Can I change a spur to a single socket?

[Mottie]

Mottie

The socket now behind the radiator is more of a concern. The regs have zones where it is permitted to run cables and these run horizontal or vertical from the socket. The risk is that somebody could drill into any buried cable, as the socket is hidden. There is also a requirement that all switches and sockets are accessible. You should move the socket or take it out of commision.

As for the FCU, you need to check if it is RCD protected and confirm it is in a ring. You can of course follow the diyer advice to carry on as you wanted to, as it will 'almost certainly' be a ring and it will be an FCU in the ring (as opposed to a spur from the ring).

Thanks. I'm just trying to help her out. Her son arranged for his friend to move the radiator but he 'forgot' to move the socket. I only noticed the socket when I had a peek down the back of the rad. I’m fairly sure nobody will drill into any cables as she has a solid floor so no wires will be outside the footprint of the radiator and I can’t see why anyone would want to drill into the floor underneath a sofa. She needed that socket for a lamp where she sits and reads of a night and his 'fix' was to move the lamp to the other side of the room! He has told her the switched spur can’t be changed to a socket. He often tells her things can’t be done when they clearly can but I’m suspecting a little bit of laziness on his part.

 

[JohnW2]

Hi John. All well here and I hope all is well with you and yours.

That's good to hear. We're fine thanks, and both of us are having our second doses of (AZ) vaccine next week - so fairly soon thereafter we should be as well 'protected' as is currently possible.

I wasn't referring to you, rather that when a query is raised regarding FCU, the diy response tends to be that 'I changed an FCU for something else and it's fine.'

Fair enough, and my apologies for assuming that you were aiming your comment at me! For what it's worth, I would personally never say (or think) something such as you suggest.

I would just say it's always best to establish what is there, before changing. This is something electricians (most of us) do as a matter of course.

Not just (as you say, 'most') electricians - me too

As you presumably realise, the main point of of my contribution to this thread results from the fact that I believe the OP should be fully and correctly informed/advised. Considering the situation if the FCU is on a spur from a ring final (about the 'worst' possible), many people (probably primarily electricians) advise that the regulations 'do not permit' two single sockets on an unfused spur from a ring final - but, as I have explained, I do not believe that is true, hence not 'full and correct' advice.

Kind Regards, John

 

[conny]

Thanks. I'm just trying to help her out. Her son arranged for his friend to move the radiator but he 'forgot' to move the socket. I only noticed the socket when I had a peek down the back of the rad. I’m fairly sure nobody will drill into any cables as she has a solid floor so no wires will be outside the footprint of the radiator and I can’t see why anyone would want to drill into the floor underneath a sofa. She needed that socket for a lamp where she sits and reads of a night and his 'fix' was to move the lamp to the other side of the room! He has told her the switched spur can’t be changed to a socket. He often tells her things can’t be done when they clearly can but I’m suspecting a little bit of laziness on his part.

Chances are, with a solid floor, the cables come down the wall from above. This means someone could 'potentially' drill into a cable which feeds from above not below.

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks. I'm just trying to help her out. Her son arranged for his friend to move the radiator but he 'forgot' to move the socket. I only noticed the socket when I had a peek down the back of the rad.

Whilst I cannot disagree with the correctness of what scousespark has said, there are any number of sockets out there which are 'concealed' in the fashion you describe - behind bit of heavy (and essentially never moved) pieces of furniture etc.

I’m fairly sure nobody will drill into any cables as she has a solid floor so no wires will be outside the footprint of the radiator and I can’t see why anyone would want to drill into the floor underneath a sofa.

Are you saying that the feed to the socket comes (vertically) from the solid floor below? If so, then I would agree with you on a common sense basis. I imagine that scousespark was concerned about the possibility of a buried cable running horizontally from the now-hidden socket, hence emerging (still buried in the wall) beyond the side of the radiator (and that someone might drill into the wall there, unaware of the socket or cable)

Kind Regards,
John

 

[Mottie]

Chances are, with a solid floor, the cables come down the wall from above. This means someone could 'potentially' drill into a cable which feeds from above not below.

The wall that the concealed socket is on is a half height stud wall dividing the lounge from the dining room.