Help/Advice required - piccies

I recently changed a CU (LABC notified etc) in a bungalow. There were only 4 circuits – lights, sockets, Immersion, Cooker. Both the Immersion & Cooker were not in use any more so when re-connecting I just connected the lights & sockets. Because the light circuit had no cpc I re-wired that circuit. When I came to do my continuity testing all was well until I came to connecting the N to N on the ring and it returned a value of > 99.9 (The Ph-Ph & cpc-cpc) were fine. When I cross-connected the Ph to N and checked the readings at the sockets the readings seemed ok.
I started removing the sockets to check the connections and came upon a single socket with 2 cables going into it (one was 2.5 and the other was 4.0 I think). The N on the bigger cable was disconnected and covered with insulating tape. I immediately thought haha found it.

Then I wondered for what reason someone should just disconnect the N?

I also then wondered what the larger cable could be feeding as there is nothing else in the house apart from sockets & lights (all of which work ok)and whatever it was would be getting a L feed but no neutral. Both the redundant IH and cooker cables went directly from the old cu up into the loft.




It doesn’t help that every cable in the house goes into this..


I was wondering if anyone could advise on the best series of checks ie. Re-connect the N and re-check the N-N continuity - if this now returns a low value then won't it mean I have energised something hidden Or disconnet the L and see what happens or any other suggestions?

Nice VIR.
I have just quoted on a job exactly the same. initally just a cu change untill I got there. now it's a full re-wire.

Morrissey said:

any other suggestions?

Click to expand...

Yes - a complete rewire and get rid of all that old cable, which is well past it's sell-by date...

I have to agree. What on earth made you think it was OK to reconnect that rubber cable?

I hope that octopus has been removed too

I wasn't going to re-connect the rubber cable permanently, I was just going to temporarily connect it with the power off and retry the N-N continuity to see if that was the cause of the < 99.9 reading. On hindsight, even if it was the cause, it will still need the rewire anyhow. I am interested in what someone was trying to achieve by simply disconnecting the neutral.

What is that huge junction box thing then? it looks like every circuit is mixed in there.

Never seen one like that before.

Nick

It's called an octopus

Octopus update:


Notice how mine is CUT OFF

Quite nice inside.