Is this a mess?

DagenhamDave · 22 Oct 2004

This image is from a property I am thinking of buying. I am trying to use the electrics as one way of negotiating the price. Would you be worried by any of this or is it a 'typical' set-up found in many 1900 built terraced properties?

Edited to remove url to original image

BruisedThumb · 22 Oct 2004

That link doesn't work for me.

Can anyone else get it?

AdamW · 22 Oct 2004

No, and whatsmore I'm getting spammed about clicking yes to accept content. Not good.

Dave, try using another image host. The old darknet or darkhorse, dark something or other works very well.

andemz · 22 Oct 2004

No... no joy either. There isn't a picture in the html.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"></HEAD>
<BODY></BODY></HTML>

ninebob · 22 Oct 2004

Me too... no image.

Try imagehost.darkernet.co.uk - seems to be the preferred on this forum, I've certainly had no problems with it.

supersparks · 22 Oct 2004

works for me..after some time

yes that is a mess
a single switchfuse unit for each circuit
but no signs of lead / vir

plugwash · 22 Oct 2004

worked for me in ie but not in firefox

i've reposted it

there are three "fuseboxes" but that isn't all that unusual

it all looks like wylex standard to me too

i also hoewever notice 6mm? T&E conencted directly to henly blocks which isn't really acceptable

might be an idea to get a sparky in to put the issues in writing and spot any other problems (you could get a pir done but it seems like overkill to do that before you own the property)

Damocles · 22 Oct 2004

The stuff here is a lot younger than 1900. Younger than 1950 even. Cables look like PVC. At least one of those fuse boxes has just a strand of copper as the earth. has the earthing been updated, i.e earth bonding to water, gas supplies and in bathroom. What do the sockets and switches look like?

DagenhamDave · 22 Oct 2004

Ok, first apologies for the trouble I've caused with the image. It was 600k and I thought I'd post a url rather than distort the messageboard. I've now reduced it and hosted it on Darker Network.

http://imagehost.darkernet.co.uk/i/DSCN0096.jpg

Can the original image be deleted?

The information I have on the house is that it was re-wired in the 1980's but that obviously didn't go as far as a new consumer unit. The wiring I've managed to look at seems to match in with that date and all the sockets seem to be Ok (The usual MK ones). What seems to occur a lot is unsecured cables hanging in cupboards. For example in the boiler cupboard is a junction box with wiring for the electronic timer but none clipped to the wall. The same in the kitchen behind the cooker (but to a FCU rather than a JB).

I've only lived in new build houses and the most I've had to face is a shiny consumer unit with MCBs. This was a bit of a shock when I opened the cupboard.

I notice one of the units has two fuses but only one switch. So I guess turning it off will isolate the lights and the sockets together?

Is it sensible to have phone sockets located so close to the consumer unit?

Thanks for the replies. I will definitely get an electrician to give me an assessment but it looks like a re-wire to my untrained eye. Hopefully this can be knocked off any asking price.

Thanks again.

Damocles · 22 Oct 2004

Is the cable going into the grey mem box bottom right very dirty grey PVC, or is it black rubber? If it is rubber, then indeed there might be problems. If all the cabling is in PVC, then possibly it was rewired in the 80s. Or it could be older and the cabling was re-used. If the earth conductor is the current standard size (and the lighting circuit has an earth), then the cabling could be OK. I take it the fittings are modern MK, not 1960s.

Don't want to disappoint you, but possibly it is not quite as bad as it might seem at first glance...especially from the sellers point of view.

Are there enough sockets about the place? How many of these fuses are for rings? Are lots of sockets wired as spurs off others? Don't think you said how big the place is. (bit difficult to read post as the pages are all scrolled off the screen) Even if everything is borderline ok, you could still argue there just was not enough of it.

It is not recommended to run telephone cables directly alondside power cables. On the other hand, if it works then it works. Seems a bit impractical having the telephone socket inside a meter cupboard.

securespark · 23 Oct 2004

I do think that is VIR......

In my experience, it looks like a rewire. I can see there is a fair bit of PVC but as I say in my experience, any install that has a piecemeal arrangement like that is going to be piecemeal elsewhere, too.

Budget a couple of grand or ask them if they will accept your spark to do a PIR on it to let you know the exact state of the wiring.

DagenhamDave · 23 Oct 2004

Thanks again for the replies and for tidying up the mess caused by the original image.

All the cables you can see are PVC but some are dirtier than others! All sockets and light switches are the modern type.

The property is a two bedroom end terrace and I presume (and I know I never should) that there is separate fuse for the shower and one for the cooker. That leaves the lighting circuit and a ring which I think will be in the unit with the single switch but two re-wireable fuses 5A and 30A.

From memory there seemed to be ample power sockets in each room although I don't know how these have been installed in terms of spurs. I did spot a wall mounted mini flourescent light in one bedroom and the cable leading from it looked suspiciously like it was spurred from a power socket with no FCU in sight. The meter cupboard is located in the hallway and the phone sits on top of the cupboard, hence the phone sockets inside.

I will have to arrange another visit and do more snooping. I'm sure they won't mind if I unscrew a light switch or two

With no documentation it's a case of believing what I'm told about the 1980's re-wire and then seeing if the electricians report backs this up. There weren't any shocked replies so I guess that this set-up without an updated consumer unit is a pretty common sight in the day-to-day life of an electrician.

dingbat · 23 Oct 2004

DagenhamDave said:
...I guess that this set-up without an updated consumer unit is a pretty common sight in the day-to-day life of an electrician.

Common? It's the norm!

--tom · 24 Oct 2004

Plugwash, would you care to "go thro" the pic detailing what is what.

dw3101 · 24 Oct 2004

Whats just out of the pic, top right??

Especially the cable coming to the 2 way wylex on the top right.

Why do the Elec. Companies do such messy tails??

WTF is the red tape, or under it?

ive seen much worse.

David

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Is this a mess?

supersparks

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