Socket faults

[Martin456]

Hello,

I used a home socket tester and had a few faults. I tried emailing five electricians over the last few months but I didn't get replies. Not sure if it's something too much of a hassle to fix, or too simple? Is it important to get fixed please?

There's issues on a pair of sockets in the bedroom, and one socket in the living room. The tester gives a few different possibilities rather than a specific fault.

Pair of sockets in bedroom:

L-N reverse… or
L-N-E miswire


Living room socket:

faulty N / L-E miswire... or
faulty N / E miswire... or
faulty N... or
Faulty N / L-E reverse


Socket tester: Kewtech Loopcheck 107.

Thanks

 

[securespark]

What does your visual inspection throw up?

Post pictures of the backs of the sockets having turned off the power and unscrewed the sockets.

Only do this if you are confident.

 

[chivers67]

When did all this happen and what caused you to want to start fault finding too? It sounds like an awful mess

 

[Martin456]

When did all this happen and what caused you to want to start fault finding too? It sounds like an awful mess

I had a short buzzing sometimes from my computer last year, but it may have been unrelated. I bought the socket tester just in case and ended up trying all the sockets.

Even the ones that have faults do work when appliances were plugged in, although I stopped using them since I found the faults.

The one in the living room is a paired socket but only one side has a fault. An electrician did replace that socket a couple of years ago, because it was slightly loose from the wall (I think the back had broken). They were young and assisting a gas engineer / electrician who was doing a boiler service, so I thought maybe they were inexperienced and wired it incorrectly.

Does 'an awful mess' mean it would need cables ripped out of the walls to fix, or is it likely just a case of someone unscrewing the sockets and fixing how it's wired please?

Thanks

 

[securespark]

No, I don't think you need to do anything that drastic.

The issue where you say each side of a double socket reads differently... That sounds like you just need to replace the socket.

The others may have LN reversal, but we need to see inside the sockets to see how they are connected and what the wiring is like.