no earth and other woes

rick · 2017-01-04T17:59:01+00:00

My son bought his first house ..... and my list of jobs to be done increases weekly. Last week he bought several new ceiling lights ......... it seems existing lights were simply screwed to plasterboard - not even toggle fittings - just standard plugs. On each one I raised floorboards in room above and fitted solid noggins to give good fixing. Interesting observation so far in that the lights have been wired with single core PVC insulated, PVC sheathed (6181Y) all in black core sheath. At least they have put a bit of red tape to mark the switched live Is this a common way of doing things ..... I have never wired up this way ... even if using junction boxes method rather than loop-in ceiling roses, always used t&e to the light point. The issue here is that there is no earth at lighting point ......... 2 of the ceiling lights require earths ....... so looks like my job this weekend is to find a suitable point to pick up earth feed for each light .... I'm sure it is going to be a lot of hassle. Surprisingly one thing I did notice there is a standard 3 pin AC switched socket in the bathroom ... fitted at skirting level about 6" from the bath ! My boy is not very happy that I am insisting on removing this or no more work. When I went to knock off lighting cct - found that previous owner had done some 'boxing in' around the CU & meter ... unfortunately built it such that you can't open the flap on the CU .... frame blocks it - you gotta love bodgers ! Was looking for power feed to his boiler ... and behind his kitchen units found 2 fused spur sockets hanging in mid air from a ring main, providing feeds to washing machine & boiler - incredible someone would leave then simply hanging - I assume they must have been fitted some way to a previous layout and were left in that state when new kitchen fitted .... out of sight out of mind ! Amazing condition on the some of the electrics - and house came with an electrical inspection pass certificate !

Jan 04, 2017 22 Replies

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ARW 9 years ago

Thanks for that follow up.

You will have to do your best to polish a turd if you cannot do a rewire.

Good luck fella.

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jgh 9 years ago

It's "protected by out of reach", but must be listed as such on any installation test certificate in the "not to current regs" box - which suggests the tester didn't actually bother checking anything.

I have one such light in my shop, but as you need scaffolding to get anywhere near it it's perfectly safe. It'll get an earth the next time the upstairs flat needs a new carpet and I can rip up the floor.

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Huge 9 years ago

[39 lines snipped]

Or at least roll it in glitter.

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