Possible Electrical mess-up - Eek - Urgent Help needed

MalMonroe

You have a small child. Get a professional in. Yes they WILL come at short notice but it will probably cost you. But with a small child, why are you messing about with the electrics anyway???? 

Anthony147

If and only if your comfortable - Ensure the power is off and tell everyone / put a sign on the fuse box in case any else in the house goes to turn it back on
Connect the greys together in matching pairs ideally through the connector block so it’s insulated and cover with blanking plate.
The black wire should be fully extractable / removable as that’s merely to the fire (the appliance).

You’re creating a ring from and to the main fuse board (grey wires) and appliances connect to this via a switch (black wires). I’d make a note that there’s a connection there for if needed in future.

If for any reason it trips when you turn the power back on - Reconsider getting help as you’ve got an unusual wiring setup.

If your comfortable doing that and switched off at the main board you’ll only need your screwdrivers and screw fix / tool station should be close by if you don’t have a block to hand

ChilliBob

Thanks. The black wire and fireplace is well out of the mix, thankfully there's at least some benefit to this mess!

Is anyone able to explain why I should connect the two grey power cables in matching pairs, as opposed to having two separate connection blocks - I'm sitting in front of it now, live, with insulation tape over it, and it's obviously separate (except for earth).

I'm comfortable doing the above for sure.

ChilliBob

MalMonroe said:

You have a small child. Get a professional in. Yes they WILL come at short notice but it will probably cost you. But with a
small child, why are you messing about with the electrics anyway???? 

tbh I didn't think I was messing around really - I thought it would be a trivial disconnection.

TadleyBaggie

If you don't connect the like wires together you have a broken ring, power will be available everywhere but only from one direction instead of two.

FreeBear

ChilliBob said: Is anyone able to explain why I should connect the two grey power cables in matching pairs, as opposed to having two separate connection blocks - I'm sitting in front of it now, live, with insulation tape over it, and it's obviously separate (except for earth).

The two cables are a ring circuit. They both share the load of appliances plugged into the sockets. Breaking the ring (as you have done) means that one cable could be loaded beyond its rated capacity - This is a fire/safety hazard and needs to be fixed.

ChilliBob

TadleyBaggie said:

If don't connect the like wires together you have a broken ring, power will be available everywhere but only from one source instead of two.

I wondered if it would be some kind of broken circuit type thing. By 'only from one source not two' what does that actually mean though? -  Stuff downstairs appears to be working fine at the moment - TV, table lamps, router etc.

ChilliBob

FreeBear said:

ChilliBob said: Is anyone able to explain why I should connect the two grey power cables in matching pairs, as opposed to having two separate connection blocks - I'm sitting in front of it now, live, with insulation tape over it, and it's obviously separate (except for earth).

The two cables are a ring circuit. They both share the load of appliances plugged into the sockets. Breaking the ring (as you have done) means that one cable could be loaded beyond its rated capacity - This is a fire/safety hazard and needs to be fixed.

Ah, that makes more sense now. So having said ring operational now is a risk, but with it hardly loaded (most stuff on the ring is switched off) it's not a huge issue, but, turning say washing machine on would be a bad idea, or using it much. 

I see.

TadleyBaggie

In a ring circuit every socket is looped to the next one, with the first and last socket going back to the same MCB, allows the load to be shared on two cables.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_circuit

ChilliBob

Thanks, that (mostly) makes sense. Some people in this thread (well, most I'm guessing) will be please to know I've identified a decent looking electrician locally, however, no reply at the moment... ! Two pronged attack - my DIY effort and a professional, hopefully soon.