BIGGEST DIY Mistakes Adding a New Socket

Great video, thanks. I liked the tip of inserting a fused switch into a lengthy radial circuit to cap the overall current.

How many sockets are allowable on a ring main? ( excluding fixed appliances such as wash mc, dryer, dish washer etc)

I was asked to fault find for a local firm, as finding faults is long and time wasting. I specialise in fault finding, so was the right candidate.
I went to a Bungalow, split the ring and proceeded to hunt. I found the crushed burned cable under the doorstep of the conservatory, which was spurred off a socket in the adjacent kitchen.
The builder of this conservatory had fitted SIX double sockets on the spur,,, SIX.!
The crushed cable was Black and sooty from the arching....

Another fault I found was in a Caravan, the "maintenance" had removed a faulty smoke alarm and replaced it with a battery operated version. No longer needing the mains supply, this "maintenance" person just shoved the bare ended wires up in the roof cavity surrounded by damp insulation, which caused nuisance tripping when it was wet with condensation.
It still happens people, no matter how stiff the regulations might be.

Great advice and well presented. If in doubt about a ring main then replace MCB with 20A which is a good precaution in any event as high power is not usual except for kitchens with many appliances in addition to oven and hobs ( separate 6mm T&E ).

Our old house has got spur on spurs , been like it for years with no problems .Just rules and regulations that are always changing.These days things are using less energy so drawing less current.Admittedly always separate circuits for the cooker and shower with the appropriate cable and protection

Great explanation and diagrams. Thank you!

So four double sockets off a socket that's part of a ring, might be a bit much, eh? Weird that the home inspector never pointed that to me before I bought the place.

Very informative video - thank you.

When you raise your intonation at the end of every sentence it implies that you cover your timid, monotone tone by authority, which is not actual commanding but rather expectation of being accepted. Like you were trying to read in front of the schoolmates and expect people to tolerate it

If you are a customer don't let a sparks persuade you into having radials especially in your kitchen area,always wire a ring main circuit and put a switched fused spur above your kitchen counter above your socket outlets for items like washing machines,dishwashers etc

As an electrician of 50 years ,I find that ring main system is a perfect system ,it's only the young electricians who are just lazy because they find it simple to wire a radial circuit,another good thing about a ring with the sockets having two separate earth terminals so if for any reason you lose an earth you will always have one there coming from the other direction

safe plates = yes, absolutely. What is also essential, imho - is a very detailed map of ALL wiring in a home. If a new build - then there should be detailed pictures taken of ALL fittings /cable runs in every room before the plasterboard goes up , with a measure rod placed by them. You get these actual photos on a USB stick, with you house keys.
Also - there is simply not enough basic secondary '"tech" added to a home supply system. The power draw, to every room, garage, loft, should be monitored by a Unit - and recorded -we are still relying on 1970s crude technology,

A double socket is 13A over the full unit... Not each outlet

Rings should be banned, theyre antiquated. It annoys me that my new build has them!

You realise giving advise about electrics when you're not an electrician can lead to lawsuits yeah

Great video - really clear, well illustrated and not overly wordy. Thank you.

It is so irritating when people (usually youngsters) finish their sentences with an increase in pitch, as if asking a question………

Excellent video. Thank you so much for being clear and concise. No faffing about.

Ring Mains was a good idea, but at the time people hadn't had sockets that long and didn't have many appliances. Just a few years earlier people plugged vacuum cleaners into light sockets. I do cringe on a typical morning when we have 1 double toaster going, 3.1kw kettle, microwave all on the go on the kitchen at once. If you had a 2kw heater that would be warming the cables.

Great topic. I’m an electrician myself. I agree ring circuits are no longer needed. Most equipment in homes nowadays would happily run on 2.5 radial circuits. 60 years ago 2.5 radial circuits might not have been the perfect solution with alot more resistive loads drawing more current but nowadays everything is much more efficient.

our sockets downstairs are spur off spur off spur off spur!, upstairs a semi ring, with only one feed from fusebox(yes, old bakelite 4 way wylex fusebox!) thats the way it was done 52 ish years ago when 'updating' a very minimal installation, some old rubber wiring still remains in the lighting circuits, it really needs altering, also to add a heating circuit or 2 for storage heaters or similar, but simply cannot afford it

I ALWAYS overrate my cables, lighting is 1.5mm sockets 4mm and UNDERRATE fuses. Safety first.

If i do a socket radial I always use 4mm2 cable on a 32A breaker. I agree that ring final circuits carry an invisible danger is the ring is compromised. Good video though. Even my plumbing mate understood it!!!

Amazing explanation

Excellent delivery. Subscribed.

