Should outside earthing wire be covered?

[KeepTravelling]

Your first post explained "the electrical circuit in the garage is an old circuit and wasn't earthed"
So I guess the question is - what did the electrician connect the earthing rod to?
Hopefully there is in fact an appropriate earth conductor from the garage to the consumer unit?
Apologies if I've misunderstood!

Thank you for your reply, If you look at the photos, you can see the old wires in the garage. These do not have an earth back to the consumer unit in the house. That is why he has taken the yellow wire from the old junction box in the garage and extended it all the way outside (again see on the photos) to an earthing rod that he hammered into the garden. The end of the outside earthing wire that you can see on the photos attaches to the earthing rod in the ground.

 

[brianmoooore]

I thought it was just the live wire that could cause this, and that the earthing wire was to divert the electricity to the earth rather than through your body if a live wire was accidentally touched? Sorry if this sounds naive, I am new to all this.

That's how it works if the earth wire is connected to earth via the rod. If it becomes disconnected, and 'live' electricity leaks to earthed metalwork, and hence to the 'earth' wire, the disconnected end becomes an extension of the live wire, and a voltmeter connected between it and the neutral or a true earth will read the full mains voltage.
If the earth wire is connected to the rod, this voltage will produce a current in the wire, which, if it exceeds the tripping current of the RCD (usually around 20mA for a 30mA RCD) will will turn the RCD off. If the earth wire is disconnected from the rod, and no sufficient parallel path to earth exists, such as metalwork in contact with a damp concrete wall, then the RCD will not trip until your child picks up the bare end and completes the path to earth. This will definitely hurt, but in most cases the RCD will then trip before serious injury occurs.

 

[ipf]

Yes, it is 30Ma in the house RCD and yes if that trips or is switched off then there is no power to the garage.
So,if I understand correctly, touching an earthing wire end can cause electrocution? I thought it was just the live wire that could cause this, and that the earthing wire was to divert the electricity to the earth rather than through your body if a live wire was accidentally touched? Sorry if this sounds naive, I am new to all this.

You're not far off but it's about fault condition. The earthing system is a safeguard which, if not connected correctly could become live if there is a fault. If the fault is diverted, as you say, with no connection to earth, the cable would become live.

 

[KeepTravelling]

You're not far off but it's about fault condition. The earthing system is a safeguard which, if not connected correctly could become live if there is a fault. If the fault is diverted, as you say, with no connection to earth, the cable would become live.

Thanks very much for this I am more clear now.
My other question though is does the earth wire need to be pulled down from the junction box into the plug socket that the pump is plugged into? (see photos) As if the plug is not earthed then I assume that the pump is not earthed either and this could be dangerous ?

 

[brianmoooore]

It's difficult to see what wire goes where in your first pic, but I'm assuming the new green/yellow connects to a wire that goes to the earth pin of the socket.
TBH, the whole thing with the green/yellow wire looks like something I might do if I came across this just before knocking off time on a Friday afternoon and did this to make it 'safe' over the weekend, using parts that I had in my vehicle, before returning at the earliest opportunity to do the job properly.
Is this what's happening here?