Sometimes you wonder if you are being set up.

Talk Electrician Forum

Help Support Talk Electrician Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
14,762
Reaction score
951
Landlord phones. "There's a socket not working"

Turn up, the tenant lets me in, shows me which one it is, a double socket in a bedroom "one of those is not working"

Test it, actually neither is working.

Unscrew the front.  W.T.F.. Double socket in metal flush back box but NO WIRES to be seen.  Someone is avin a larf.

Wait a minute, there's a little trap door behind that sideboard. Move the furniture, open the trap door, access into the eaves space.  It's just a stud wall.  Go in with my torch.  Inside the eaves space, just behind the empty socket box are two t&e cables, both cut off clean and square and taped over. Judging by the gooey mess it's not fresh tape, it's been like that a while.

Well Blow me, both cbles are still live.  Further testing shows them to be the cut ends of a ring, and ring continuity on all cores is okay.

So who the hell disconnected the wires from the socket, pulled them out of the back box, cut the ends and taped over them, leaving the ring now broken.

I couldn't see the hidden camera anywhere.......

And did I mention the socket was sealed to the wall with silicone, and looked like it had been that way for some time.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, the Electric Polis are going to take me away and lock me up because I dared to re connect it without doing a CU upgrade.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Surely the CH header tank is OK? Might neutralise the inhibitor though. :innocent :innocent :innocent :innocent

 
We looked at a house into 5 flats conversion where the builders had been kicked out. All switches, sockets , pendants  etc screwed to wall no cables. Consumer units fitted with a foot of cables hanging out nailed to the wall behind.  Radiators and boilers screwed  to walls with just  8" tails  of pipe going through the floors

 
I came across something similar to this once (empty socket) but the previous owner had used it as a wall safe  :B-

 
We looked at a house into 5 flats conversion where the builders had been kicked out. All switches, sockets , pendants  etc screwed to wall no cables. Consumer units fitted with a foot of cables hanging out nailed to the wall behind.  Radiators and boilers screwed  to walls with just  8" tails  of pipe going through the floors


Maybe be they were gonna connect it all after they'd been paid.  :innocent

I came across something similar to this once (empty socket) but the previous owner had used it as a wall safe  :B-




Wouldn't get much in a dbl socket? Not sure a passport wouldnt even go in very well, was it for some other kind of stash? :lol:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, the Electric Polis are going to take me away and lock me up because I dared to re connect it without doing a CU upgrade.
Yes BUT did the customer KNOW they wanted a CU change?

then later on did they REMEMBER that they really wanted a metal one and the original Spark was on the isle of Fernando??

 
Ive also had strange day today as well, customer phones me she's bought a brushed steel 3 arm light fitting from John Lewis can I go and fit it. 

No problem says I, get to the job there's an existing plastic pendant in the lounge thats what I want replacing with the new light fitting she says.

So I disconnect the cables, unscrew the pendant from the ceiling and then screw the pendant back up to the ceiling and reconnect the cables. Flick the switch and on comes the light. I then give the woman a shout to tell her I've done. She comes into the room has a look at the pendant and says you haven't fitted my new brushed steel light fitting. I said well there was nothing wrong with the plastic one so I've reconnected that.

 
Yes BUT did the customer KNOW they wanted a CU change?

then later on did they REMEMBER that they really wanted a metal one and the original Spark was on the isle of Fernando??
It WAS a metal one.  A nice wylex jobbie that had been upgraded with those lovely plug in MCB's. You know, the sort that never catch fire, because they are well designed with two screws per termination.

 
Ive also had strange day today as well, customer phones me she's bought a brushed steel 3 arm light fitting from John Lewis can I go and fit it. 

No problem says I, get to the job there's an existing plastic pendant in the lounge thats what I want replacing with the new light fitting she says.

So I disconnect the cables, unscrew the pendant from the ceiling and then screw the pendant back up to the ceiling and reconnect the cables. Flick the switch and on comes the light. I then give the woman a shout to tell her I've done. She comes into the room has a look at the pendant and says you haven't fitted my new brushed steel light fitting. I said well there was nothing wrong with the plastic one so I've reconnected that.


If i had a dog as stupid as you, it would be put down

 
If you would like to throw any more insults at me go right ahead, I don't mind you know.

After all, it says more about you than me. Perhaps you could get your friends on here to join in.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ive also had strange day today as well, customer phones me she's bought a brushed steel 3 arm light fitting from John Lewis can I go and fit it. 

No problem says I, get to the job there's an existing plastic pendant in the lounge thats what I want replacing with the new light fitting she says.

So I disconnect the cables, unscrew the pendant from the ceiling and then screw the pendant back up to the ceiling and reconnect the cables. Flick the switch and on comes the light. I then give the woman a shout to tell her I've done. She comes into the room has a look at the pendant and says you haven't fitted my new brushed steel light fitting. I said well there was nothing wrong with the plastic one so I've reconnected that.
Agree with Lusk, that is quite funny.

No CPC then?

 
Top