Would you believe (bad behaviour)

Post Reply New Topic

I recently moved a mains circuit for my central heating. When I opened the isolating switch, there was a pile of salt inside it, actually filling the wall-box. It seems to be regular table salt, and it seems to have been deliberately poured in through the cable-entry hole at the top. The contacts for the isolating switch are heavily corroded from contact with the salt, and the box is quite damp because salt adsorbs moisture from the atmosphere.

I had an electrician in last year and this is one of the circuits that he did NOT work on, although he claimed that everything needed complete re-wiring. Would you believe that an electrician might pour salt (the box is in a room beside my kitchen) into a circuit in the hope of creating extra work?

[img][800:1632]http://i.imgur.com/9UsXn.jpg[/img]

That's weird.
Why do you think it's salt? Very soluble in water? Its taste would probably be diagnostic, but that's risky if you don't know what it is. Is it combustible? Does it give a bright yellow light when put in a flame?

If whatever it is can't have fallen in by accident (e.g. small animals chewing something from above), then it was done either for good or for harm. The only thing I can think of that might do good would be a dessicant, to prevent corrosion of the switch contacts. Doesn't seem likely though. Unless the unit was airtight, the dessicant would soon be saturated and useless.

So I agree that foul play is the most plausible explanation. But even that doesn't quite fit. I wouldn't expect dry salt to do much harm in the short to medium term. Anybody with any brain trying to age your wiring would find something more harmful and less noticeable. Were any switch contacts openly in contact with the stuff, or are the switches sealed off from it to some extent?

The motive wouldn't surprise me - I've heard of builders deliberately cracking slates.

Salt can put out fires. Maybe somebody dumped it in because it was smoking? That thought is a bit frightening. I'd rather think the electrician was being dodgy.

+1
Sounds like a dodgy workperson to me, I'd advise not asking that electrician back. Do you know anyone who had electrical work done recently who was happy with it? It's the best way of finding reputable people allthough it's not foolproof.

As far as I understand it salt makes wood burn blue for some reason.

Last edited by LostAlien on 24 Feb 2011, 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

It would still be dodgy if someone did it without informing StuartN.

Heck yeah. Dodgy as hell. But if they put out a fire and didn't fix the problem, it could happen again. That's what would bother me.

there should't be salt in there..im not expert of wirings but im sure there shouldnt be any salt

There being no real proof to the contrary, I would prefer to think of it as accidental. On the other hand I wouldn't ask back any electrican who worked on the property in recent years.

In a way it struck me as a possible remnant of some voodoo/hoodoo ritual. The electrical box would be a spot where outside influences, spirits if you will, could enter the house. I believe the salt would serve to protect the residents from these influences, and thus the ritual would be a positive one. Are you aware of anyone connected with the property who might have held beliefs of this nature?

It is certainly salt - I tasted it. Most likely table salt, which was available in the kitchen beside this room. The effect of salt has been to corrode the copper and brass of the internal wiring and connections (which are green and pitted), and salt also adsorbs humidity from the air, so the internal wiring was damp. I have been unable to think of any accidental means by which the salt could have fallen in, and it does seem most likely that a human deliberately poured it in through the cable access hole at the top - there is some salt on the top of the box, but none anywhere on the skirting, floor, shelves or anywhere else nearby. No animals - except my cat, who lacks opposable thumbs.

Sometimes I find human behaviour utterly bizarre - I can not imagine doing something like this myself. I assume that it was intended to cause my central heating to fail, or the RCD to trip, so that I would call in the electrician again.