MICC Wiring

[Penelopejean]

Help! My dearest husband has damaged a MICC(cable)buried in the kitchen wall and he's still alive!
We have kitchen fitters arriving next week and most of the sockets are dead plus half the lighting in the flat.
Does anyone out there know if we can repair just a short section that is damged without having a complete rewire and also if there is an electrician in the Guildford area that would touch it and pretty quickly to boot.
Frazzled of Guildford

 

[ricicle]

Unfortunately for you MICC is about the hardest cable there is to work with/repair correctly especially as it is buried in a wall.All I can suggest is that you speak to an electrican nicely to repair it or remove the damaged section altogether if possible.
Maybe an electrician that a family member or friend could recommend.

 

[Tim 77]

You'd need some special tools to repair it, it's not really a job for the DIYer I'm afraid.

 

[Penelopejean]

Thanks for the replies.
Time for a rewire it seems.

 

[breezer]

you only need to hve the MICC replace, not everything else

 

[Lectrician]

A photo of the damage would help.

If the kitchen is being re-worked, it wouldn't be difficult to repair this I wouldnt think.

 

[Penelopejean]

Breezer....Are you saying that some of the wiring might not be MICC?
The sockets that are working make the lights flicker when the kettle is switched on. I think they may come off the cooker point. Also is the lighting likely to be MICC and why has only half of it failed?

 

[Penelopejean]

Lectrician.......I will try to get a photo tomorrow.......I'm not feeling so depressed now. Thankyou for your positive input.
The fitter's electrician doing our kitchen doesn't seem to want to touch it though.

 

[Tim 77]

The sockets that are working make the lights flicker when the kettle is switched on. I think they may come off the cooker point.

Maybe time for a rewire after all?

 

[breezer]

i hope it doesnt com from the cooker point, chop out the wall and see where it goes

 

[Lectrician]

I find it hard to believe that a job originally proffesionally wired in MI would have too much wrong with it (mixed ccts etc) - It is likely to be any later additions that could have been bodged, and these are likely easily removed/repaired etc.

We really can't say much without seeing the job - Take some pics of the damaged areas, what is around the damaged area, the fuseboard, the lights that are not working etc.

Loosen off a couple light switched so we can see what is behind those aswell.


It is worth mentioning that the elec install sounds as old as the flat - how old do you reckon this is?

 

[plugwash]

there is nothing wrong with MICC and it is certianly not grounds for a rewire. Indeed it is one of the longest lasting cable types arround.

unfortunately when damaged it often absorbs moisture meaning you can have to cut it back quite a way.

If I were you I would dig the cable up back to the next fittings in either direction and replace it with an easier to to work with cable type (do remember though that MICC doesn't have to be run in safe zones whereas T&E does).

the sockets that are still working but have other problems are probablly not on the socket circuit and were probablly bodged on later. You need to trace the wiring from theese and sort them out.

 

[Penelopejean]

Breezer..........we've traced the cables that work thro' the kitchen wall under the bath to what appears to be a seperate circiuit which is also an MICC socket termination in the airing cupboard.
The cooker socket is also MICC buried in the wall so our kitchen fitter will have to wire that up when he fits the new oven.
We were planning on a new circuit for the kitchen sockets because he had said that he didn't want to touch "pyro".
I've taken some photos but will try to work out how to get them on this forum first!
This is rather a steep learning curve for a dinosauress!

 

[RF Lighting]

Click on my signature to find out how to post pictures on this site

 

[Steve3948]

You could install a couple of MI In-line Joints, they are not very nice to work with and are like a long brass 20mm Conduit Coupler.

I have used them a couple of times and hated them.

Due the tools needed it would require an Electrician.