I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point
where it was ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and this gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still good and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.

Arthur Ravenscroft Wrote in message:
I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point
where it was ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and this gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still good and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.


My guess would be that the socket tester is a red herring and any
plug inserted into the RH socket, or even pressure applied to the
RHS of the plate shorted your wiring perhaps to the metal
back-box.
If it went bang as you said, aren't their any sooty deposits to
show where the failure was?
--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%

On Thursday, 8 August 2019 19:48:08 UTC+1, Graham. wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft Wrote in message:
I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point
where it was ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and this gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still good and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.


My
guess would be that the socket tester is a red herring and any
plug inserted into the RH socket, or even pressure applied to the
RHS of the plate shorted your wiring perhaps to the metal
back-box.
If it went bang as you said, aren't their any sooty deposits to
show where the failure was?
--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%


But there is no discolouration and with the mcb rset the good side of the socket still gives 3 lights.
Thats the odd thing! It went bang twice, the 2nd time a tad more of it.

On Thursday, 8 August 2019 19:57:56 UTC+1, Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:
On Thursday, 8 August 2019 19:48:08 UTC+1, Graham. wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft Wrote in message:
I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point
where it was ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and this gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still good and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.


My
guess would be that the socket tester is a red herring and any
plug inserted into the RH socket, or even pressure applied to the
RHS of the plate shorted your wiring perhaps to the metal
back-box.
If it went bang as you said, aren't their any sooty deposits to
show where the failure was?
--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%


But there is no discolouration and with the mcb rset the good side of the socket still gives 3 lights.
Thats the odd thing! It went bang twice, the 2nd time a tad more of it.



Important Update!!! All of the socket plates are not yet screwed down
and I've just retested it after twisting it a bit further away and now both sockets show 3 lights from the tester.

Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:

It went bang twice

All of the socket plates are not yet screwed down
and I've just retested it after twisting it a bit further away and now both sockets show 3 lights from the tester.

You need to check for loose or trapped wires behind the double socket
that went bang.

Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:

It went bang twice

All of the socket plates are not yet screwed down
and I've just retested it after twisting it a bit further away and now both sockets show 3 lights from the tester.

You need to check for loose or trapped wires behind the double socket
that went bang.

Yes, ensure there is no bare copper showing where the wires enter the
terminals, the earth wire must be sleeved, a short length sleeved
copper wire must be run from the earth terminal of the socket to the
earth lug on the back box, and try to get all the wires neatly dressed
away from each other as you fit the socket to the box.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

On Thursday, 8 August 2019 21:52:33 UTC+1, Graham. wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:

It went bang twice

All of the socket plates are not yet screwed down
and I've just retested it after twisting it a bit further away and now both sockets show 3 lights from the tester.

You need to check for loose or trapped wires behind the double socket
that went bang.

Yes, ensure there is no bare copper showing where the wires enter the
terminals, the earth wire must be sleeved, a short length sleeved
copper wire must be run from the earth terminal of the socket to the
earth lug on the back box, and try to get all the wires neatly dressed
away from each other as you fit the socket to the box.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Thanks, Graham.

I'd check that is the case by dropping a sheet of plastic in behind it and
then screwing it back, if it works then I think we can say that it is
flexing. I'm sure many moons ago when dimmer switches were all the rage,
some of them did come with a back box sized bit of plastic as often they
were deeper than a normal switch, and it meant that unless the earth lug
was in a very dafter place, then you got away with it.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Graham." wrote in message
...
Arthur Ravenscroft Wrote in message:
I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point
where it was ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and this
gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still good
and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.


My guess would be that the socket tester is a red herring and any
plug inserted into the RH socket, or even pressure applied to the
RHS of the plate shorted your wiring perhaps to the metal
back-box.
If it went bang as you said, aren't their any sooty deposits to
show where the failure was?
--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%

ERm could you actually have a faulty bit of cable. It will be interesting to
see what happens as you screw them all in starting from the one you had
issues with.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Arthur Ravenscroft" wrote in message
...
On Thursday, 8 August 2019 19:57:56 UTC+1, Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:
On Thursday, 8 August 2019 19:48:08 UTC+1, Graham. wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft Wrote in message:
I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point
where it was ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and
this gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went
bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still
good and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.


My
guess would be that the socket tester is a red herring and any
plug inserted into the RH socket, or even pressure applied to the
RHS of the plate shorted your wiring perhaps to the metal
back-box.
If it went bang as you said, aren't their any sooty deposits to
show where the failure was?
--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%


But there is no discolouration and with the mcb rset the good side of the
socket still gives 3 lights.
Thats the odd thing! It went bang twice, the 2nd time a tad more of it.



Important Update!!! All of the socket plates are not yet screwed down
and I've just retested it after twisting it a bit further away and now
both sockets show 3 lights from the tester.

Arthur Ravenscroft was thinking very hard :
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)

You do know that those testers are only a rough and very basic test,
don't you?

The continuity of the ring needs to be tested through all three
conductors at the origin of the ring, the earth loop impedance needs to
be checked and the insulation resistance too.

It concerns me, that someone who claims to have extended a ring, has to
come on here asking about such an easily and obvious to sort out issue
as the one you are asking for advice about.

On 09/08/2019 09:26, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft was thinking very hard :
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)

You do know that those testers are only a rough and very basic test,
don't you?


While you may be right in this case, some of "those testers" which use 3
lights to sihnal pass/fail are far from rough and basic. I saw - and
coveted - recently a Socket and See SOK36. Only problem I could see with
it is that the continuous tones makes it harder to nick one while the
owner's away

http://www.socketandsee.co.uk/socket...t-tester.html?



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

Robin laid this down on his screen :
On 09/08/2019 09:26, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft was thinking very hard :
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)

You do know that those testers are only a rough and very basic test, don't
you?


