outlet socket all wrong

[saf1976kn]

Just doing so decorating in are bedroom and wanted to remove sockets and replace as i was removing the 3rd socket i could not believe my eyes as the live wire was screwed in to the neutral and neutral in to the live how has the circuit not gone bang as i look at the other sockets they are fitted correctly i have had a new consumer unit fitted in the last 6 months and this socket has not been touched since the day i moved in to the house
cheers saf

 

[kevindgas]

luck!!
probably never had anything polarity sensitive plugged in to it. table
lamps , radios etc will work reversed.

 

[ninjacat]

Not much of a problem as far as bangs are concerned as polarity doesn't matter, operationally, on most domestic kit (if not all domestic kit).

It does matter if (as is usual in the UK) any isolating switch on the appliance is single pole.

If you had a new CU put in, shouldn't this fault have been noticed in the checks before installation, or on the post installation checks? (I'm not a domestic sparks so I have no idea if reversed polarity on a single socket of a ring will be spotted on the usual tests.) It would make me suspect and want to check what else was missed when the CU was installed.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If you had a new CU put in, shouldn't this fault have been noticed in the checks before installation, or on the post installation checks?

Yes.

It would make me suspect and want to check what else was missed when the CU was installed.

Me too.

 

[saf1976kn]

Not much of a problem as far as bangs are concerned as polarity doesn't matter, operationally, on most domestic kit (if not all domestic kit).

It does matter if (as is usual in the UK) any isolating switch on the appliance is single pole.

If you had a new CU put in, shouldn't this fault have been noticed in the checks before installation, or on the post installation checks? (I'm not a domestic sparks so I have no idea if reversed polarity on a single socket of a ring will be spotted on the usual tests.) It would make me suspect and want to check what else was missed when the CU was installed.

i had the new CU installed then had a test on the house electrics no faults found with ring main but had to have down stairs lighting circuit rewired as it was old black cables and was breaking down as you could see the bare wire.upstairs was new white cable (ie ten years old cable) it was like the previous owners had run out of money not sure the earth had been cut out so i had earth re installed

cheers saf

 

[ninjacat]

was new white cable (ie ten years old cable)

Surely it should be grey T & E?

a test on the house electrics no faults found with ring main

They didn't look very hard then?

old black cables and was breaking down as you could see the bare wire

Phew

not sure the earth had been cut out so i had earth re installed

You never mentioned the Earth (cpc) before.

What certificates were you given and what test results. It is a major job to install a CU and must be notified via the appropriate channels to the LABC.

Others will give you a better idea as I am not a domestic sparky, just do entertainment production electrics.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

was new white cable (ie ten years old cable)

Surely it should be grey T & E?

Why?

What certificates were you given and what test results.

Fake ones by the looks of things...

 

[Spark123]

One of the bigger issues is that the fuse in a plugtop is in the Live only - a fault in a class 1 appliance/flex would need to take out the 32A breaker at the board, if the circuit is RCD protected then it won't be quite as bad.

 

[ninjacat]

Sorry BAS, just living under the impression that this was the norm. for lighting T & E for installs.

Only ever see white flex, not T & E. Of course, I know I am about to be proved wrong

 

[kevindgas]

Sorry BAS, just living under the impression that this was the norm. for lighting T & E for installs.

Only ever see white flex, not T & E. Of course, I know I am about to be proved wrong

under the old colours white sheaving was available and used quite extensively, not seen any with the new blue / brown colours but thats not to say you can't get it

 

[ricicle]

One of my old employers went through a stage of using white T+E back in the early nineties. I hated it - can't think why ?

 

[ericmark]

In days gone by white twin and earth was same as grey only different colour but in later years the while twin and earth was rated 90degC and grey at 70degC either way there is not problems having white twin and earth.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I thought that white was now LSF?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Sorry BAS, just living under the impression that this was the norm. for lighting T & E for installs.

Only ever see white flex, not T & E. Of course, I know I am about to be proved wrong

I'm told there used to be a significant north-south divide, with grey predominating in the grim north.¹











































¹ It's just a phrase - I know it's not true

 

[plugwash]

If you had a new CU put in, shouldn't this fault have been noticed in the checks before installation, or on the post installation checks?

Yes.

Hmm, my understanding was that when checking existing installations it was normal to only check a sample of outlets.

And lets not forget that in a typical domestic installation there are generally no existing records so even if someone checks every socket they are aware of that doesn't nessacerlly mean they will have found them all..