Live, Earth and Neutral wires live

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Hi Gentlemen,
Whilst looking at an electrical issue for a friend that hasn't got a bean to scratch his nose with....that seemed to be a socket outlet (RCB kept popping off)
I started checking each outlet I found a cable one side of the room and one the other side of the room presumably the continuing of the ring, at each outlet one cable was completely dead but the other wire each set of 3 wires earth, live and neutrals are live yet power to that RCB has been switched off...( cannot be accurate with tester used but it stated approx 12v exactly the same on each wire))
everything else in the house works fine....
if a wire in laying on this cable was stripped and a screw was put through both cables would that cause same fault?
would like to know what is happening before I rip cables from walls to take out this part of the ring and replace with new cable and block off each end...
 
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Someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly, but in the meantime, what are you testing the cables with? For voltages as low as 12v with a simple multimeter it could be induced current from other circuits and therefore the cables are not actually 'live'.
 
I would walk away, you may be able to disconnect faulty wires, and turn the ring into two radials using a smaller MCB/RCBO but without test equipment you on a hiding to nothing. And if you get it wrong, friend or no friend, you will be the one in court not him. So I would not get involved.
 
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I had a break in our downstairs earth for the lighting circuit and the earth wire picked up 70v ac just running along side in the twin and earth cables.
 
Whilst looking at an electrical issue for a friend that hasn't got a bean to scratch his nose with....that seemed to be a socket outlet (RCB kept popping off)
I started checking each outlet I found a cable one side of the room and one the other side of the room presumably the continuing of the ring, at each outlet one cable was completely dead but the other wire each set of 3 wires earth, live and neutrals are live yet power to that RCB has been switched off...( cannot be accurate with tester used but it stated approx 12v exactly the same on each wire))
everything else in the house works fine....
if a wire in laying on this cable was stripped and a screw was put through both cables would that cause same fault?
would like to know what is happening before I rip cables from walls to take out this part of the ring and replace with new cable and block off each end...
I really do wonder if the OP (or anyone else) could explain (in English) what is meant by the above.

"one cable was completely dead but the other wire each set of 3 wires earth, live and neutrals are live yet power to that RCB has been switched off" - does lead to some confusion.
Is the OP talking about Wires, Cables or what?
 
now then all, I thought when I signed up for a little help for a friend that I was entering a real of informative gentlemen who share expertise and knowledge to help a fellow who is struggling.....guess I knocked at the wrong door... cos its full of seemingly condescending quite uninformative p.ricks... except for Keithmac and ericmark ( though I wouldn't want to resort to that method of fault finding all the same)
I didn't realise I to imbibe the contents of several dictionaries of electricians twang before I could state the predicament ...

I found the fault with a £1.99 tester from boyes... it has a LED reading that when you put ( am I slowing it down for you enough) your thumb, yes the big one at the end over tboth contacts it gives a reading of the live voltage hence me stating 12v...

testing the ring by taking off each sockets and seeing that behind each one are two twin & earth cables (2.5mm) my methology was to see with limited resources where the ring began and at what point it stopped working as in receive 230v without the rcb tripping ...= no fault
yer following me so far....as it is a concrete floor , cables go up yes the same direction your fingers go up your nose pointing to your eyes
that lead me to the ceiling in which the lighting circuit was...oooo smaller cables.... I had to take a florry down no not a flower, a long light about 4ft in old money and I put in a batten lamp holder, it was whilst asserting which was the "switch" wire...I found that each lighting cable was live mmmm another cuppa...slurp biccy later, the ring had a spur in the ceiling (took ceiling down- don't do things by half, let the dog see the rabbit ....)and a lighting cable was entwined, no it was embraced with the spurred wire... the spur went up and was sent under the bath along with its lighting companion and the disappeared together into the brick cavity of the outside wall, is there a light outside I asked my friend in lay mans terms.... he was quivering in the corner still in awe of the Magic wires that carry E-LEC-Trickery (as he put it)
I went outside...the wind was howling....etc etc would you adam and eve it cor blimey and other cockney phrases... there was a 2.5mm wire in the guttering, honestly there wus yer hona, I's swears down....
my now infamous tester appeared and probed and probed the rascal from the guttering...take that I said... it did not reply
no voltage...mmm strange
now as this little device could not through any type of sorcery tell me of the integrity of the otter cable as to its conductive traits I assumed that because of the howling wind... remember that do you?....
the wishing and the to-ing and fro-wing of the cable that it may have broken along its entrance to the building under the roof tiles
I went inside and confronted the ceiling at a point I deemed was right under the cold and withered outside cable... and bashed a hole in the ceiling about 10" square....AHA no not the pop group who had a hit with TAKE-ON-ME.....Ahaaaaa more like it
there before me was a burnt cable a black burnt cable in front of me at one side it was dead....dead i tell you I separated it and the other was live ...alive I tell you....I ran to my extensive tool box and produced a 40amp junction box, lovely brown fleck colour with shiney brass screws inside... having fitted the JB ( hope that was not too technical a word for you....)and hey presto arriva derchy, well I'll go tho the foot of our stairs.... SUCCESS.... who needs ya... in your face you arrogant pompous newts
what av ya gotta say about that....( well mine was considerably more informative than yaows !)

Oh by the way my mate is well chuffed... all for the price of a handshake a cuppa and a choccy biccy.....
 
The flexing of the cable due to its proximity as in....

The cable was protruding from under a roof tile and the wind had flexed the cable like you would break off a metal bean can lid....
The weather had something to do with it as the cables outer structure was compromised allowing voltage/current to bridge to the neutral and earth wires.....

I hope the previous reply helped in some way.......even if it were merely to make someone chuckle....
it also seems to have quashed the air of arrogance with in the room.....
Happy diy-ing williamglossop, Keithmac and
ericmark....

to the others...they know who I mean.....be humble ;0)
 

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