wrote:

I'm been slowly checking all the sockets in my new house (1930s). In
one socket I found the neutral wires were in the earth terminal and
the earth in the neutral!!! How could this work? I thought any current
feeding back through earth would trip the circuit beaker. Apart from
further dodgy wiring in the house, could this be an indication of a
bigger problem, ie circuit breaker not working?

I'm going to keep checking and fixing the rest of the sockets in the
house, not being an electrician I can only really check the wires and
the correct way round and secure. Is it worth getting a qualified
electrician in to run some continuity checks etc? What else could they
check for?

Cheers

Chris

MCBs trip on overcurrent, so they won't care. It means you have
no working RCD or ELCB supplying the sockets, which is usually
not a problem, but if you're out in the country on a TT install that
would be a big problem.

The risk caused by a N/E swap is tiny. It means your electrics havent
been checked in a while, which is usual for non-new installs.


NT