How to remove electrical socket

fredipol

I have three single gang electrical sockets in a row. Two are chased into the wall and flush, but one sticks out with an ugly white back box, so I want to get rid of it completely.

Can I just remove the cables and connect the other two back up to the ring?

Nearlyold

Yes you can remove the surface mounted socket and pattress box  and remake the ring provided you can identify which cables make up the ring. How many cables go into the back of each socket. Is the surface mounted socket in the ring or is it a spur. If you've not already checked the wiring yet are you certain the surface mounted socket is on the same circuit as the other two sockets?    

Jeepers_Creepers

You wish to completely remove it and reinstate the wall back to a painted finish?

How electrically DIY capable are you? In theory, this is straight-forward, but you won't know until you remove that socket front, and also the double beside it and have a gander behind. If the sticky-out one is being supplied by a single cable from the double socket - ie a spur - then it should be peasy.

Do you know how to do this without killing yourself? If so, could you post a photo of the wiring behind it?

fredipol

I have taken off the pattress box and disconnected the cables from the socket I want to remove. As you can see, one set of cables goes straight to socket next to it, the other set disappears into the wall.

My understanding is that I can completely remove the short wires (bottom of the image) that ran from the middle socket to the now removed socket, and connect the top wires to that middle socket, thus recreating the ring.

Jeepers_Creepers

fredipol said:

I have taken off the pattress box and disconnected the cables from the socket I want to remove. As you can see, one set of cables goes straight to socket next to it, the other set disappears into the wall.

My understanding is that I can completely remove the short wires (bottom of the image) that ran from the middle socket to the now removed socket, and connect the top wires to that middle socket, thus recreating the ring.

Yes.

To confirm - there is a short cable that went from that middle socket to the (removed) surface socket?

And a second cable that went to the surface socket and which disappears into the wall?

Almost certainly it's as you say - you remove that short cable from the middle socket and discard it, and then connect the 'surface socket' cable to that middle socket instead - LtoL, NtoN, EtoE. And you MUST put sleeving on these earths wires. MUST.

Norman_Castle

Ideal time to replace the two singles with a double. Why was there trunking heading upwards from the removed socket?

grumbler

Norman_Castle said:

Ideal time to replace the two singles with a double.

Hardly worth the hussle

Why was there trunkig heasding upwards from the removed socket?

A spur I think