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We are decorating my daughter's bedroom this weekend and so I wanted to remove a fuse spur which was on the wall. I presume in the past the owners had a tv or something on the wall.
There were wires coming into it from the loft space but nothing coming out of it.
I presumed I could isolate the wires using one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BCTXBWDL? ... ct_details

So I turned the power off, put the wires into the connector and put the power back on. The 'upstairs sockets' switch on my fuseboard tripped. Putting the RCD and 'upstairs sockets' switch back up and turning the main power switch back on caused the rcd and the socket switch to trip again.

I re-connected the wires and tried them in another connector but the same thing happened.
Rather in panic mode as to what I'd done I connected the cable back to the fuse spur in the loft (just sitting on a joist for now) and all was fine.

I have no idea what the cable is for and it runs under loft boards so it's not easy to trace but is there a way of isolating it without having it plugged into a fuse spur or is that the only option? If so, I need to get a new spur as this one has a crack in it and screw it to a joist so it's out the way (assuming it's safe to do that?)

You wont have one of these, but I am using it to show something. From left to right
The Top red is only connected to the bottom reds

The Top yellow is only connected to the bottom yellows

The Top blue is only connected to the bottom blues

Yours is NOT like this one, yours being as they are all the same colour are connected to each other.

There is your problem

spr0ut wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2024 7:48 pmI presumed I could isolate the wires using one of these

The connectors you have each "part" is the same colour. What you should have done is used ONE of what you used for each wire you have. (Thats each wire, not each cable.)

Or you could have used one side of one of these.
Each side is connected ONLY to the same colour on the opposite side.

Thanks for your reply. I have used a Wago one before when removing a plug socket and replacing with a blanking plate and so thought these would be the same (are wago ones different?)

Would three separate connectors be better than a fuse spur?

Wagos are exactly the same as what you have. (Trust me) The ones I show have different colours to show what is connected to what.

I would leave the Fused Connection Unit where it is. The reason is if/when you need one, there is one there already. If you really don't want it, you could use 3 wagos, put them in the patress and cover it with a blanking plate (The cable is still live, so you can't bury it, the blanking plate is a reminder there is a live cable there.)
Or you could trace the cable and disconnect it from where ever it is fed from. (Mains off first)

Thank you. That's really helpful. I think for neatness I'll use the spur box. Is it OK to screw into a roof joist?

I was speaking to an electrican at work who suggested I buy one of these junction boxes. My problem is I don't quite know how to use it.

I obviously have to put the earth, neutral and live wires in each bit but each 'clamping unit' has a bit that pulls out at the top (with the cross on it) so my logic says I pull it out, put the wire in and then push it back in. But, my issue is two fold:
1) there are two holes on each side - two for earth, two for live, two for neutral - do I have to split the cable or just use one hole?
2) the manual talks about when and when not to use the push button. I have no idea whether I should or not?

bump

You should be able to just push the wires into the holes without pressing any levers or messing with the crossed bit. One cable per hole only.

OnlyMe wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2024 6:04 pm You should be able to just push the wires into the holes without pressing any levers or messing with the crossed bit. One cable per hole only.

Thanks. I'll try that. I assume it doesn't matter which side the cables go into?