Disconnection advice needed

Talk Electrician Forum

Help Support Talk Electrician Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

winny

New member
Joined
Jan 25, 2021
Messages
4
Reaction score
1
Hi,
I am going to get an electrician to do this work but just need to know how much work is involved.
I have an old lean to that needs to be demolished asap.
I have traced the wires running from it through the wall to under the floorboards in the nearest bedroom. I was hoping there would be a junction box the other side of the wall that the wires could just be disconnected from but no - not that easy. The wires run out of the bedroom and then under the landing possibly the whole length which would involve taking the carpet up and moving a wardrobe.
The whole house will be rewired eventually but the lean to needs to come down first, so is it possible for the electrician to just cut the wires for the lean to and make them safe for now or do they need to be disconnected at source? Many thanks for your help.

 
From your description do you have a separate circuit from the consumer unit feeding the lean to, if so it may be possible to isolate and disconnect it there to make the circuit safe

 
A bit more investigation with some suitable test equipment may be able to track down a suitable isolation point..

Its not uncommon for older shed wiring to be just connected directly as a spur off a nearby socket outlet.

Do you know which fuse/MCB at the fuse box/CU, turns the power off to the outbuilding?

If an internal isolation point is not possible then,

worst case as Andy said is just to terminate into a weatherproof box..  

Either way should be easily resolved without too much hassle.

 
might be possible to put them into an IP rated enclosure


From your description do you have a separate circuit from the consumer unit feeding the lean to, if so it may be possible to isolate and disconnect it there to make the circuit safe


A bit more investigation with some suitable test equipment may be able to track down a suitable isolation point..

Its not uncommon for older shed wiring to be just connected directly as a spur off a nearby socket outlet.

Do you know which fuse/MCB at the fuse box/CU, turns the power off to the outbuilding?

If an internal isolation point is not possible then,

worst case as Andy said is just to terminate into a weatherproof box..  

Either way should be easily resolved without too much hassle.
Thank you all for your replies.

I've no idea about the separate circuit. The wiring for it was probably done in the 70's by my late brother. He was an electrician so it would have been done properly. 

I traced them back as far as I could but didn't want to rip all the carpet up yet until I'm ready for the rest of the wiring to be done.

There are 2 thickish flat grey wires  going through the house wall into the lean to and those power 10 (!) sockets via surface mounted wires out there which I can remove myself as long as the elec supply has gone.

The switch for the light is in the kitchen and there's a separate wire out there for that.

I would like the wire disconnected under the floorboards in the house so no need to worry about weather proofing them.

Not sure when or if the lean to will be replaced yet but it needs to come down  asap for safety and for access to other high exterior work.

Thank you again. 

 
If it was properly wired as you say those cables will go back to your consumer unit where an electrician will have no problem identifying them and disconnecting.  Should be no reason to pull up your carpets, etc.

 
If it was properly wired as you say those cables will go back to your consumer unit where an electrician will have no problem identifying them and disconnecting.  Should be no reason to pull up your carpets, etc.
Thank you. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
It shouldn't be too difficult for someone to make safe for you..

But the important thing to remember is...

Don't dabble around with any wires that you think could possibly still be live..

First make 100% sure they are completely isolated and dead..

As electricity can kill a healthy adult in less than half a second..

So if you are not able to make them safe yourself,

paying someone a few pounds to check it all out for you is much cheaper than some unexpected funeral arrangements.

There is a tragic case in the press at the moment about a young boy who was fatally electrocuted..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9171655/Essex-electrician-installed-pubs-garden-lights-caused-boys-fatal-shock-court-hears.html

A competent electrician will be able to make your wires safe and verify it is all dead...

so you can get on with removing all the redundant sockets & cable etc in complete confidence that you wont get ay nasty surprises.

Where about are you?

There may be a forum member who is local enough to be able to call round and do the safety checks for you.

:coffee  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
It shouldn't be too difficult for someone to make safe for you..

But the important thing to remember is...

Don't dabble around with any wires that you think could possibly still be live..

First make 100% sure they are completely isolated and dead..

As electricity can kill a healthy adult in less than half a second..

So if you are not able to make them safe yourself,

paying someone a few pounds to check it all out for you is much cheaper than some unexpected funeral arrangements.

There is a tragic case in the press at the moment about a young boy who was fatally electrocuted..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9171655/Essex-electrician-installed-pubs-garden-lights-caused-boys-fatal-shock-court-hears.html

A competent electrician will be able to make your wires safe and verify it is all dead...

so you can get on with removing all the redundant sockets & cable etc in complete confidence that you wont get ay nasty surprises.

Where about are you?

There may be a forum member who is local enough to be able to call round and do the safety checks for you.

:coffee  
Thank you, for your reply and apologies for not replying sooner.

I have got an electrician coming to make it all safe for me. 

Wiring plugs and changing fuses is as far as I go where electricity is concerned.

 
Top