I need to replace the front plate on a single 3-pin wall socket (I live in the UK). The old one is the original from the late 1960s, and the safety shutters inside the holes have broken, jamming the socket so I can’t plug anything in.
The old socket has only one Earth terminal; however the new socket plate I have is double pole and has two Earth terminals. Is it OK to use this one or should I get a single pole one?
All of the earth connections inside the socket should already be bonded together anyway; often this is done by means of a thick metal bus bar - can yoiu see one of these?
You didn’t ask for incidental safety advice, but here is some anyway; don’t make any assumptions about isolating the power when you go to work on it; I’ve seen examples of bad wiring where a couple of sockets were spurred of a different circuit, such as the one for lighting; ensure you have isolated the socket by plugging something into it (such as a radio), switching it on, then pulling fuses until the appliance dies.
Thanks for the info… the earth terminals were mounted in plastic so I couldn’t see that they were joined, but it makes sense. Anyway, it’s replaced, and it works, and I didn’t electrocute myself, and in my book that makes the job a good 'un 