Home DIY

Only way to be sure, stand on an insulating mat, attach an earth cable to your genitals, lick your fingers and touch the wires.

Good luck.

Extractors usually have a permanent live as well as a switched live (the light switch) so they can continue to run after the lights have been turned off. Did the chap who fitted it in the end add an isolation switch so it's an easier job next time? Not critical but I'm pretty sure that's in the regs now.

Thank you for the explanation, always interested in 'why' with electrickery.

Ohh that must totally be why... not sure if he did... he only really swapped out an old one rather than replace the whole lot so maybe he didn't... anything to worry about?

Do you have that many things that need resetting? I had a brief power cut the other night and in my flat full of stuff the only thing that needed setting was my oven clock, everything else just sorted itself out.

Nah it'll be fine, it's just best practice to be able to isolate so replacement in future is quicker and clearer (no hunting for the live feed for whatever reason). If it were a new build you'd have to fit one but when replacing like for like you don't have to. It's a good idea to flick the lighting ring off though and not to rely on a switch... you wouldn't start messing with the back of a plug socket just because it's switched off on the front, the power may well daisy chain off somewhere else...

Not that many. I'm more concerned about why it is like that to be honest - we have just had a new consumer unit put in, wiring sorted and certified so if there's not an obvious reason it's worrying me a bit. The electrics are all behaving perfectly though and have been checked out so maybe I just shouldn't worry?

Seems like you have too many variables. If you don't have a low impedance mains voltage tester then you don't know for sure how much voltage there is and you can't test individual points on the circuit to find out what is going where.

Even a photo of the light switch/connections at the light fitting/consumer unit would give us a better idea of what you're dealing with.

Mid-priced router recommendations, what are the key features I should be looking for..?
Edit: the wood tool, not the interweb gadget.

Yup. The light switch just has the standard live/neutral/earth to it. Not sure I'll be able to see anything at the consumer unit but will have a look.

Would this do it?
http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-voltage-tester/3516f

Not sure, it ought to but usually the ability to outwit ghost voltage is a feature that the more expensive stuff has. Most of my stuff is Megger, I don't recommend it over Fluke etc. but I do use a Martindale voltage tester. Normally for household electrics you'd have a simple handheld voltage tester, it's supposed to be simple so that it doesn't fail.

I need to remove a double plug socket, not use a blanking plate, entirely remove it and seal over. How hard a task is it? Should I do it or pay someone to? If I did do it I would turn the electricity off this time...

Setting aside all the reasons for not doing it. You have to ensure that the connections you leave buried in the wall are maintenance free. In practice you can achieve this with Wago connectors fitted in a Wago box, there are other manufacturers but you may as well use Wago.

If you are then leaving live wires in the wall with no obvious relationship to other sockets on that wall you'll need to ensure you have 30ma RCD protection on the circuit. The future will not thank you for hiding the socket and leaving the junction box but it's someone else's mystery to solve. If you can remove the wires as well that would be preferable.

The fact that you're asking the question would suggest that you might want to get a professional to do it.

When you hide the connectors, leave a note.

Live wires on the socket circuit.

Should make someone who finds them think twice before touching/cutting them.

My previous landlord did this, just terminating the wires in a choc block and plastering over. Fine you might say... until a shower room was installed in that part of the room and the tiles leaked ten years later and the wall became live.
Each morning, by the time the 6th person in the flatshare had their shower there was a pleasant wake-up call of mains voltage through their body every time they touched the shower taps.

Took us ages to work out what the problem was, because obviously we had no idea there used to be a socket there.

Ha, these sound like wise words, also roughly what I was thinking task wise... the wires run from somewhere... to a new double plug which was extended off this one...

I'll hire a professional and specify Wago box... anyone on here interested?

Alright rassclarts.

Bit of a noddy question compared to some of the sparks stuff happening in this thread but re: shelves. Very tempted to slap up a couple of shelves in my kitchen made out of reclaimed scaffolding boards. Any gotchas I should be aware of?

EDIT: apart from the clear implication that I am a hipster nightmare whose kitchen will look like an organic coffee shop

They will weigh too much, and will probably look pony.

Just a thought - at the very least could you not lift a floorboard or two and pull the wires down through the conduit, terminating them in a wago box below the floor?

^ Very much this.

If you want cheap, go to IKEA. For about 20 quid, they'll sell you all you need.

General shelf putting-up tips though: get a spirit level and make sure you know what you're drilling into. i.e. make sure it's solid and you're not going into cables or (unlikely) pipes.

Nah.. as I think the wiring is this...

Main gubbins >>> Socket I want gone >>> Socket I want kept.

So the kept socket is running from the want gone one.

That and tiles. Which I also want gone.

I can see your point, if the cable to the next socket along exits the box horizontally?

However if the cable to the next socket exits vertically below it, then you could indeed just make the wago connection below floor.

I'm confident on the aesthetics - they'll look great with a bit of sanding, bit of oiling, and some cast iron brackets. This sort of biz:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A1Zm7tNAHdM/VN4uCpfMVLI/AAAAAAAAH_w/BCOtyfB7RGM/s1600/5228.JPG

It's the 'how to' I'm more worried about. Like, obviously a spirit level will tell me the shelves are / aren't straight, but I'd actually need to use it when drilling holes. How does that work, do I just use it against a big rule or something?

Laser level.

Bosch do one for about £30, hours of fun playing space cowboys in a dark room. .

Apologies if this sounds a bit talk-downy:

Get pencil
Get straight edge
Use level + straight edge
Use the pencil + level + straight edge to draw a level line on the wall
Drill holes on line

etc!