# Forum More Stuff Debate & Technical Discussion  Just how good are safety switches?

## delineator

I have recently been replacing some plaster & discovered the prior owners were cowboys with the wiring.  For example 1 power point has been extended with wires just joined without being enclosed in a junction box, running digonally across the wall etc. Other power points are on the verge of coming loose.   I will be getting a sparky in to check out the wiring as much as possible. But I'm weighing up whether or not to get him in straight away & check part of it now & get him back a second time later on, or wait until I've finished doing various work & then he can just check the lot in one hit.  There are certain other areas of plaster which I will be replacing which would make it easier to check wiring if I waited until its all off. 
We do have a safety switch, Im just wondering how good is it against protecting  against things like faulty wiring etc. 
Thanks

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## chrisp

Safety switches just detect active-neutral imbalances such as occur when there is a fault to earth. 
There are a lot of other types of faults that a safety switch won't catch. 
I suggest that you check with your sparky.

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## rrobor

Agree with chrisp. you could have 2 wires shorting live to negative and sparking. As long as it didnt go over the amp rating it will not be detected. No one here can advise you if its safe, we havent seen it. So sorry I think its your call, cos its your family.

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## Master Splinter

A safety switch will protect you from becoming an 'active to earth' connection in a circuit, but it won't necessarily protect you against becoming the load (active to neutral). 
Nor will it protect you against sloppy wiring, where the biggest danger is poorly terminated connections - a loose connection can mean that there is less wire than should be in contact, which means localised heating, which means higher resistance, which means more heating, which means higher resistance....and what's that funny burning smell? 
Personally, if the wiring is in good physical shape (insulation not old and cracking) and is properly sized (ie it's not speaker flex being used for mains!), I'd test the power points with a cheap power point tester  - if this returned anything but 'all ok' for all the power points in the house, then I'd put the sparky high on the list.   
If the wiring was good, and the power points were all correctly wired, I'd be more inclined to leave him for a few months till you find out what horrors are behind the walls!

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## delineator

Thanks for that, I'll be getting a sparky in next week.  We're not as busy at work so I had more time to prepare everything. 
Cheers

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