Electrical issue causing problem in house

[Minxy]

Radial circuit is just like a ring except there's no return leg to the breaker.
It can still be checked for earth leakage and continuity, just a different method which the sparky should be familiar with as some older houses, usually those in need of updating, still have some radial circuits.

Yup, we had them in our first house which we had to rewire ourselves, just couldn't remember the technical term for them.

 

[cmcardle75]

Radial circuit is just like a ring except there's no return leg to the breaker.
It can still be checked for earth leakage and continuity, just a different method which the sparky should be familiar with as some older houses, usually those in need of updating, still have some radial circuits.

Modern houses tend to have multiple radial circuits, as fridge freezers, immersions, heat pumps, hobs and ovens tend to have individual circuits these days. Also, one of the advantages of UK wiring is that the sockets can be run on 32A circuits, which means much more flexibility than having 16A circuits where the occupier needs to know which sockets can be used simultaneously.

You can run these 32A socket circuits as radial circuits as well, but it requires 4mm or (occasionally) 6mm cable, which are a relative pig to work with than 2.5mm. Radials are easier to fault find when a socket stops working, but rings are nice and easy to check they're fully functional with a simple continuity check. With a radial, you have to check every socket individually.