Help With Gap Filling Between Socket Box and Wall Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

[GAM13LE]

Attached new plug socket to wall but there is a gap between the wall box and sockets, is there anyway to safely fill the gap as if I screw in any more it trips the electric off or is it more likely that I am going to have to buy new sockets? The gap is 0.5cm wide.

[stuartb3502]

Replying as you have no other replies yet. I think you're trying to solve the wrong problem. If you can't screw the socket into the wall box without tripping the circuit, you have a dangerous fault in the work that you've done.

Recommend solving that first (i.e. before you kill yourself or someone else or burn your house down) and then you may find that you can screw the faceplate on if that's all that's stopping you. If not, the wallbox is too mounted too deep - fix that in preference to filling.

I'm not an electrician, but I know that when I asked our electrician to mount some shaver sock faceplates on the surface of a cupboard back he refused. The back of the cupboard needed to be cut out and so that the faceplates could mate tightly to wallbox.

All the best.