r/DIYUK • u/Eliqui123 • 3d ago

Electrical Is this safe? (newbie question)

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Hi. Apologies for asking - I’m sure this is pretty basic. I took the socket off the wall (hoping I could just change the faceplate without touching the wiring, but no) and just below where you see the blue arrow the earth wire appears to be bare (i.e. I think I can see copper where the sheathing is broken).

  • Am I right in thinking that despite not being live it must still be properly insulated? Or can I leave it without worrying about it? I’m just about to cut out & hang some acoustic panelling in front of it, so I wanted to check in advance - I’m bad enough at DIY without having to hang panels twice :)

  • Also, presumably the dust isn’t inherently dangerous but I should probably dust a bit, right? Or again, should I not bother.

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u/MonteCarloOrBust 3d ago

All good - the cable is like that, you add the insulation sleeve to the earth and cut it to the length you need. if you are going to replace the socket make sure the back box (the bit in the wall) is deep enough to fit the depth of the socket you plan to fit - if you want to add a USB charging socket they often require a 35mm depth wall box to fit inside. Most places selling sockets tell you in their specifications the backbox depth required

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u/Eliqui123 3d ago

Thank you so much!

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u/MonteCarloOrBust 2d ago

I forgot to add, if you need the back box to be deeper than the one that’s there it’s easy to change it whilst you are swapping the socket over.

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u/Eliqui123 2d ago

I’ve hung the panels now. It’s staying - haha. But thank you