Remove a Redundant Spur and how to Trace the Other end? Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

[ArcadeStarlet]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and fairly new to DIY in general. Hoping for a little advice on a wiring problem.

We've just bought our first house. There's an airing cupboard with a decrepit old heater wired into a fused switch plate. I wanted to remove the appliance and replace it with a standard outlet socket. However, I found that it's not on the sockets circuit, it's on the central heating circuit.

I don't want to keep the appliance, but I also don't want a socket on the wrong circuit. Now I just want to remove the spur.

The question is, how?

I know it's not safe to just tape it up and poke it back under the floorboards. I need to unwire it at the other end and remove it completely.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can trace where the other end is wired in?

It's definitely only a spur (only one three core cable).

[ericmark]

I would not remove the cable, I would simply put the cable into a connector block to keep ends safe and put a blanking plate instead of FCU outlet.

In my house the immersion heater was switched from the kitchen, so when the cistern was removed the 16A supply was converted into 3 double sockets. Pair in kitchen, through wall and pair in living room under stairs used once a year for Christmas tree, and pair in old airing cupboard now used as computer room.

If like my house the cable is 2.5mm and fed with a 16A MCB then no reason not to fit a socket.

If however fed with 6A MCB then you need to think twice, likely best capping off with blanking plate. As long as you can see where the outlet was which you can with blanking plate no problem.

[ArcadeStarlet]

Hi Eric,
Thanks for the advice.
If it was a recessed box, I'd definitely have done this, but it's a surface mounted one, which sticks out from the skirting board. Ideally I wanted to get rid of the box.

The reason I am concerned about putting a socket on it is because there would be no clear indication that it wasn't on the sockets circuit. We'd know, but it could be dangerous for any future owner of the house. I assumed it was on the first floor sockets so isolated them while working on it, but it wasn't - could have killed myself! A mistake like that would be more likely if it was actually an outlet socket.

I'll definitely give some thought to re-positioning it on the wall and just capping it off.

[ericmark]

The age old argument, should you modify your wiring to allow for those who follow not keeping to the rules?

Wiring a house side to side rather than up and down stairs means less cable, this in turn means a better earth loop impedance and allows one to power items in an emergency without leads on the stairs. So it makes electrical sense. However if some one does not test then one can make a fatal mistake, but it would be their mistake for not testing.

Like put a 3 foot wall on a bridge stops people accidentally falling off, a 6 foot wall painted with anti-climb paint stops the buggy jumper and stops anyone looking at the view. What I am saying there is a limit to how much you need to do to stop some one being silly.