Cunning ways to find what is fed from a circuit

I was attempting to to fathom the inner workings of our electrics today, and got some things sorted. So at least the whole house RCD is gone and we should be able to endure a horse farting without it tripping!

I found one of the ring circuits with a third cable joined to it at the CU. So having tested which were the ends of the ring, I thought it would be easy enough to see what this extra one was by the expedient of leaving it disconnected and seeing what no longer worked. As far as I can tell alas - nothing!

All I can tell so far is its a 2.5mm^2 T&E that romps off downwards. The L to N resistance is >20M Ohms (on a DMM). I stuck a tone generator on it and could follow it only to arms length down form the CU cupboard, but could not pickup the tone anywhere else. So unless there is a socket hiding somewhere and it was just a spur taken from the circuit origin I am not sure where else to look. Suggestions?

Reply to
John Rumm
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I said to SWMBO, it could be spur feeding a socket position, but it must be somewhere obscure because I have tested all the ones I can see.

"What about that one at the bottom of the stairs?" she says pointing at a socket so bleeding obvious I had walked past it several times.

FX: plug socket tester in - oh look no power. Tone generator, sings like a goodun. Final check reveals one lonely T&E lurking behind.

She's looking smug now ;-)

Reply to
John Rumm

There's one like that in my place, the old immersion cable used as a spur. When I had my periodic inspection done (qv) the tester asked why I hadn't left it on its own circuit, to which I said that I thought it safer not to have an odd socket in the bedroom (which is where the pre-combi HWC was) left live when the power was apparently turned off.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

My boiler is fed off its own radial circuit. Dunno why I did that all those years ago. With an FCU too. When I fitted the new boiler I found an extra 1mm pair fed from the 'permanently live' side. Which I couldn't figure out. Measured open circuit. Wasn't the pump overrun I'd added later either. Discovered today after the scaffolding came down and I could get to the outside loo. It was the light for that.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Not sure what is worse - trying to figure out all the funnies that have happened in the past before you owned it, or trying to remember the ones that have happened since ;-)

Reply to
John Rumm

Probably only ever used for the hoover....

Reply to
stuart noble

It's something blokes often forget when laying out wiring. Convenient sockets for hoovering the hall and stairs, etc. Hoovers always have cables

3 ft too short...
Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

When I was doing some replacement wiring recently I used sticky paper labels round the cables to identify them (e.g. east wing ring from Sock L5 to Sock L4). Last time I looked several had been nibbled by mice :-(

R.

Reply to
TheOldFellow

Nice alternative is long tubes on the cleaner itself. Small house - we can do most cleaning by leaving the cylinder in the hall or on the landing - all rooms almost fully accessible without moving it within a floor. (Extreme end of one room isn't quite.)

Not quite a central vacuum unit...

Reply to
Rod

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