Reverse Polarity in only one room

[John2512_00]

Hi all.

I'm just asking this out of curiosity to explain to customers and for my own information.

I'm a gas man and on a call out last week i found the boiler was fine and it was the power supply to the boiler, and the kitchen sockets had reverse polarity.

I was just wandering what actually could cause this in the first place? and why would it be isolated to only in the kitchen and I'm assuming the spur for the boiler would be taken off the kitchen sockets circuit,


Thanks for your time J

 

[securespark]

Spur might not be off sockets. Sometimes you find stuff tapped off the cooker circuit for example. Or it may be off another ring final circuit.

Is anything else reverse polarity? Could be reversed in CU, or reversed in the sockets, but it would have to be every one.

More checking needed to find out why, I'm afraid.

 

[Adam_151]

Obviously the kitchen sockets circuit must have been connected with incorrect polarity to the board (or at a joint box or something between the sockets and board) and the other circuits haven't, how someone can confuse black with red, or the top of a fuseway with a neutral bar baffles me though (though I suppose it could be an RCBO, that'd make it easier to reverse polarity on the outgoing circuit cables without noticeing)

 

[John2512_00]

klkl, was just wandering if there was an easy explenation for this type of fault, i spesifically remember the cooker socket being fine.

Im trying to pick up a little electrics knowledge now im a heating engeneer as its all handy to know.

Could it be a radial circuit that only supplied the sockets in the kitchen that was wrong? do sockets in different rooms in a house generaly get fed off different circuits or would you genrealy find one ring main or radial does all the sockets one one floor?

 

[Adam_151]

do sockets in different rooms in a house generaly get fed off different circuits or would you genrealy find one ring main or radial does all the sockets one one floor?

Depends, generally not for rooms in general, but these days the kitchen on its own circuit is quite ususal

 

[John2512_00]

Thanks v much, jst trying to get an idea of what can happen so i can explain a little more to the customers as Im not alloud to work any more on the electrics in the house other than that after the spur for the boiler.