Cut Ring Main

pmartin86

Afternoon All

Long story short, I've drilled through the ring main in the kitchen and cut the cable (yep, idiot...I knew the cable was in the area, just a moment of madness)

I've cut out a section of plaster and exposed the damaged cable and cut it cleanly and insulated the ends as a temporary measure to keep the RCD happy and essentialy create a radial circut to keep my fridge alive while i make repairs.

Question is, can I repair this cable? Or do i need to chase out and replace the whole length (annoyingly, a good 8-9m run which will be a right PITA) or can i get a sealed junction box to repair the joint and hide behind the plaster?

Browntoa

Needs to be a "maintenance free" junction box if in an inaccessible area

pmartin86

Thank you, so it would be acceptable to make the join instead of replacing the wire? Obviously, safety is key, id like an easy fix but if it needs doing properly then needs must.

Am I right in thinking something like this would work then?

https://www.sparksdirect.co.uk/17th-edition-junction-box-maintenance-free-junction-box-32-amp-3-terminal

Risteard

You should not have re-energised a circuit which is unsafe in its current condition regardless of whether you wished to keep the fridge running. Epic fail.

pmartin86

Risteard wrote: »

You should not have re-energised a circuit which is unsafe in its current condition regardless of whether you wished to keep the fridge running. Epic fail.

Please explain to me how its "unsafe"?

AndyMc.....

pmartin86 wrote: »

Please explain to me how its "unsafe"?

You won’t get any help from him.

glentoran99

pmartin86 wrote: »

Please explain to me how its "unsafe"?

If you've effectively stopped it being a ring circuit then the cables could become overloaded and catch fire , as one cable could be carrying a load above what its rated for, a ring circuit shares the load over two cables

Head_The_Ball

pmartin86 wrote: »

Please explain to me how its "unsafe"?

As Glentoran99 writes, you have considerably reduced the safe load that the remaining wiring can safely carry.

However, if the only devices using that wiring are low wattage items such as a fridge you mention, then there is no significant risk.

Risteard is technically correct but, provided you don't now overload that broken ring and you get it properly repaired as quickly as possible, then you probably run more risk of winning the lottery than having an electrical disaster.

Can you run an extension cable from another ring to keep the fridge going? Risteard will probably tell you, again technically correctly, that is dangerous.

What else is on the now broken ring?

pmartin86

The fridge is literaly the only thing on the broken ring, unfortnatly I dont have an extention lead long enough for the moment, thus my "bush fix". My understanding is (correct me if im wrong) that I've effectivly created a radial corcuit to power the switch, which SHOULD be cable of handling 16A~

I'm well aware that "technicaly" it's not safe, but running a single device off a single wire for a short period of time isnt something Im going to lose sleep about, and comments such as that made by Risteard simply make people more fearful of electrical circuits instead of educating people that their not just "dangerous magic things"

tacpot12

Please explain to me how its "unsafe"?

You have now have two cables that are only capable of safely carrying 20A protected by a 32A fuse/MCB. Thus, you could if you plug enough into the longer leg of the ring overload that cable which could lead to a fire.

You can fix the break with a junction box that is accessible - e.g. you could install a backbox with a blanking plate to cover it. Alternatively, if you can pull the cable back from the break to the socket that the fridge is connected to, and if you have spare ways in your consumer unit, you could split the ring into two radial circuits; a short one serving just the fridge, and a longer one serving the rest of the kitchen. There is a school of thought that fridges benefit from being on their own dedicated circuit as a fault on another circuit won't cause the fridge to lose power and spoil your food. Note that creating a new circuit (as above) is notifiable work (under Part P of the Building Regulations).

glentoran99

pmartin86 wrote: »

The fridge is literaly the only thing on the broken ring, unfortnatly I dont have an extention lead long enough for the moment, thus my "bush fix". My understanding is (correct me if im wrong) that I've effectivly created a radial corcuit to power the switch, which SHOULD be cable of handling 16A~

I'm well aware that "technicaly" it's not safe, but running a single device off a single wire for a short period of time isnt something Im going to lose sleep about, and comments such as that made by Risteard simply make people more fearful of electrical circuits instead of educating people that their not just "dangerous magic things"

change the fuse to a lower one should make it a bit more safe