spur socket not working -help

[triplepete]

I have now tested it with a plug in tester and it is a neutral fault, just need to track down the solution now.

My wifr has also just told me that in a room that she uses for ironing upstairs, a double socket has also stopped working. tested that too and it also has a neutral fault.

Could they be linked and what could be causing it?

 

[1john]

you have got a bad connection somewhere, if you are lucky it may be in the socket upstairs that does not work, or in the one before it. A multi meter would have been a little more helpful as you can also use continuity settings for basic testing and tracing of cables.

If you find a burnt terminal you need to cut away the tarnished and dirty copper / insulation and ideally replace the accessory.

 

[Greenie9657]

The switch is above worktop height and all I have to test the power is a cheap screwdriver which lights up when I touch the live at the switch and at the lower level socket.
I have also checked the connections at both points, although almost impossible at the switch, as there is virtually no slack in the wires!

Hi

You know there is voltage there as the (useless) screw driver tells you so go across the live and neutral wires with a multi meter. Make sure you are set to Volts AC. and that the scale is above 240volts. If the multimeter shows the voltage it must be wiring up the plug that is wrong or faulty but if you still dont have anything then that would indicate dodgy neutral.

Hope this helps.

 

[securespark]

Suspect the spur has burnt out on the N side.

 

[ricicle]

I suspect it's been sorted now after nearly 2 years !

 

[Maxatoria]

A neon screwdriver's main use is stabbing through plastic film.

or stir a cup of tea

 

[ban-all-sheds]

...proper tester ...

A multimeter, at least, is an essential tool to have if you want to work on your electrics. It is just as important to have that correct tool as it is to have screwdrivers to use on screws instead of the point of a vegetable knife, wirecutters to use instead of nail scissors, wirestrippers to use instead of teeth, and so on.

Neon screwdrivers are questionable from a safety POV as they use your body as a current path, and they are desperately unreliable - to safely check for voltage you must use a 2-pole tester, such as a proper voltage indicator or a multimeter.



This looks ideal for a household starter set - multimeter, voltage indicator and dedicated continuity tester, all in a handy case: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproduct/115/Junior-Set/

PDF brochure: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/downloadfile/115/beschreibung_1/

All in German, unfortunately, as is the blurb on each product:

Multimeter: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproductdata/487/Hexagon_55/

Voltage indicator: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproduct/116/2000_α_(alpha)/

Continuity tester: http://www.amprobe.eu/de_DE/showproduct/481/TESTFIX/

but it is sold in the UK - the company is now owned by Fluke, and I guess they haven't got all the websites sorted out yet - contact them (http://www.fluke.co.uk) for info on where to buy.

Right now the English specs are still lurking on the Internet Time Machine from when Beha was an independent company:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060920022629/http://www.beha.com/files_uk/multimeter/93549.pdf


Also see another discussion here: http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26282 It's a few years old, so specific model number advice may be obsolete (and prices will be higher), but the generic advice is still sound.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

A neon screwdriver's main use is stabbing through plastic film.

or stir a cup of tea

Or cleaning under your nails.

(Note - if doing this, do not also use it for stirring your tea.)

 

[JohnW2]

<various things, on one day, nearly two years ago>

....<a lengthy and detailed response>.

Do I take it that you have reason to believe that triplepete is still an active member of the forum - particularly bearing in mind that both his first and most recent posts were on 29 December 2010?

Kind Regards, John

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Personally, I think he is waiting with baited breath. And very creased clothes!!

 

[JohnW2]

Personally, I think he is waiting with baited breath. And very creased clothes!!

... and/or maybe no long a wife to do the ironing, if she gave up waiting for the socket to be mended!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Do I take it that you have reason to believe that triplepete is still an active member of the forum - particularly bearing in mind that both his first and most recent posts were on 29 December 2010?

No.

But you can take it that I didn't notice the dates when some t**t decided to resurrect a 2-year old topic. Just as secure and Maxatoria didn't.

 

[JohnW2]

Do I take it that you have reason to believe that triplepete is still an active member of the forum - particularly bearing in mind that both his first and most recent posts were on 29 December 2010?

No. But you can take it that I didn't notice the dates when some t**t decided to resurrect a 2-year old topic. Just as secure and Maxatoria didn't.

You may be at risk of talking yourself into a corner, since I suspect that the "some t**t" merely made essentially the same mistake that you did (not to mention ricicle having drawn our attention to the chronology!)

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Not the same.

I entered a topic which was near the top of the list of active ones.

I'll hold my hand up to not noticing it was an old one, but not to behaving like a t**t who went off and resurrected one which was NOT near the top of the list of active ones.

 

[JohnW2]

Not the same. I entered a topic which was near the top of the list of active ones. I'll hold my hand up to not noticing it was an old one, but not to behaving like a t**t who went off and resurrected one which was NOT near the top of the list of active ones.

Lighten up - most of us have done it!

Kind Regards, John.