the floor, or open the ceiling if required.

Access to the floor void is a little bit tricky at the moment, although the floor boards can come up if required. Is there any way of using a continuity meter/some kind of testing kit to check for sure which of the wires lead downstairs?

Why do you want to remove it - just for aesthetic reasons, or what?

If you simply weren't happy with having a downstairs socket on the upstairs circuit (which isn't that uncommon), if it were aesthetically acceptable to you, the very simplest solution would be to replace the socket with a blank plate and join the cables in a connector block behind that blank plate.

Kind Regards, John

The downstairs socket is slap bang in the middle of where we are planning to put a fireplace in the future! So it actually works out well that the socket is off of the upstairs ring main as the wires will be out of the way once removed.

 

[winston1]

Will you be having an electric fire in this new fireplace? Thought!

 

[JonnyMac2016]

No my wife fancies a nice expensive wood burner

 

[JohnW2]

The downstairs socket is slap bang in the middle of where we are planning to put a fireplace in the future! So it actually works out well that the socket is off of the upstairs ring main as the wires will be out of the way once removed.

Fair enough - but, as winston has asked, are you sure that you will never want and electrical fire/heater (or something else electrical) in/around the new fireplace?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Lectrician]

Get that floor lifted!

 

[JonnyMac2016]

There's no way of checking which wire is which without taking the floor up?

 

[Lectrician]

You need to join the pair together anyway, so it needs to come up.

If you simply disconnected the two legs from the upstairs sockets, you would no longer have a ring (assuming it is one), and would have to convert it into two radials by changing the MCB and possibly adding a second MCB.

Lifting floor isn't a big job!

 

[JonnyMac2016]

I know it would just be a bit of a pain with carpet, skirting etc..

Couldn't the ring be maintained simply by connecting the two upstairs sockets directly to one another? These are directly opposite each other on a stud wall so this could be done without needing to lift the floor. Then if there was someway of knowing which wire was which then the cables leading downstairs could simply be pulled up and discarded?

 

[Lectrician]

If you can work out which wires it is, yes. Providing the cable you link the two sockets with is installed within the necessary wiring zones.

You can carryout a continuity test to work out which wires go where.