Half my sockets in lounge just stopped working! Please help!

Hi guys

I consider myself pretty amateur at this - i'll rewire a socket or at a push put in a spur. However i'm completely confused by this one.

I have a new build house and everything works great (as it should). I replaced the white sockets and light switches with chrome about a year ago - no problems.

I have three double sockets in my living room and one single socket, running not much more than a tv, stereo and a few standard bits and bobs.

Last night TWO of those double sockets, as well as the single socket, simply ceased to work. No power from them at all. The only one that works fine is the one positioned directly behind the kitchen wall.

All other sockets and lights in the entire house function as before and nothing has been changed or messed about with.

No fuse was tripped, no bang was heard, and no clue was given as to why.

So i'm at a loss and turning to the experts here.

Any help VERY gratefully appreciated as

Many thanks.

PS checked previous posts and cannot find anything to match this issue.

How far from the consumer unit are the failed sockets? If near the CU it is probably a loose connection in the next socket upstream from the failed ones.

as it is a fairly modern house, and the sockets were changed not long ago, I would start by looking for loose wires in two sockets. This is because you do not mention any recent DIY work that includes drilling or nailing into walls or floor that could damage a cable.

Most likely your sockets are arranged in a Ring (every socket has a cable coming in one side from the previous socket, and going out the other side to the next socket, except for the two nearest the consumer unit, each of which has one cable going to that.

Some useful tips:

When sockets are arranged in a ring, you can have a bad connection or a break in one place, and they will continue to work, so you will not be aware there is a fault

If you get two breaks or bad connections in a ring, all the sockets between the two breaks can stop working.

Sockets which are most likely to over heat are those with one, or, worse, two, heavy-load appliances such as heaters, washing machines, tumble driers, dishwashers and ovens.

It is essential to use a good-quality screwdriver that exactly fits the screws in the terminals, and to do them up tightly. Copper is a soft metal and will deform slightly after you have tightened it. It is best to always check tightness again afterwards, especially on large cables.

So identify all the sockets that work, and all the ones that don't. Then turn off the power at the main switch and test for dead. If you can see a logical sequence that they might be connected in, start by looking at the last working socket before the faulty ones, on each side, then look at each faulty one. You are looking for signs of a loose connection. This includes an overheated wire (loose connections get hot and eventually burn away)

Tug all the wires to see if any of them come out. If not, check every screw for tightness.,

If or when you find a loose connection or a heat-damaged (darkened) wire, come back here and we will work out what needs to be done.

The consumer unit is located in a small bathroom just s few metres away from the sockets in the lounge.

Right, so you guys reckon turn off all the power, take out the suspect sockets (each of them with a decent screwdriver), and look for visual damage.

Sounds a good idea to me, and something that I can actually do. Wish me luck - will report back asap.

Thank you so much for the quick responses, and if there are any more please don't hesitate to post them.

A "new build house" and they put the CU in a bathroom?

When you changed to chrome fittings, did you ensure they were all earthed? I am not an electrician, but IIRC plastic fittings dont always have an earth...? Please someone correct me if I am wrong.

Nothing to do with your "current" issue though

Well, thanks guys. I took your advice to the letter and it seemed that a neutral cable had come loose on one of the double sockets. Replaced and tested with care and all is working great.

Thank you once again.

Just out of interest, how much would a spark have charged for a sunday call out just to fix this for me?

Beers are on me!

If the sockets are on a ring, and some of them stopped working, there must be TWO faults.

Otherwise the supply would have continued from the other side.

Keep looking

WabbitPoo said:

When you changed to chrome fittings, did you ensure they were all earthed? I am not an electrician, but IIRC plastic fittings dont always have an earth...? Please someone correct me if I am wrong.

Click to expand...

you are wrong because he was talking about sockets. All UK 3-pin sockets must be earthed, even if they are plastic fronted.

some plastic light switches do not have an earth terminal, though

JohnD said:

If the sockets are on a ring, and some of them stopped working, there must be TWO faults.

Otherwise the supply would have continued from the other side.

Keep looking

Click to expand...

We don't know for certain that this is a ring final, do we (did I miss it)? It could be a radial, in which case all should now be well.

To the OP: What is the rating of the MCB that protects this circuit? If it is 32A and there are two cables connected to the output of the MCB then it is very likely it is a ring final and that there is another fault. If it is 20A or 16A then it is likely to be a radial (even if there are two cables connected to the MCB, as it's OK to branch off the MCB).

A photo of your consumer unit showing the breakers would help. Ideally a photo with the cover off but do NOT do this unless you are confident you are able to do it safely as, even with the main switch off, there are live parts inside (unless you have a separate isolator for the whole house, in which case using that would ensure that the CU was dead).

As a new build there's a chance that the circuit is a radial. Can you confirm what the fuse rating at the board is for the faulty circuit ?

A 30 amp radial needs a 4mm TE cable, a 20 amp needs a 2.5mm cable.

Reason I mention this is that if the circuit is a ring as mentioned it must have breaks at two points to stop sockets inside the circuit failing, a radial circuit requires only one break for all the sockets upstream to fail.

A long shot, but could there be a 13 amp fused spur somewhere that feeds these sockets, and the fuse has blown?

nope

markwithey said:

a neutral cable had come loose on one of the double sockets. Replaced and tested with care and all is working great.

Click to expand...

Oh, he's fixed it.

Sorrrrrrrrry.

If it's a ring final he has not fixed it...