While you may be right in this case, some of "those testers" which use 3
lights to sihnal pass/fail are far from rough and basic. I saw - and coveted
- recently a Socket and See SOK36. Only problem I could see with it is that
the continuous tones makes it harder to nick one while the owner's away

http://www.socketandsee.co.uk/socket...t-tester.html?

I doubt the OP has one of those though and it is still quite limited..

On Thu, 08 Aug 2019 11:35:42 -0700, Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:

I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point where it was
ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and
this gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still good
and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.

When you say "went bang" do you mean that there was an explosive noise
from the socket itself, or just that the protection tripped back at the
consumer unit?


Cheers



Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On 09/08/2019 09:26, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft was thinking very hard :
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)

You do know that those testers are only a rough and very basic test,
don't you?

The continuity of the ring needs to be tested through all three
conductors at the origin of the ring, the earth loop impedance needs to
be checked and the insulation resistance too.

It concerns me, that someone who claims to have extended a ring, has to
come on here asking about such an easily and obvious to sort out issue
as the one you are asking for advice about.
+1

On Friday, 9 August 2019 09:26:31 UTC+1, wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft was thinking very hard :
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)

You do know that those testers are only a rough and very basic test,
don't you?

The continuity of the ring needs to be tested through all three
conductors at the origin of the ring, the earth loop impedance needs to
be checked and the insulation resistance too.

It concerns me, that someone who claims to have extended a ring, has to
come on here asking about such an easily and obvious to sort out issue
as the one you are asking for advice about.

Basic they may be, but they're the quickest way I know of to check the 3 wires are connected and to the right connectors.


NT

On Friday, 9 August 2019 11:29:04 UTC+1, David WE Roberts (Google) wrote:
On Thu, 08 Aug 2019 11:35:42 -0700, Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:

I've been updating the kitchen ring and came to a point where it was
ready for testing.
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)
I put the testing device in the left hand socket of the last one and
this gave the ok (3 lights)
When I pushed the testing device in the right hand socket it went bang
before even switching it on.
But after resetting the consumer unit the other sockets where still good
and left hand side socket was still good.

Any ideas, gents?

Thanks.

When you say "went bang" do you mean that there was an explosive noise
from the socket itself, or just that the protection tripped back at the
consumer unit?


Cheers



Dave R


--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 7 Pro x64

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Hi.
Sorry for delay in replying.
I'm fairly sure that the 2ndbang came from the socket and it gave off
a spark. But it seems to be working now..tester shows 3 lights.

Arthur Ravenscroft wrote:

I'm fairly sure that the 2ndbang came from the socket and it gave off
a spark. But it seems to be working now..tester shows 3 lights.

I wouldn't regard it as "fixed" ... either turn off power and
investigate the cause or call in an electrician.

on 09/08/2019, supposed :
Basic they may be, but they're the quickest way I know of to check the 3
wires are connected and to the right connectors.

They only guarantee that the live is connected to the live terminal.

After serious thinking Andy Burns wrote :
I wouldn't regard it as "fixed" ... either turn off power and investigate the
cause or call in an electrician.

+1

On Saturday, 10 August 2019 05:08:07 UTC+1, wrote:
on 09/08/2019, tabbypurr supposed :
Basic they may be, but they're the quickest way I know of to check the 3
wires are connected and to the right connectors.

They only guarantee that the live is connected to the live terminal.

if that's all that's connected nothing lights. They do more than that. This isn't something we need to discuss, if you know how they work it's completely obvious.


NT

On 10/08/2019 05:08, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
on 09/08/2019, supposed :
Basic they may be, but they're the quickest way I know of to check the
3 wires are connected and to the right connectors.

They only guarantee that the live is connected to the live terminal.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk-AtQUf66A

--
Adam

On Friday, 9 August 2019 20:05:01 UTC+1, wrote:
On Friday, 9 August 2019 09:26:31 UTC+1, wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft was thinking very hard :
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)

You do know that those testers are only a rough and very basic test,
don't you?

The continuity of the ring needs to be tested through all three
conductors at the origin of the ring, the earth loop impedance needs to
be checked and the insulation resistance too.

It concerns me, that someone who claims to have extended a ring, has to
come on here asking about such an easily and obvious to sort out issue
as the one you are asking for advice about.

Basic they may be, but they're the quickest way I know of to check the 3 wires are connected and to the right connectors.



Be careful though; they don't reveal a swapped neutral and earth.

On 10/08/2019 15:09, Mathew Newton wrote:
On Friday, 9 August 2019 20:05:01 UTC+1, wrote:
On Friday, 9 August 2019 09:26:31 UTC+1, wrote:
Arthur Ravenscroft was thinking very hard :
Most of the sockets are ok (3 lights on the socket testing device)

You do know that those testers are only a rough and very basic test,
don't you?

The continuity of the ring needs to be tested through all three
conductors at the origin of the ring, the earth loop impedance needs to
be checked and the insulation resistance too.

It concerns me, that someone who claims to have extended a ring, has to
come on here asking about such an easily and obvious to sort out issue
as the one you are asking for advice about.

Basic they may be, but they're the quickest way I know of to check the 3 wires are connected and to the right connectors.



Be careful though; they don't reveal a swapped neutral and earth.


The RCD tripping will sort that out.

--
Adam

On Saturday, 10 August 2019 15:21:05 UTC+1, ARW wrote:

The RCD tripping will sort that out.

Of course, assuming there is one!

On 10/08/2019 17:59, Mathew Newton wrote:
On Saturday, 10 August 2019 15:21:05 UTC+1, ARW wrote:

The RCD tripping will sort that out.

Of course, assuming there is one!


It's hard to do the work and meet the regs without one.

--
Adam