Mystery wire in a ring socket and cable routes

[Gravyspoon]

Hi all,

This question is to satisfy my own curiosity mainly and to stop me dying in the future drilling into the walls.

We live in a mid 90s built house. The floors upstairs are those big beautiful sheets of tongue and groove chipboard, which has never been lifted (runs under upstairs walls, under skirtings/dry lining etc. I recently had to carefully cut out a section of this to run some pipes for new radiators. Now, this is the floor above the consumer unit, and as far as I can tell, the socket in question is the first/last on the upstairs ring, depending how you look at it.

Three identical t&e cables go into this box, but all other sockets upstairs are on the ring. This is original wiring as the floor hasnt been up and ceiling hasnt been down.

Where is this 3rd cable likely to go? It is something obvious that I'm missing? You can see the three cables disappear through the joist at the top of the picture with the wooden cross. Fyi, the middle fat pipe that is touching the underside of the boards is the gas pipe, which takes a remarkably illogical (if thats a word) route round the house waiting quietly for someone to saw through it to get the floor up. Luckily I stuck a boroscope under first. It's full of surprises this house.

Also, where is the most likely place for the upstairs lighting cables to run from the consumer unit? This is the picture under the floor of the cables coming out of the box and under the upstairs floor. The lonely grey wire disappears up behind the plasterboard with nothing to say it's there!! Presumably is the electric shower cable that drops back down from the loft. Again, looks original.

 

[mattylad]

While I don't know where the third wire is going, you say the middle pipe is the gas supply?
That unsupported pipe that can wobble as you walk along the floor, kids jump up & down - and it has nothing to prevent that joint from failing?

I'm no gas fitter either but I'd be concerned about that more & want to get that pipe supported.

 

[conny]

The third cable may be a single from a socket or junction box to supply a spur off the ring main. See if you can find a socket outlet with only one cable and this may be the one.

Is that an off cut of cable in the lower picture, showing the three cores or is that, (frighteningly), a live cable from somewhere?

 

[AndyPRK]

To find out how the light cables get into the loft it’s best to look in the loft.

Somewhere there will be a bundle of cables going down.
Mine went down near a light switch to be in a safe zone.

The cables I had going down were
Light supply
Smoke alarm cable
Alarm cables (few inches away)
Etc.

 

[Gravyspoon]

The third cable may be a single from a socket or junction box to supply a spur off the ring main. See if you can find a socket outlet with only one cable and this may be the one.

Is that an off cut of cable in the lower picture, showing the three cores or is that, (frighteningly), a live cable from somewhere?

You are correct, that is a cut off cable. I tested it when I saw it, and it is dead, and I gave a little tug on it, but is secure in there. I did wonder if it was an off cut that had fallen in, but it looks as though it was intentionally put there at first. Worrying discovery but it's not live thankfully!

Hadn't considered that it might be going to a junction box, which is possible.l, I was expecting a either a single cable at another socket, or a third cable popping up somewhere. Thanks for the suggestions.

Don't fret about the gas pipe, that's all secure now and protected from the boards, although no evidence of rubbing over the last 25 years. I don't take chances with things like that, I don't wish for my family to be scraped off of the roofs of houses at the other end of the street...

 

[Gravyspoon]

To find out how the light cables get into the loft it’s best to look in the loft.

Somewhere there will be a bundle of cables going down.
Mine went down near a light switch to be in a safe zone.

The cables I had going down were
Light supply
Smoke alarm cable
Alarm cables (few inches away)
Etc.

Thank you, the light switch route would make sense. I'll have a look and see. I did glance in the loft, but it's deep in that pumped in insulation so haven't been for a proper rummage..