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All electrical pages are for information only! New rules have been introduced for electrical safety in the home, please read this document by clicking here, before starting any electrical work

 

Before working on any electrical circuit isolate the supply by switching off the main switch and remove the fuse to the circuit that you are working on, If it is a circuit breaker switch off the main fuse and circuit breaker and remove the wires from the top of the circuit breaker. Place a sign saying that you are working on the circuits on the consumer unit, then nobody will restore the power whilst you are working on it.

If you are not 100% certain what you are doing call a qualified electrician. Building regulations are changing all the time and modifying your home electrics could be against new rules and could invalidate your home insurance, if in doubt check first!

Does your house need re-wiring?
 
If your house has black coloured cables entering the consumer unit or if you have metal conduit running to the sockets or lights or round pin plugs then your house needs re-wiring at the earliest opportunity. Advice from a qualified electrician should be sought at the earliest opportunity.
Modern Cable is normally Either grey or white and is insulated by a coating of PVC which will last for decades, hopefully much longer than Rubber!

old main fuse

 

Above you can see That a new meter has been fitted but unfortunately the meter tails leading to the meter need changing as does the Metal sealed unit. This is a job for the regional electricity company as it will need changing with the service cable being live!!!!

 

dangerous wiring

Above you can see that the wiring needs urgent attention, this was found after lifting floorboards to install a shower, the socket is not earthed and is on a radial circuit which is wired with old rubber coated 6mm cable. Some idiot has added to it and not even used a junction box but terminal connectors, this is dangerous and will be rectified at the earliest opportunity.

 

Burnt out consumer unit Here we have a consumer unit that is totally inadequate to supply a whole house, you can see that the meter tails have been burnt and are fusing together. That is because the main switch was only rated a 50 amps and and the load being consumed was far greater.

This could easily of ended in the house burning down as sparks were falling from the unit onto the carpet!

Wiring that is this unsafe should be condemned!!!!

Rubber coated wires are very old and could be up to 40 years old! The problem with rubber is that it perishes with age and deteriorates with age. Eventually the rubber breaks down completely and the conductors inside the cable meet and then you have big problems, normally the fuse will blow, replacement of the fuse is not going to fix this problem as it will only blow again!
 
The hardest job is finding exactly where the wire has perished and caused the fault!, In most cases you can not tell by looking.
 
 
 
Having black rubber cable in your home will not increase the chances of selling it as many Mortgage providers now insist on a electrical survey and with a electrician charging a few thousand pounds for a re-wire the only option is to replace the wiring your self (as long as you are competent) or Pay someone else to do it!

 

 

 

 

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