Can I DIY a chewed cable?

[Jurassicspark]

This did not result in an RCD tripping (circuit remained energised), but there were no rodent skeletal remains in the vicinity ..

I guess the load was very low thus causing the rcd not to trip. Hate these faults, pain ITA tracking intermittent faults like this down.

 

[JohnW2]

Point taken but equally the OP knows relatively little about the competence of those telling him to give up. Its a forum not an exam syllabus

Sure, but that's not the point.

 

[JohnW2]

I guess the load was very low thus causing the rcd not to trip.

Maybe. The RCD was certainly working fine when tested.

Hate these faults, pain ITA tracking intermittent faults like this down.

... and that's if one knows that there IS a 'fault'. What I illustrated was found purely by accident when a floorboard was lifted. The circuit had been continuing to work fine, and there was nothing to suggest that there was anything wrong - and (as one might expect from the photo) the circuit IRd perfectly fine with that 'fault' present!

 

[Jurassicspark]

) the circuit IRd perfectly fine with that 'fault' present!

Splash a bit of water on it and test again.

 

[JohnW2]

Splash a bit of water on it and test again.

Indeed - but, where it was, no water was ever going to get splashed on it - so, had I not stumbled across the damage, I would never have been aware of the problem, even if I had 'fully tested' the circuit.

 

[SUNRAY]

Indeed - but, where it was, no water was ever going to get splashed on it - so, had I not stumbled across the damage, I would never have been aware of the problem, even if I had 'fully tested' the circuit.

I only found mine when I switched a light on and the circuit tripped, assuming it was a blown bulb I replaced it but still tripped. In the loft I found about 4ft of the switch drop stripped bare on the top and eventually the bare copper (3/0.029“) had popped out of the PVC remains. I spent half a day looking and making repairs to the other bits which had been chewed.

If it had not chosen Christmas Eve to 'pop out' I could have easily had a nasty surprise when putting Christmas decs away later.

While at it I took the oportunity to do away with the borrowed neutral and resplit my lighting circuits.