Some of you may remember when we were discussing how not to wire a junction box, I posted this:
Well, I finally decided to tackle it. First problem - I can't open the box with all the earths in the way. And I don't want to leave them disconnected, since who knows what I'll find in the box and how long it will take to sort out. So, with a few bits from the junk box:
No, I'm not going to claim that's compliant with regs, but at least they're all connected with screw terminals now. And I can get to the lid of the box. I'm still a little wary of what will be in it, but time to remove the lid:
First problem - the corner of the box fell off when I removed the lid. And it's as big a mess as I expected. In fact it's worse - wire nuts? I thought they went out with the Ark.
The bigger question is what on earth all these wires do. It's pretty clear that this is just the lighting circuit. The two single terminals in the middle are the main live and neutral. There are only three internal lights and a security light in this part of the house, yet there are six switch drops that I can see, plus one more in the rose next to the box. And at least two of the lights don't use a switch drop, as there are two cables at the switch. The RYB cables are pretty clearly a two-way switch, yet the only two-way switching in the house is at the other end of the building back near the consumer unit, so it would make no sense for it to come here. So, a lot of investigating still to do. Of course, all the cables vanish under the loft insulation and boarding, making it very difficult to trace.
Mike