Plug tester reading

[Desie]

Hi Guys

I ahev just changed 20 socket fronts for new ones and gone round with a plug tester. Every socket is reading Earth Live cross. I surely can;t have made the stupid mistake of crossing an earth and live connection. The sockets are not working and the MCB hasn't tripped.

Any ideas or is as simple as a stupid mistake. Do I now have to take off every plug front and check for which one has the error?

Thanks

 

[kai]

Switch off the electricity, and call a profesional electrician fast.. you could set your house on fire, or electrocute somebody if you don't.

 

[RF Lighting]

Do you have access to any test equipment which is a little more sophisticated than the socket tester? Something like a multimeter would be great.

First thing to check would be to remove one of the socket fronts that you have fitted to double check that all the wires are in the correct terminals

You should only do this with the power switched off at THE MAIN SWITCH. Switching off the MCB will not be sufficient.

Are there any other sockets in the house that you could check you tester on? (such as on a cooker switch, or even a neighbours house)
Check the tester, then we can rule this out as being the problem.

As has already been said, leave the power switched off, until this is resolved.

If there truly is a live - earth reversed, then there is a very real risk of electrocution.

 

[Lectrician]

Sounds like a dropped neutral somewhere - this can cause some socket testers to show a reversal of live and earth.

For all your socket not to work it would have to be either at the CU, or at the two sockets that are at the beginning ends of the ring - highly improbable!

I would get a spark to sort this for you - this socket tester could be masking another problem. Having no means of earthing to a building can cause funny faults on these testers, especially with a L to E fault, even if this has a high impedance.

 

[cozycats]

Are u sure the skts aren't working? wouldn't be the first time I've found the incoming supply wrong!!! try plugging in a radio or something else which only requires L & N.

 

[Desie]

Guys

I tried something that someone suggested.

I switched off the MCB and disconnected the first and last sockets on the ring and used a multitester to test for continuity of the circuit on all three cable strands L/N/E. All three bleeped on the multimeter to indicate a complete circuit. How could the circuit be crossed if the multimeter indicated a complete circuit in all three cases?

As a sanity check I tried the 9 combinations of cables to make sure there was no continuity across strands.

I'm baffled.

 

[Pensdown]

If you have just changed the socket fronts, have you checked that you have the lives and earths in the correct terminals?

 

[Desie]

That's what I was hoping to avoid. I was hopingb someone might say there was a common thing that caused this and took two minutes to resolve. Looks like I'll be spending 4 hours tomorrow looking behing every socket front.

Unless someone knows different..................

 

[plugwash]

iirc those testers can sometimes pick up a lost neutral as a live-earth cross.

 

[RF Lighting]

I don't think you need to look behind every socket front, if you just take a couple off and they are alright, yet the tester still shows a fault then it is more likely that either the tester or the supply is at fault.

 

[Lectrician]

iirc those testers can sometimes pick up a lost neutral as a live-earth cross.

I agree with pluggy here - see my previous post. I don't think you could connect all 20 sockets with a L - E reversal! - And the earth terminal is usually very obviously the earth......