Cable confusion.

[stevenaive]

I've just bought a house with some wires hanging in the garage, no idea what they are or what they are connected to.

Got some pics of them and the fuse box:

Cable coming through the wall (thin white one too).

End of that cable:

Ceiling wires:

Freaky things poking out the wall:

Should I go up here and look for clues??

 

[stevenaive]

Fuse box doesn't seem to be connected to them, house alarm switched off:

Any help greatly appreciated, wouldn't mind some decent power going to the garage, need to run a compressor in there, maybe 30 amp.

 

[JohnW2]

Do you know what that yellow box at bottom left is? It appears to be a fused switch, rated at 35A, which may once have fed the garage, but I can only see one cable (plus an earth) going into it - are there any other cables which are not visible in the photo?

What's going on in the garage clearly needs some serious sorting out before one could even dream of connecting it to electricity!

Kind Regards, John

 

[AndyPRK]

Does the garage light work?

Do you think that yellow isolator is connected to the garage ?

 

[stevenaive]

Do you know what that yellow box at bottom left is? It appears to be a fused switch, rated at 35A, which may once have fed the garage, but I can only see one cable (plus an earth) going into it - are there any other cables which are not visible in the photo?

What's going on in the garage clearly needs some serious sorting out before one could even dream of connecting it to electricity!

Kind Regards, John

Ahh... that would make sense (I'm clueless by the way).

Here's a better pic:

Appears to be just what you said, the grey wire goes into it, then the earth goes to that little black box, no other wires going to or from the yellow box.

 

[stevenaive]

Does the garage light work?

Do you think that yellow isolator is connected to the garage ?

It's not working but that could just be the bulb, I'll try and change it.

Really hope the yellow box is powering the lead in the garage, I'll have an electrician test it!

All of that being said - I forgot to mention that there's a bloody oil burner in the garage for the central heating, no doubt that's what the yellow box powers, gah...

 

[AndyPRK]

Arh. There are some blue and brown tails coming out the Henleys which no doubt power the yellow isolator

 

[JohnW2]

Do you know what that yellow box at bottom left is? It appears to be a fused switch, rated at 35A, which may once have fed the garage, but I can only see one cable (plus an earth) going into it - are there any other cables which are not visible in the photo? What's going on in the garage clearly needs some serious sorting out before one could even dream of connecting it to electricity!

Ahh... that would make sense (I'm clueless by the way). ... Here's a better pic: ....Appears to be just what you said, the grey wire goes into it, then the earth goes to that little black box, no other wires going to or from the yellow box.

With only one cable, it can't be supplying anything (it would need 'in' and 'out' cables') so, if it ever were supplying the garage (which seems probable), a cable must have been removed. That makes sense, since there is no way that electricity could (should) be connected to what you've shown us of the current wiring in the garage!!

I think you will need an electrician to sort out what is going on, and what can be done with it!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Arh. There are some blue and brown tails coming out the Henleys which no doubt power the yellow isolator

Ah - so there are - they could be going behind the board and into the back of the isolator .... which is rather worrying if that isolator is supplying the garage (with wiring as we've seen), since the isolator seems to be switched' on'.

stevenaive: have you ever tried turning the switch on that yellow isolator to the 'off' position and seeing if anything in the house stops working?

I still think an electrician is probably going to be needed to sort this out!

Kind Regards, John

 

[AndyPRK]

All of that being said - I forgot to mention that there's a bloody oil burner in the garage for the central heating, no doubt that's what the yellow box powers, gah...

 

[JohnW2]

All of that being said - I forgot to mention that there's a bloody oil burner in the garage for the central heating, no doubt that's what the yellow box powers, gah...

I missed that. Steve could try switching off the isolator to see if it kills the CH boiler. If it does, indicating that the yellow isolator is, indeed, supplying power to the garage, I would say that steve has an urgent need to get an electrician to investigate the garage wiring, not the least to make sure that none of those 'loose ends' are live!

Kind Regards, John

 

[stevenaive]

All of that being said - I forgot to mention that there's a bloody oil burner in the garage for the central heating, no doubt that's what the yellow box powers, gah...

I missed that. Steve could try switching off the isolator to see if it kills the CH boiler. If it does, indicating that the yellow isolator is, indeed, supplying power to the garage, I would say that steve has an urgent need to get an electrician to investigate the garage wiring, not the least to make sure that none of those 'loose ends' are live!

Kind Regards, John

Haha. Exactly!

Ringing him now...

 

[stevenaive]

But before that... found this above the garage, whether it's powering the garage light bulb or not, I dunno.

Could have gone up but probably would've had to be rescued by the fire brigade, I'm scared of heights.

Electrician coming tomorrow.

 

[JohnW2]

Electrician coming tomorrow.

An update after the electrician has deliberated would be welcome!

Kind Regards, John

 

[Gutterball]

the freaky thing in pic 4 is a buckle clip. it's what you used to use to attach cables to walls etc before cable clips were invented. they are still available from some suppliers.