Is my house wired wrongly?

[telectrix]

That sounds extremely plausible... and a bit worrying, therefore.

if you post your location, one of us may be close enough to pop round and have a gander. usually, most will not charge for an initial assessment of the situation and will be upfront with a quote for any costs before incurring them.

 

[SparkyChick]

That sounds extremely plausible... and a bit worrying, therefore.

What I will add is that before I simply re-connected them correctly, I tested both of them to ensure that both rings were continous (end to end continuity) and there were no interlinks elsewhere. Once reconnected, they both got a basic earth fault loop impedance test (with a sample of the outlets) to ensure that was up to scratch once connected properly.

This is not something you should do without proper test equipment and knowledge.

I agree with @telectrix 's suggestion, give us a clue on your location and see if you can get one of us in to have a look.

 

[Chippy_boy]

What I will add is that before I simply re-connected them correctly, I tested both of them to ensure that both rings were continous (end to end continuity) and there were no interlinks elsewhere. Once reconnected, they both got a basic earth fault loop impedance test (with a sample of the outlets) to ensure that was up to scratch once connected properly.

This is not something you should do without proper test equipment and knowledge.

I agree with @telectrix 's suggestion, give us a clue on your location and see if you can get one of us in to have a look.

Thanks folks - you've all been extremely helpful. I'm in Bristol.

But to be honest, I'm happy to leave it for now. There may or may not be a fault but it's not like the house is going to burn down and I am not planning on doing any more electrical tinkering for a while now. I'm currently out of work, so there's no way I'll be spending a couple of hundred quid on a full electrical QA job, so any visit would be limited to someone saying "yes it's broken" and then me not doing anything about it anyway.

I'll get back in touch sometime in the future if/when my financial position improves ;-)

 

[SparkyChick]

Just to put it into perspective, the fix I did took about an hour (mainly because of the testing) and cost my client less than £50.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Just to put it into perspective, the fix I did took about an hour (mainly because of the testing) and cost my client less than £50.

Thanks again - good to know. As I say, I am not awash with cash at the moment, so not sure if even at this level I want to go ahead, but as a matter of interest, would you come to Bristol (Frampton Cotterell to be precise), or is it too far?

 

[SparkyChick]

When you chuck in bridge tolls, it's a bit too far to make it economically viable for a small job.

Have a look on the site in the 'Find an Electrician' section. If you get stuck, I've got a spark friend just up the road from Bristol who may cover your area.

 

[Cadgey123]

It requires proper test equipment and an experienced spark.

It requires proper test equipment and an experienced spark.

I love how everyone takes it personal on this forum page an instantly hits up the "consult a qualified spark " outlook

 

[Pete999]

I love how everyone takes it personal on this forum page an instantly hits up the "consult a qualified spark " outlook

How do you mean "takes it personal" if the OP isnt experienced or qualified, may be , just may be the best bet would be to hire an Electrician, wouldn't want to tell someone how they think something should be done and the persons ends up killing himself , would we??

 

[SparkyChick]

I love how everyone takes it personal on this forum page an instantly hits up the "consult a qualified spark " outlook

Seeing as you've quoted me, how am I taking it personally by answering the OPs question about how to identify the fault/situation?

You could hand the proper test gear to a newbie... could they solve the mystery? Possibly not. Just as a spark without the right gear probably couldn't solve it. To get to the bottom of this mystery requires two things... the right gear and the experience to use it.

Edit:-

And I agree with @Pete999 , in some situations it's the best advice we can possibly give.

 

[telectrix]

Just to put it into perspective, the fix I did took about an hour (mainly because of the testing) and cost my client less than £50.

agree with you and pete and most other experienced guys/dolls on the forum.

if i need glasses, i go to an optician; i suppose i could buy tesco £1.99 ones, but then i'd not see that motorbike coming and probably kill him. horses for courses. i'm leaving the trade anyway. there's a 5 week neurosurgery course available, courtesy of brains 4 u. at the end of the 5 weeks. i'll be qualified to remove brain tumours. they run a parallel course as well; how to defend a lawsuit, hosted by harold shipman.

 

[Rpa07]

Ive PM'd OP as he's local to me and more local to my sister and she makes cakes! Win Win

 

[Chippy_boy]

When you chuck in bridge tolls, it's a bit too far to make it economically viable for a small job.

Have a look on the site in the 'Find an Electrician' section. If you get stuck, I've got a spark friend just up the road from Bristol who may cover your area.

Thanks - there's a guy I know locally who did the wiring for our kitchen and bathrooms who's very good, so I'll check it out with him at the appropriate time.

Ive PM'd OP as he's local to me and more local to my sister and she makes cakes! Win Win

Rob - got your PM and that's a super generous and kind offer. To be honest, I am really not that bothered about it, I was puzzled more than anything else. In due course I'll get it looked at and will be sure to give you a shout.

And I'd just like to add that as a total newb on here, I've been massively impressed with how friendly and helpful everyone is. Really really impressed.

FWIW I graduated in Physics donkeys years back so I have a pretty good understanding of how electrics "work", but very little understanding of the regs and what tests can be done and what test equipment exists, let alone how to use it. So I haven't found any of the posts even slightly condescending nor patronising. Not a bit. "Get an electrician in" is absolutely the best advice for someone as unqualified as me, I am sure.

 

[Pete999]

agree with you and pete and most other experienced guys/dolls on the forum.

if i need glasses, i go to an optician; i suppose i could buy tesco £1.99 ones, but then i'd not see that motorbike coming and probably kill him. horses for courses. i'm leaving the trade anyway. there's a 5 week neurosurgery course available, courtesy of brains 4 u. at the end of the 5 weeks. i'll be qualified to remove brain tumours. they run a parallel course as well; how to defend a lawsuit, hosted by harold shipman.

I was thinking of re training, let me know what the course is like Tel, could do with a few extra shillings, new phrase for KennyKen "boil in the bag brain surgeon" sounds good.