As mentioned last week, I have added some extra sockets into the study.

Yesterday, I finally got round to actually fitting the faceplates.

Once everything was wired up, I switched the circuit breaker back on, to restore power. Nothing went bang (always a good sign), but when I plugged in my mains tester, it showed an earthing fault.

Bugger.

I removed a couple of faceplates and checked the wiring.

As far as I could see, there was nothing wrong, but still my trusty mains tester told me there was a fault.

I plugged it into another socket in a different room and got the same result, so obviously it was the tester that was faulty.

It was one that I’d made way back, from a circuit in an electronics magazine. I’m thinking somewhere around 1980 to 1982 and I think it cost less than a fiver to build.

As is usual with anything like this, I immediately reached for a screwdriver, opened it up and had a poke around inside.

It was a very simple circuit and it didn’t take long to diagnose that it was the neon bulb that had stopped working. Unusual, but quick and cheap to fix.

However, I had no suitable neon lamps in my components box and so I started searching online.

And whilst I was doing so, a voice popped into my head: “For fucks sake, you’ve had that one for years, just buy a new one, Masher, just buy a new one! They’re not expensive.”

And so, fifteen quid  and twenty-four hours later, I found myself in possession of a fancy new one.

I’ve checked all my sockets and they’re all good. Of course.

If this new tester lasts as long as my cheap homemade one, I’ll be happy.

But, my desire to fix things never goes away and I have just ordered some new neon lamps so I can get my old tester back on it’s feet. Seems daft not to, when a new lamp only costs 35p.

Always good to have a backup, anyway.