I took a wall mounted fan heater out of my bathroom when I decorated but left the FSCU in place. I wonder how long it will take before a new occupier finds out that it's only the neon in the switch that does anything when you flick the switch 
Can someone help ID what this switch is
- Thread starter sjw64
- Start date
If it wasn't for the fact that it was all painted over I would be tempted to turn off the electrics at the consumer unit and then unscrew the connection unit from the wall to see if there are any wires connected to the load side of the switch. However as it is, to do that would make a mess of the front face of the switch and possibly the wallpaper around it, so that's best left until you're ready to do the decorating later in the year.
I like the idea of checking with your neighbour to see if they have one and know what it isolates/isolated.
I like the idea of checking with your neighbour to see if they have one and know what it isolates/isolated.
Get a knife and slice round the switch, and gently tap the switch off the wall.
Have a look, see what you got.
Then fit a new blanking plate or a new switch, for the time being.
If you use a blanking plate, you may need to terminate the feed wires in connector blocks first.
EDIT, turn ALL the power off first, and test the wiring with a proper tester. Those neon pen testers, I think this is what you used to test with, shouldn't be relied on too much - they can give false indication, so you should always double check with a proper voltage tester.
I don't want this to go into a long discussion on the pros and cons of these 'contactless' testers here, they do have their uses, and can give guidance, but double checking is important.
Have a look, see what you got.
Then fit a new blanking plate or a new switch, for the time being.
If you use a blanking plate, you may need to terminate the feed wires in connector blocks first.
EDIT, turn ALL the power off first, and test the wiring with a proper tester. Those neon pen testers, I think this is what you used to test with, shouldn't be relied on too much - they can give false indication, so you should always double check with a proper voltage tester.
I don't want this to go into a long discussion on the pros and cons of these 'contactless' testers here, they do have their uses, and can give guidance, but double checking is important.
switch your breakers off one at a time and see which circuit it is on. that will give you a clue as to where to isolate/remove the supply to it.[/quote]
I've seen all sorts of odd ways of wiring and it is not impossible to bypass the switch and use it as an unswitched spur unit so removing the fuse would eliminate that possibility.
Indeed, one sees all sorts of things like that. However, with any SFCU I've seen, it's impossible to 'bypass the switch' (either literally, or simply by using only the supply side terminals) yet still have the fuse in circuit - so I still don't think that removing the fuse of a 'switched off' SFCU would achieve anything. However, maybe I'm missing something!
Kind Regards, John
Have you got a double socket at floor level to the left/right of that switch as your looking at the wall? Looks identical to a friends house, switched spur in the same place used for a wall mounted fan heater which was long since gone, opened it up to see if it could be removed to find 3 2.5mm T&E cables, ring in/out and spur to the socket below.
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