Unable to separate wires on ring circuit

[buzzlightyear]

looking through me eyes its like a hammer cracking a snail .nice job by the way ,not .

 

[Midwest]

Whats the set up of your fuseboard OP?

 

[mattg4321]

4 inch nail

 

[davesparks]

Ok, but I am absolutely certain that there were no cables joining the existing backbox to the earth of the circuit, so what is the difference between not having anything joined to socket and not having anything joined to the conduit on it's own?

There would have been the two screws holding the socket onto the back box for a start.
The difference is that you are carrying out this work now and must comply with current regulations.

 

[davesparks]

Ok, but I don't understand how the conduit is the earth as well as having the 2 earth cables inside the conduit?

My dad used a pipe cutter and a hacksaw, carefully!

Well now you need to get the conduit out of the wall to cut a thread on the end of it to join a new piece of conduit to it. But it is likely to be imperial conduit so you'll probably need to replace that piece of conduit using an imperial to metric adapter wherever it starts from

 

[buzzlightyear]

But it is likely to be imperial conduit so you'll probably need to replace that piece of conduit using an imperial to metric adapter wherever it starts from

and a wielder.or one

of those .

 

[Andy Gardner]

There would have been the two screws holding the socket onto the back box for a start.

Actually, when I started taking this apart, there was no socket on the original backbox, it had just had some twin and earth run directly from that backbox at a diagonal angle directly in the plaster with nothing covering it, then they plastered straight over the backbox, no faceplate or anything, just some gaffa tape covering the cables! So it certainly hadn't had any earth in it for a long time. (that was not my doing, for the record)

Well now you need to get the conduit out of the wall to cut a thread on the end of it to join a new piece of conduit to it.

Yes, I worked out that I can actually use the coupler and bush from the old backbox, I just need to somehow thread the existing conduit on the wall...

I have now actually traced the wires back to the fusebox, by turning off the power completely, removing 1 wire at a time from both the socket circuit MCB and the 1 existing socket, thus now knowing which wires go where. Now just got to get the conduit sorted!

Don't worry, I'm not actually going to do the wiring until the conduit is sorted, and yes, I am going to get someone to sign off on the installation once it's done.

 

[Taylortwocities]

@Andy Gardner I'm curious. How did you actually achieve this. You have a new back box inserted into the middle of a conduit run. You have said that your father has cut the conduit with a pipe cutter and pipe slice. (I'm impressed he did that with the singles still in place without damaging the conductors.

Having done the cuts, how did you remove the piece of conduit and get the singles through the holes in the back box?
Is there another box above or below the new box that you have access to?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

If it's 20mm, how about a Conlok coupler to connect the existing run to a barrel nipple, coupler and bush to get into the new box. Are Conlok joints designed to be buried in plaster? OTOH if this is 3/4", which presumably 20mm Conlok isn't designed to grip, and you won't readily be able to thread, cutting off the bottom threaded end has left you a bit stuck.

 

[Kojak]

Those wires look old, I would say just replace the whole circuit to current standards. Whoever you're getting to test it, have him in first to advise you on how to do it. Take pictures as you go so he can see you've done it right.

 

[buzzlightyear]

Those wires look old, I would say just replace the whole circuit to current standards.

how old do you think those cables are kojack ,sucking a lolly pop. why would you do that considering they are pvc stranded .

 

[buzzlightyear]

Those wires look old, I would say just replace the whole circuit to current standards. Whoever you're getting to test it, have him in first to advise you on how to do it. Take pictures as you go so he can see you've done it right.

and thats a disagree from me .

 

[Spoon]

and thats a disagree from me .

Can't quite see that mate...

 

[Diddy]

move original socket up to where you have cut the conduit - connect old conduit to new backbox via bush and coupler. Knockout bottom 20mm out of back box and spur off your 1 extra socket to where the original one was....Now there is no shame in not being able to complete this task....you gave it a shot and all that...admit to yourself that you have got to the stage where you need someone who can actually complete this and more importantly can test and certify the work so that you know its safe and complies with the relevant regulations.
Breaking into the conduit was 1. Bloody impressive and 2 A BIG mistake - if you must extend and keep it a ring then a second conduit out of the original box would/may have been the way to go but as said 1 double socket from 1 socket on a ring is fine and would not have needed any extra metal conduit nor any of this very time consuming reconnecting and cutting into conduits...
If you think of it this way - an electrician may have charged anything from £50 to £100 for 1 extra socket all done and dusted - How many hours have you spent on this so far...could your hours have been spent more productively elsewhere while paying an electrician the £--- ?
I can do the brake pads on my car but it takes me about 3 or 4 hours - In that 3-4 hours I can earn in excess of £200 - I can get my full set of pads done by "pro's" much quicker and for less money than what I would have earned in the 3-4 hours.

 

[Pete999]

move original socket up to where you have cut the conduit - connect old conduit to new backbox via bush and coupler. Knockout bottom 20mm out of back box and spur off your 1 extra socket to where the original one was....Now there is no shame in not being able to complete this task....you gave it a shot and all that...admit to yourself that you have got to the stage where you need someone who can actually complete this and more importantly can test and certify the work so that you know its safe and complies with the relevant regulations.
Breaking into the conduit was 1. Bloody impressive and 2 A BIG mistake - if you must extend and keep it a ring then a second conduit out of the original box would/may have been the way to go but as said 1 double socket from 1 socket on a ring is fine and would not have needed any extra metal conduit nor any of this very time consuming reconnecting and cutting into conduits...
If you think of it this way - an electrician may have charged anything from £50 to £100 for 1 extra socket all done and dusted - How many hours have you spent on this so far...could your hours have been spent more productively elsewhere while paying an electrician the £--- ?
I can do the brake pads on my car but it takes me about 3 or 4 hours - In that 3-4 hours I can earn in excess of £200 - I can get my full set of pads done by "pro's" much quicker and for less money than what I would have earned in the 3-4 hours.

Conduit thread has been cut OFF, should have employed a spark in the first place.