Electrician Advice Needed

clockley_2

I recently had an electrician round to check out my new house and he found an outside socket. Obviously this is dangerous and he said it should be replaced with a 'RCD' socket. He also told us that you MUST use and RCD socket for outdoor electricals or you will die!

Is it necessary to get this socket changed, even if I don't plan to use it?

Craig

Heath_Robinson

Just a normal socket outside exposed to the elements? seems a little strange. Disconnect it or replace it, either way it's a 2 minute job.

I'd replace it, handy for some things, like plugging in a lawnmower etc, obviously depending on where it is. 2 basic types of outdoor sockets, ones that you can leave something plugged into and one where it's only weatherproof when not in use, the 2nd type is generally cheaper.

Doonhamer

You should really have RCD protection at the fusebox so that all sockets in the house are protected, not just the one outside.

tooconfused_2

All the downstairs sockets shpuld be RCD protected any socket that an extension could be plugged in to use outside sould have RCD PROTECTION TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE

Weymouth_Man

clockley wrote:

I recently had an electrician round to check out my new house and he found an outside socket. Obviously this is dangerous and he said it should be replaced with a 'RCD' socket. He also told us that you MUST use and RCD socket for outdoor electricals or you will die!

Is it necessary to get this socket changed, even if I don't plan to use it?

Craig

Sounds Like A Job For Screwfix
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Wig

So the house is new to you, not "new"

Describe the socket and its location.

You could remove the wire which feeds to it from the ring main inside the house. Or you can convert it to a weather proof socket, no doubt some of these come with built in RCDs otherwise all you have to do is use an RCD adaptor whenever you want to use an outdoors appliance.

If it is already a weatherproof socket, I don't see the problem as long as you can plug in an RCD adaptor, or you could use a 1 metre extension and plug your RCD adaptor into that.

ollyk

Just to let you know there are strict laws regarding electrical work these days, all the responsibility of the householder. Another thing to thank the Labour government for :rolleyes:
An RCD senses very small currents (mA) flowing to ground, where a fuse only protects from excessive current (10's of Amps). This 'leakage' current could be from a poorly protected wire junction on your outdoor fountain, to someone putting a spade through a buried cable (I know it should be armoured) or the lawn mower cutting through its own cable. An ordinary fuse may not detect this, and may leave cut cables or insulation live.
In all instances it could save you or someone else's life!

clockley_2

The socket is not protected from the elements. It has two push buttons on it, though no indication of what they do.

It is situated on the wall immediately by the back window, about 5ft off the ground and has no cover.

The house is new to me, not 'new'. We are finding a lot of dodgy work been carried out on the house and according to neighbours, the previous owner was a bizarre character, who had up to 10 people renting at a time (in a 2 bedroom house) all of which would do jobs around the house (Project Mayhem, anyone?) I'm not sure he spent any money on labour in the place at all so nothing would surprise me.

Craiug

arealhighlander

You should have that socket either removed or replaced with a socket with RCD protection, its a rather easy job to replace it.

Any electricity that is used outside or in damp areas should have RCD protection (Residual Current Device). Ideally you should have RCD protection in your fusebox to protect the whole house.

ollyk

clockley wrote:

The socket is not protected from the elements. It has two push buttons on it, though no indication of what they do.

It is situated on the wall immediately by the back window, about 5ft off the ground and has no cover.

The house is new to me, not 'new'. We are finding a lot of dodgy work been carried out on the house and according to neighbours, the previous owner was a bizarre character, who had up to 10 people renting at a time (in a 2 bedroom house) all of which would do jobs around the house (Project Mayhem, anyone?) I'm not sure he spent any money on labour in the place at all so nothing would surprise me.

Craiug

i would suggest it is RCD enabled, but IT MUST be at minimum IP55 protected. This means it needs a sealable cover ASAP. I would personally disconnect the thing but please get a spark if you unsure!

YorkshireBoy

Wig wrote:

...I don't see the problem as long as you can plug in an RCD adaptor

That's because you're not an electrician.

BS7671 (The Regs) states that any socket "intended" to be used for supplying equipment to be used outside the equipotential zone (ie, your house) must be provided with RCD protection.

Note my emphasis of the word socket. This precludes the use of plug-in adaptors.