Steve, James,
Welcome to ECN! [Linked Image]

I'm come across a ring where each end terminates on a separate fuse as well. It just goes to show how inventive the DIY bodger can be at coming up with ways to get it wrong!

The scope for bad connections causing an overload is one of my concerns over the system. Sure, a bad connection can cause problems anywhere, but too often I've found a ring with broken continuity on one line. The householder doesn't notice, of course, because every outlet still has power. Maybe the chances are that his use of the circuit won't ever cause appreciable overloading of the single cables now feeding the outlets. but it's really an accident waiting to happen.

Are there any statistics on how often a broken and overloaded ring has started a fire? I very much doubt it. I think the investigators just chalk up any wiring-related fire to "electrical fault" and leave it at that.

The continuity-checking ring-circuit breaker sounds an interesting idea, but just imagine how much the things would cost when they first appeared. I suspect that by the time they were being made in sufficient quantities to make them reasonably priced that the IEE and other UK institutions would have finally capitulated and abandoned the ring circuit.