Alarming earth wires?

[AS]

Having traced lighting wires on a junction system with multi terminal boxes - one boxes has 3 earth wires sticking out of it that are bent over the top and connected into a small white plastic thing (a bit like the white bit with the screws on the back of a wall light). They are just sitting there on top(outside of the box) screwed into the white thing.

Is this Normal!!!!!!!!!!!! the other junction boxes don't seem to have it.

 

[Lectrician]

Seen this quite often on older installs..........NO IT'S NOT RIGHT

They used to do it to gain an extra terminal in the JB for switching purposes. In the old days, earths didn't mean a whole lot to them

 

[andemz]

It's not good practice at all, but from my understanding this happend a lot a few years ago. By today's standard and probably even by standards then this was deemed unacceptable.

I have now finished the re-wire of my house and having taken out the old wiring system really set my pulse running. i have saved a few of the junction boxes in how they were wired.

In a number of instances around my house was junction boxes for lighting circuit with live, neutral and switched live all connected inside the junction box, but then the earth wires connected on the outside of the box underneath, twisted together, with no earth sheath at all. I'll try and post some pics in the near future in the for reference section of this board.

 

[AS]

Should we get this changed - when we bought the house 8 months ago we had to get an elec cert to say the wiring was ok which we got but i guess the guy couldn't see all the junction boxes, etc buried away under floor boards. having found it i am wondering wether to change it. in fact should we re wire our lighting circuit completely with loop in and get rid of all the junction boxes - big job or should we just leave it or can we change the box so the earths aren't popping out like that.

The odd thing is it all looks like 'relatively ' new wiring - but i guess that doesn't mean much.

 

[plugwash]

you can get 6 terminal junction boxes which in most cases will give you enough terminals to do it properly

 

[jel1972]

if the cpc is sleeved in green and yellow sleeving and secured in a connector block then this is common practice and there is nothing wrong with it

 

[securespark]

if the cpc is sleeved in green and yellow sleeving and secured in a connector block then this is common practice and there is nothing wrong with it

Apart from the fact that the terminations are exposed and it looks completely amateurish and a lot of a pig's ear, no.

 

[jel1972]

if there not live conductors why should they have to be enclosed

 

[brown-nought]

if there not live conductors why should they have to be enclosed

To name three reasons off the top of my head : Fire prevention, mechanical damage protection and shock risks.
Earths carry current (and hence have potential) under earth fault conditions.

 

[jel1972]

so why dont they manufacture enclosed ec14's, earth blocks.

 

[brown-nought]

Table 10B and 10C of the OSG.

Exposed 1mm/1.5mm earth cables aren't mechanically protected when they stick out of a JB.

I wouldn't rip an installation apart to fix but if its something you have been doing I'd stop.