I am old enough to remember when people would run electric smoothing irons from 'two-pin' switched/unswitched, bayonet adaptors from a ceiling rose !!! Mind you, often in 'first fit' old buildings, the mains wire was metal-clad - chalk filled cable.

Do numpties really run 13A socket spurs from loft lighting runs??? I've certainly come across multiple socket spurs running from a ring circuit...

Where rings are still used, one probably expects a budget installation. IMHO - radial circuit runs are more logical, though design/draught critical.

In France, ring mains are illegal for the reasons you give in the video. Current draw exceeding the rating of the cable.

👍clear and useful

EUROPE I live in Prague. Here they have sockets right over the bathroom sink ! So things are different. They have 2-pin sockets with no apparent fuse in the plugs. I guess that is inherently more dangerous ? When I came here I bought loads of 3-to-2 pin adapters and so all my UK bought electrical counter top things ( toaster, kettle etc. ) are still UK fused plugs.

This is very interesting. I had an electrician wire an electric shower. He threaded what looked like fairly heavy duty cable up the wall from the hall circuit breaker, and over to the bathroom. Then he disappeared, never to be seen again ( and I hadn't paid him ). So I got another electrician. He said "hmmm, he's left me just enough capacity of amps with this cable for your shower". I asked should the wire be upgraded, but he said it was ok, but to never, ever try and spur anything off it. For me, I want to sleep soundly at night, so for electrical things, I always call a certified electrician.

I can listen to Australian upward inflection for hours - NOT!

I learnt quite a few things from that, thanks !

An electricien from the Netherlands here🙋. We use pvc pipes to run wires through so if you want to run an extra wire to transform a socket into a switch opening walls is not needed. Damaged wires are easyer to renew too. Normally every circuit is protected by a 16amps breaker there is no difference between lights an normal used sockets. Machines that draw a lot of power lets say everything above 2kw has its own circuit. Never seen Radial circuits here and for what i know they are not allowed in the Netherlands.

Great explanation, but I couldn't help hearing my school physics teacher shouting about "correct units" every time you said 2.5 mm when you meant 2.5 mm²... which was a lot of times...! 🙂

I like the idea of radial in my new garage wiring.

Rings are here to stay. Radial circuits in new houses with 200/300mm insulation means that the de-rating factor of 2.5mm radials is too great to make sense.

I'm a canadian and I just find this very interesting. Definitely prefer our code to yours :) Good video. Thanks

I'm kind of worries about how my loft is set up now that I'm actually using it. I't pretty clearly a DIY job since it's "converted" but doesn't have a window or anything. There are plug sockets around the room and a ceiling light which currently doesn't work. I discovered why with a voltage pen that it appears it was connected to the immersion heater and that when that was removed the wire for that ceiling light was disconected. So who knows how the sockets are set up. There's a crawl space either side so I guess I could go in there with a torch and check that the wiring has the proper rating and maybe also trial and error breakers to figure out which circuit it's connected too, I know if definitly doesn't have it's own.

A lot of good information there, thank you

Whilst this may be an informative and factual video, it's quite possible that you are the most boring man in the entire world.

DIY,s should not be fucking around with domestic installation wiring; or any electrical installations, use a qualified electrician,

lol, ring connections are illegal anyway, it is only used by utility supply companies and and in the UK...

That’s why in Australia we don’t use the ring main wiring system.

My idea of good wiring in kitchen is to have ring run to twinpoll 13amp switches for washing machine, dryer, boiler & fridge freezer. This means any faulty appliance can be isolated and easy to put circuit back on. I do this under consumer unit. Lots of power and radials.

It is not a breach of the regulations to put a 13A socket on a 6A circuit as it's still fully protected. It's unusual, but often done in a loft space for something like a TV distribution amp with a socket on it. It might be wise to add a fused spur and label the socket. It's also legally possible to use a 6A. The worst that is going to happen if it's overloaded is for the breaker to trip. However, if people really worry about such a thing, then it's wholly within regulations to put a 5A Round Pin Plug on a lighting circuit, and you can even get the plugs with cartridge fuses.

Also, have you never seen those cooker switches with a 13A socket? They are very commonly used and often used on 40A circuits. No different in principle to a spur socket with the appropriate gauge wire. As for the claim "the fuse might not blow" in the plug, then that's a far-fetched problem and, as it's possible to put sockets on 32A ring or radial circuits it's not a substantial difference.

Yes but todays electronics are mostly A rated meaning they hardly ever pull more than 5amps, its only cookers that can pull 25a/30a and they have their own dedicated cabling back to the distribution board.

one thing always puzzled me about a right is how do you put 2 sets of cables into the consumer unit i assume they are doubled up into the same breaker?