Unused Live Electrical Cables

Tweaker

I have just had a boiler replaced and as a consequence there are now three cables that have been disconnected by the heating engineer that are still live, he has put connector blocks on the end of each one of them and taped over them, and put them back under the floor, are these safe to leave or will I need to get an electrician to disconnect them from the consumer unit?

muckybutt

For starters he should have used appropriate junction boxes !

I would be inclined to get the said plumber back to satisfactorily finish the job safely.

Providing they are safely terminated then they can be left there until such a time as they can be disconnected and removed.

Ectophile

Taping and shoving under the floor is horrible. If the wires are not disconnected, they should at least be terminated in a proper junction box.

If you do leave them, it's worth putting a note on the consumer unit. Otherwise, years down the line, somebody is going to be scratching their heads wondering why there's a circuit breaker than doesn't appear to be connected to anything.

Crinkmeister

This sounds very strange - why would a boiler replacement free up three live mains cables? Are you sure they are mains cables with 220V on them?

cyclonebri1

Crinkmeister wrote: »

This sounds very strange - why would a boiler replacement free up three live mains cables? Are you sure they are mains cables with 220V on them?

Totally agree, but maybe they were run from a wiring centre that was once common on pre combi installations? Who said they were live him or you, ie, have you checked?

It's highly unlikely that a feed direct from the consumer unit has been run, they likely tapped off the existing ring rain somewhere under the floor boards.

Personally I wouldn't bother doing anything other than checking to see if there is a related MCB purely now redundant and for now installing a junction box screwed to the joists

Avoriaz

You could consider using them to install a single or double 13amp socket if that might be useful for vacuum cleaners or other appliances. Many houses have too few sockets.

You would need to ensure that the cables are the correct specification and that you are not overloading the existing installation etc.

Get expert advice on this before proceeding.

cyclonebri1

Avoriaz wrote: »

You could consider using them to install a single or double 13amp socket if that might be useful for vacuum cleaners or other appliances. Many houses have too few sockets.

You would need to ensure that the cables are the correct specification and that you are not overloading the existing installation etc.

Get expert advice on this before proceeding.

To be honest I think that to try to speculate on future use of a redundant wire is flawed. Is he looking at the end of an over extended spur?, is he looking at a tap off the lighting circuit?
He may have a live wire, he may have 2, hopefully he has the good earth, but he not even have a neutral connection, could have been (likely) connected up else where.

And yes, I get the caveat;)

cyclonebri1

Everything said still applies then, kill it for now. Investigate further if you ever consider using the supply.