UK Wiring advice for a novice

[Tommy10toes]

I discovered a blank face plate in our large food cupboard and thought- ‘if there’s wiring behind this then I could put a little microwave in there’

There is wiring. (See horrible photo) so I will wire in a single plug socket there.

Being a novice I wanted to check the following-
After isolating power I will attach the following to their respective holes in the outlet:

Brown - live
Red- neutral (I’m used to being blue?)
Green yellow- earth

Question- I notice the wires are doubled up together in the terminal blocks. Why is this? Cos they come from different sources? If so why not just bring the power from one source?

I’m assuming I attach each pair of wires as one into their respective holes in the new outlet I will put in.

Thanks in advance for any advice that will potentially save my life

 

[MJPD29]

It does appear that there may have been a socket there at some stage from the fact the are 2 pairs of cables. However from the photo it is hard to tell the size of the cable. Have you checked if they are live? You would probably be best having it tested before reconnecting in any case.

 

[davesparks]

First you need to establish what type of circuit this is connected to, is it a lighting circuit, socket circuit or something else?

If it is not a socket circuit then you should not connect a socket to it.

If it is a socket circuit then you need to establish if it is suitable for the addition of another socket. This includes confirming that the correct protection against electric shock is in place.



There aren't any brown conductorsthere, the conductors are red and black. This is the old standard wiring colours used for many, many years. If you cannot correctly identify which is live and which is neutral you should not be attempting this job.

 

[ipf]

Thanks in advance for any advice that will potentially save my life

View attachment 105315

I think that comment sums things up.......not jokingly.

 

[Tommy10toes]

First you need to establish what type of circuit this is connected to, is it a lighting circuit, socket circuit or something else?

If it is not a socket circuit then you should not connect a socket to it.

If it is a socket circuit then you need to establish if it is suitable for the addition of another socket. This includes confirming that the correct protection against electric shock is in place.



There aren't any brown conductorsthere, the conductors are red and black. This is the old standard wiring colours used for many, many years. If you cannot correctly identify which is live and which is neutral you should not be attempting this jo

how would one establish what circuit these wires relate to?

First you need to establish what type of circuit this is connected to, is it a lighting circuit, socket circuit or something else?

If it is not a socket circuit then you should not connect a socket to it.

If it is a socket circuit then you need to establish if it is suitable for the addition of another socket. This includes confirming that the correct protection against electric shock is in place.



There aren't any brown conductorsthere, the conductors are red and black. This is the old standard wiring colours used for many, many years. If you cannot correctly identify which is live and which is neutral you should not be attempting this job.

Thanks @davesparks- you’ve made me realise that there’s more to this than I initially thought.

Those wires are definitely brown though – the photo just doesn’t show it very well.

To ascertain whether this is relating to a light circuit or a socket circuit - is the simplest way of doing this by seeing which of the switches on the fuse board sends voltage to the wires ?

I won’t be attempting any electrical DIY before I understand what I’m looking at and if I don’t then I’ll call in a professional.

 

[davesparks]

Looking at that picture again there appears to be red tape around one of the black conductors, this suggests that this may be the original position of a lightswitch which has been moved.

Is this box at a height that would make sense for a switch?

 

[davesparks]

Those wires are definitely brown though – the photo just doesn’t show it very well.

Are you in the UK?

To ascertain whether this is relating to a light circuit or a socket circuit - is the simplest way of doing this by seeing which of the switches on the fuse board sends voltage to the wires ?

The first thing is to look at it, the location of it, the size of the cable and the depth of the box will all give clues as to what this was originally for.

Looking at the picture I see things which suggest it is likely to have been a lightswitch.


Then after that use a voltage tester (not a neon screwdriver or anything like that, they are not safe to be poking in mains wiring) and operate circuit breakers one at a time to establish which circuit it is connected to.

 

[littlespark]

Might be the angle of the photo, but it looks like a 12mm deep box. Only really used for light switches as anything else is too deep behind the plate to fit in.

Is there a light in this pantry? Switch outside the door roughly in line with this box?
I think original switch was here, inside… but it was awkward to use when shelves were full.
Someone in the past jointed through the cables and ran to a new switch position.

I also think the red is live. The black is switchwire up to the light. There is no neutral here.

 

[SJD]

If the cable is 2.5mm2 twin & earth, it could also be a switch for the immersion - in the past, it was popular to provide an additional switch (as well as the one next to the hot water tank) to save running upstairs to switch it on.

 

[Cagethethird]

As already said, its a shallow box. You can see the oval knock outs on the back and the fact the cable going up in the middle of the box.
Almost definitely an old lightswitch so again as said, no neutral.
Its not a brown, its black with dust on.