Single Socket fault

[TamB]

Hi All,

I have moved into my first house and I am having a problem with a single wall socket. At first it was working then, after the painter's were in, the socket stopped working. The wall where the socket is located was wall papered and I assume that they removed the socket from the wall.

Having checked the voltage with a multimeter, the result was that there was 10VAC coming through.

The socket itself seems to be quite old but I cannot figure out what the problem is?

Any help or advice would be grately appreciated.

Thanks
Thomas

 

[securespark]

Sometimes the contacts wear so that you get poor contact with the plug pins.

I got called out to help a colleague sort a bad earth problem in a dining room.

It turned out there was nothing wrong with the circuit, but the sockets were old, the earth contacts worn loose and the loop impedance was poor or non-existent.

It could be several things:

Poor connection inside the socket between the conductors and the terminals.

Worn-out socket.

Broken connection prior to the socket.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Having checked the voltage with a multimeter, the result was that there was 10VAC coming through.

10V between where and where?

Test between neutral and line first, then test earth to line. May be a wire has broken/fallen off behind the socket.
TURN OFF TYE POWER and carefully remove the socket to see if there is anything obvious there.
The fault could be because the wiring was distrurbed at another socket, so it may be worth looking behind all the sockets that the painters might have moved.

 

[TamB]

Sorry, I should of added that I had removed the socket from the wall as I thought that one of the cables was loose and then tested live to neutral and live to earth.

Thanks for the help and advice.

Think I will try swapping another socket in the room and see what happens.

 

[plugwash]

IMO you are at the point where if you don't know what you are doing you should get someone in who does.

In particular in the UK we usually use ring circuits. This means that if there is no power to a socket there are very likely TWO faults. Fixing one of them will make things work but could cause overloading.

 

[Taylortwocities]

How many cables are behind that socket?

 

[securespark]

If you have checked the voltage from behind the socket (ie at the terminals) then that excludes the socket from the equation, at least.

If you are sure the terminals are tight and the screws are gripping the conductor and not the insulation, then there must be a fault leading up to that socket.