very strange board set up

[amckay]

my mum has an ex council house shes had for years, the tennant has finally gone and its time to sort the gaf out and she asked me to check out t'lectrix.
im really unsure about this one. there is a very short spur from the 3036 board to a single socket outlet ( 3inches below board) and pluged in is what appears to be a 12v plug which has been wired directly to a 6mm cable (earth coloured) which then goes directly into the wall cavity, from there untraceable. the plug actually says do not disconnect.
Has anyone come accros this in social housing / council rewires and know what it might be at all? im baffled by it.

im sure if i turn power off only leaving the said cable on i could trace it with non contact volt detector but im too lazy.

see picture if that helps.
and thanks guys

 

[jeremy]

Why not disconnect it and see what happens?!

 

[amckay]

well it would be nice to see what it is actually connected to first wouldnt you agree?
i doubt it is an alarm or fire system as there isnt one in the house.

maybe a timer switch for old boiler systems?

 

[Aderac]

It probably isn't this, but my parents house had a similar setup, 1g skt next to board with a 12v plug which fed a small bulk cable which fed into the wall and went all the way round the exterior wall, supposedly keeping moisture out!

 

[Sintra]

It's supposed to prevent damp in the walls.

 

[Aderac]

*black cable

 

[amckay]

It probably isn't this, but my parents house had a similar setup, 1g skt next to board with a 12v plug which fed a small bulk cable which fed into the wall and went all the way round the exterior wall, supposedly keeping moisture out!

strange. i doubt it makes any difference but the terraced rows supply is in the form of SWA pinned accross the brickwork and spans the length of the terrace with spurs to each house. very cheap council builds.

 

[Fin170]

It probably isn't this, but my parents house had a similar setup, 1g skt next to board with a 12v plug which fed a small bulk cable which fed into the wall and went all the way round the exterior wall, supposedly keeping moisture out!

Ah, I can't think for the life of me what these are called now...seen a few but they're normally a 12v circuit that runs the length of the outer wall. Not seen anything like OPs, thinking a snake oil energy saving gadget?

 

[amckay]

Ah, I can't think for the life of me what these are called now...seen a few but they're normally a 12v circuit that runs the length of the outer wall. Not seen anything like OPs, thinking a snake oil energy saving gadget?

Personally i cant see a housing association using energy saving gadgets in 1994.... thats the date on the green label on the plug as shown above....but ive been wrong before....lol

 

[amckay]

actually i can remember my good old mother hubbard saying she has a 20year guarrantee for damp treatment or something which expires in 2014, so i guess it was installed in 1994 and that SINTRA is right....

 

[Sintra]

If its what I'm thinking it is an electro osmosis damp proofing system.

 

[Sparky Pat]

Yes definitely a damp proofing system used to be installed by a national company but can't remember who now.

 

[SJD]

If you search online ...

"The process supposedly uses a small electrical charge which is introduced to brick or stone walls via positively charged wires - called anodes. They are commonly sold as being platinum coated, or solid titanium - a very expensive way of buying a roll of useless wire. Manufacturers and chemical salesmen claim that the wire repels water and somehow chases it out of the wall and into the ground (you can hear the sound of hysterical laughter at this point... ). Thousands of these systems were sold in the 1970's and 1980's to unsuspecting householders. We frequently encounter them during building surveys when we are called in to investigate 'damp' houses which are suffering terrible problems - invariably there will be one of these systems somewhere - which of course never worked."

http://www.heritage-house.org/pages/electro-osmosis-damp-proofing-systems-an-expensive-fraud.html

 

[amckay]

thanks for your help guys, ive just googled it and found that it is an electro osmosis damp proofing installation.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP.

 

[HandySparks]

Incidentally, what's behind that piece of board? Looks like it might be a meter with its cover missing?

 

[amckay]

yeah it is a meter, its fitted backwards as the whole lot is affixed to an external wall, so on the opposite side (outdoors) there is a letterbox with 'electricity' on it and when opened the meter can be read. basically so the meter reader dont need you to be home to read the meter. i will be upgrading the CU and britgas will be putting a new meter in.

 

[Guitarist]

So, a bit like the magical in-line descalers which are a wire wrapped around your water pipe, with a current flowing through it. There's no actual evidence that they work, but thousands "believe in them".

 

[Geordie Spark]

yeah it is a meter, its fitted backwards as the whole lot is affixed to an external wall, so on the opposite side (outdoors) there is a letterbox with 'electricity' on it and when opened the meter can be read. basically so the meter reader dont need you to be home to read the meter. i will be upgrading the CU and britgas will be putting a new meter in.

My gas meter is like that sometimes.

 

[ruston]

That's cos we are!