New home wiring

[Nero]

Hi everyone. I just have a question about the wiring in the house I have just moved into.
I have attached a picture of the fusebox, The concern I have is with the sockets none of the fuses stop the power to them, the only way to do so is to turn off at the main switch, is this normal? Also I have looked behind a lot of them as I was thinking about adding more and there is only one cable coming out the back of them. I thought there would have been two on a ring main. One more thing (sorry lol) the bathroom light seems to be on a different circuit to the rest of the upstairs lights as the only way to stop power to it is at main switch, (same as sockets) the rest of the lights can be isolated by pulling one of the fuses out.
Thanks Fellas (hope I made sense)

 

[Robin0577]

It sounds as if you might have some interconnections between circuits, so you would have to pull out more than one fuse to remove power from a circuit. If that is the case, then it is dangerous and should be properly investigated straight away.

 

[bubachuba]

hi. as robin has already pointed out, there appears to be interconnection of circuits which is going to need a sparks with test gear to sort out. its going to be a matter of disconnecting circuits at the board and then splitting the circuit (or at least what is to believed to be on them) until the interconnection is picked up which i am sure you will appreciate can be very time consuming.
Out of curiosity, did you have any type of home survey? Reason i ask, is some of the more expensive ones i have seen mention electrical inspection and testing.
As for only one cable at each socket - is this for all of them? If so, it might be that someone has run a length from the board to a junction box and then spider legged it out to all the outlets! What is the current rating of the sockets circuit at the moment?

 

[Nero]

Hi Thanks for the reply, yes I had an inspection, nothing was said about the electrics, Ive also had a quote change to consumer unit and a few other things and they only mentioned no earth rod but read under 100 on ELI test. Btw the switch on the fuseboard AND on the grey circuit breaker seem to knock off everything! what do you think about wiring to sockets?

 

[Nero]

I have checked behind them all in only one room that I'm plastering and only one cable

 

[Robin0577]

Quite likely that all the ones you have looked behind so far are spurs from a ring final circuit. At one time it was quite common practice to run a single ring around one floor, usually the upper, of a house and then run spurs directly downwards (or upwards) to sockets directly above or below. That was fairly normal in the '70s, which is probably consistent with the apparent age of your installation.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I have checked behind them all in only one room that I'm plastering and only one cable

In my opinion, you should get the electrics sorted out BEFORE you do any more plastering. Resolving the problems that you have may involve some new/additional cables to be run, and that could mean chopping into your freshly plastered walls!

You need a qualified electrician to spend some time giving you advice on what needs doing.


PS - are you actually able to remove the cover of the fuseboard at the top? It looks like the wooden surround will get in the way?

 

[ericmark]

I will guess some one has wired each end of ring to different fuses I expect if you test by replacing a fuse rather than removing fuse i.e. start with no fuses you will find two fuses supply same sockets which needs correcting.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Eric

He said

I have looked behind a lot of them as I was thinking about adding more and there is only one cable coming out the back of them. I thought there would have been two on a ring main.

Sounds like radial circuits not any rings at all… But I think that some of the info may not be correct.


@Nero need a photo of the inside of each of the (several) fuseboards that you have in the picture.

ALWAYS turn off the MAIN SWITCH on each if you are removing the covers

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Unless you happen on the end of a branch, radials have two cables at each socket too.

 

[JohnW2]

Unless you happen on the end of a branch, radials have two cables at each socket too.

If, as has been suggested as a possible explanation of the OP's observations, the circuit were wired as a spider/star from a JB, then all sockets would, of course, be 'at the end of a branch'.

An electrician is clearly required to work out exactly what is going on.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I missed that suggestion. Is/was that ever done for socket circuits?

Spurs from a ring upstairs is more likely, IMO.

Nero - do you have a solid floor downstairs, or a suspended one?

 

[bubachuba]

I missed that suggestion. Is/was that ever done for socket circuits?

I have come across a length of 2.5 from the board to the opposite of the end of the house with 2 junction boxes in the middle "spidering" off for sockets. Not best practice by any means, although on a 16a breaker and technically a radial.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Quite common for bungalows (with concrete floor) to have a ring running round the loft and all sockets spurred down from JBs.

 

[JohnW2]

I missed that suggestion. Is/was that ever done for socket circuits?

I've seen it done - at least partially.

Spurs from a ring upstairs is more likely, IMO.

Maybe - or maybe a ring (or radial) of JBs, rather than sockets, if (as you go on to ask about) there is a problem with the downstairs floor.

Kind Regards, John