Radial sockets in kitchen stopped working

[benjiman]

Hi all,

Got a radial in the kitchen for sockets. Rodents have eaten cable so no longer working. Have identified last working socket.

Can I run cable on worktop in trunking to get the other sockets live? The back boxes are sunk into wall at the moment. Would I have to use surface mount back boxes or is there a safe say to bring cable into sunk back boxes when using trunking?

Thanks.

 

[sparkwright]

My first question would have to be 'how do you know the cable is rodent damaged?', and the second question would be 'if you know the cable is rodent damaged, can you you repair it?'

 

[333rocky333]

Not ideal but you cut out the back of the trunking and dig out the wall a bit so the cable dives out the back of the trunking and into your existing flush box via the 20mm knockout with a grommet fitted

 

[benjiman]

Thanks chaps.

SparkWright - Had a problem with rodents in house, so assuming it is the rodents as was working fine for many years. Kitchen all tiled so gonna be a lot of work to try and identify damage.

Thanks 333rocky, seems like a good idea.

 

[deadshort]

I think you need an electrician with test kit to determine what the problem is, You may be surprised ! If it's a simple fault.

DS

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Yes, you are making assumptions. Could be a simply fix, where cable has come loose or broken.

 

[333rocky333]

Did the mcb or fuse go off at any time.
It is rare for a rodent to go through the actual copper, they tend to chew the insulation and spit it out, they dont seem to digest it, then the bare copper eventually shorts out and blows the fuse or Mcb.
Its often, only after someone repeatedly resetting the trip, that the copper then blows apart and it resets, that points stop working after the fault.
A cable with chewed insulation could operate for some time before a problem occurs.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Also, the implication seems to be that rodents are believed to have damaged cables buried in the walls. I would have thought that the buried sections behind the tiles were the most likely to be sound, not the least....

 

[securespark]

Also, the implication seems to be that rodents are believed to have damaged cables buried in the walls. I would have thought that the buried sections behind the tiles were the most likely to be sound, not the least....

Not necessarily. The cable buried in the wall feeding socket A may be damaged where it traverses the underfloor void.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So could be repaired there using appropriate techniques, rather than replacing the segment buried in the wall with surface mounted cable.