How to deal with a redundant socket?

[RigidRaider]

We are having the opening in our kitchen wall enlarged to allow fitting of some folding doors, which has made a socket redundant. The cable comes down from the ceiling space but I can't face having to lift the floor above in order to remove the spur from the ring and in any case I think we might be glad to have the spur in future if we decide to have extra outside lighting.

The spur now emerges above the new lintel - what's a neat and appropriate way to finish it off and leave it secure for possible future use? Just fit a cover plate? How do I close the ring inside the box? Or is it better just to join the ends and plaster it over? How would I do that in the approved way?

 

[pbar]

We are having the opening in our kitchen wall enlarged to allow fitting of some folding doors, which has made a socket redundant. The cable comes down from the ceiling space but I can't face having to lift the floor above in order to remove the spur from the ring and in any case I think we might be glad to have the spur in future if we decide to have extra outside lighting.

The spur now emerges above the new lintel - what's a neat and appropriate way to finish it off and leave it secure for possible future use? Just fit a cover plate? How do I close the ring inside the box? Or is it better just to join the ends and plaster it over? How would I do that in the approved way?

You could either use a correctly rated terminal block to connect the cables together and use a blank face plate.
Or I think you can get a blank face plate that has the terminals behind it, so it's like a plug socket with just a plain front, if you like.
Either of the above will keep the ring, and be easy to change back to something else in the future.

Having re-read your post, you mention spur and ring, but I'm unsure which you have. If the socket is part of the ring, then you can do the above and keep the ring. Or if it is a spur, you could do the above and it would simply be terminated behind the blank face plate.

 

[RigidRaider]

Sorry - I'm not an electrican. I though a socket was always on a spur off the ring?

 

[garrymum]

Sorry - I'm not an electrican. I though a socket was always on a spur off the ring?

Sockets can be spurs off the ring or they can be part of the ring itself. If your socket only has 1 cable going to it, it's a spur, if it has two it's part of the ring (1 in, 1 out to the next socket)

 

[RigidRaider]

Thanks for the explanation. In what circumstances would an electrician install a spur as opposed to double cables?

Presumably with a ring the principle is that you should always close it, i.e. join the cables? Would a ring circuit always be a closed ring right round the building or could it be incomplete?

 

[pbar]

Thanks for the explanation. In what circumstances would an electrician install a spur as opposed to double cables?

Presumably with a ring the principle is that you should always close it, i.e. join the cables? Would a ring circuit always be a closed ring right round the building or could it be incomplete?

A ring is just what it says - a ring. It needs to be, and should be closed. There can be various reasons why a spur might be added. An extra socket might have been needed at some stage by a previous owner for example, and it's perfectly normal to do this.
Usually, if it has two cables it's part of the ring and if one, it's a spur, as has been said.
So, if there are two cables there you should keep them connected (assuming they were before, if part of the ring they will have been), and if one, it would just be terminated.

 

[mobileman]

Thanks for the explanation. In what circumstances would an electrician install a spur as opposed to double cables?

Presumably with a ring the principle is that you should always close it, i.e. join the cables? Would a ring circuit always be a closed ring right round the building or could it be incomplete?

In circumstances where it's easier to spur of a socket than it is to extend the ring. For example, if there were only one or two sockets required and there are two existing sockets on the ring which have no existing spurs from which you can spur.

You'd extend the ring or create a new one where you need more sockets than you have to spur from, for example, when adding a conservatory or extension.

An incomplete ring would be a radial and therefore not a ring at all. You can't create a radial by spurring of a socket on the ring unless you first run the spur to a FCU and run the rest of the spurred radial from there.

 

[RigidRaider]

Thanks for the explanations - I understand most of that!