On Sun, 22 May 2005 15:24:31 +0000 (UTC), "Brian" wrote:

If you've been following my saga, you'll know that I'm trying to join some
T&E cable.

This afternoon I went to B&Q to get some junction boxes. My plan is, like
Andrew Gabriel, to both solder the joints and screw them down in a box.

While there, I also bought a simple continuity tester. With the power off, I
tested the continuity between both live and ground, and neutral and ground.

To my surprise, the continuity tester "chirped" - beeped briefly - and its
LED flashed briefly, before remaining silent. Continuity is normally
indicated by a steady beep and a lit LED.

Now I presume that this is normal - some kind of side effect of the RCD, or
something like that? Has anybody else used one of these devices and had a
similar result?


(ps Also bought a Power Detector, which can detect current within a wire; to
cut a long story short, I found out that my ring main was incomplete and
traced the wire to a socket box in the kitchen, where a N wire was out; this
socket box had been fitted by "professional" kitchen fitters as supplied by
MFI. In the past I've also had to fix their plumbing and, frankly, I'm
considering getting somebody in to check out the gas hob they fitted.)



With the mcb off there should be no connection between L and E
whatsoever.

The N and E will be connected and it will depend on the resistance to
the looping point and the tolerance of your tester, as to whether or
not it beeps continuously.

As for your soldering, strip 2 cms bare and clean the surface by
scraping to remove any oxidation. Immediately tin the single wire,
knocking off any excess solder. Repeat for 2nd wire.

Twist firmly together and solder up. The solder should flow easily and
look neat and smooth. Don't apply any more than necessary.

HTH Andy