No power to garden shed after fuse fix

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Hi -

I have an old fuse wire-type Wylex fuse box which is situated in my garage, supplying sockets and lighting.

It also sends another cable out to my garden shed where it powers one double socket and a fused power switch for a pod pump.

After a lawnmower cable cutting incident (doh), one of the fuses blew and I rewired it.

However, while the garage power is functioning, the spur to the shed is completely dead.

I've changed the fuse in the shed switch, checked the connections in the shed and double checked all the wired fuses in the garage.

The wired fuse that failed is fairly dark blue on the securing screws - is this causing the problem - do these fail themselves even though properly wired?

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you may offer - I need to get the pond pump back up and running asap

Seej

bongos · 3 Oct 2009

Sounds like a bit of a lash up! Is it an old setup? Is the fusebox in the garage supplied from elsewhere or is that the only supply for the house? What size fuse in the garage supplies power to the shed?

If the cable running between the two is old, worn and not appropriately protected by the fuse in the garage, then it's possible that the fault casued by cutting the cable caused it to burn out.

How likely this is though, i'm not sure!

Any chance of posting some pics of your exisitng fusebox/shed set up? I'm sure with a bit more to go on the sparks on here will be able to help.

Taylortwocities · 3 Oct 2009

It depends on the layout of the fuseboard(s) and the rating of the fuses.

You say that the garage fusebox

sends another cable out to my garden shed

By this do you mean that the fuse in that fuseboard is dedicated to the supply to the shed?
In that case the fuse may well have blown.

Also, you have not mentioned an RCD. You should/must have an RCD protecting the sockets in the shed, etc. Do you have one, where is it, has it tripped?

PS fuses do not fail on their own. They will break if the load is more than their rated current. That's it.

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Thanks both.

I'm uploading some pics at the moment which may help.

The fusebox in the garage has three fuses

1. Lighting - garage
2. Sockets - garage
3. Shed - garden

It was the 'shed - garden' fuse wire which had gone and has been rewired.

There is not a RCD in the garage, just the old wired fusebox.

Not sure of the fuse sizes

I realize I should have a more up to date solution.

The source of the garage's power must run underneath the ground from the house but was not put in by me.

This then runs back underground up to a raised garden area where the shed is. (The cable runs above ground using sealed exterior piping for the last 7-8m)

The house was originally an chapel (built 1849) , and has undergone all kinds of changes and renovations in that time.

ps. I have an RCD unit in the house but this did not trip - sorry I'm sounding a bit vague about how the power supplies connect to each other - the layout of the property is quite quirky.

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Pics here - fairly low res

View media item 15396

View media item 15397

View media item 15398

View media item 15399

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Cheers mod. Any chance of a quick explanation how to do that? Do you just grab the individual urls and embed?

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Top - thanks

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Any other thoughts on this issue folks - I've got some fish that are missing their pond pump!

333rocky333 · 3 Oct 2009

You did turn the main switch back on UP is on.

333rocky333 · 3 Oct 2009

In your pic the fusebox looks fed via a plugtop in a single socket, if it is did you check that fuse in the plug.

Hope its not a live supply out of the board with a LIVE plug on it, so be carefull.

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Yep - switch is ON! Just off in pic.

If the plug is feeding the unit, and the fuse in it had gone, I'm assuming that nothing would work ... but the garage lights do

333rocky333 · 3 Oct 2009

What is the plug for do you know, it may join to the wire going to the shed.

mikeyd · 3 Oct 2009

From what we can see, it looks as though someone put a bit of thought into the original install, but maybe someone has come along afterwards and with the best of intentions, done a bit of a lash up, as said above.

Now you have got the hang of posting pictures, post some more pictures up of the wylex box with the cover removed before it gets dark. You said you know where to isolate it in your house so isolate there as well as turning off the main switch on the garage consumer unit. Then remove the fuses, slacken the 2 screws on the front and pull the cover off. Take pictures then put it back together.

Also, how is your shed supplied from the garage, what sort of cable? grey twin & earth, black round armoured?

I'm not an electrician but I'm sure the professionals on here will help you get those fish sorted.

seej · 3 Oct 2009

Thank you all.

I'm going to try and do this asap but if I run out of light I may need to do it in the morning and repost then.

Cheers

Taylortwocities · 3 Oct 2009

I am going to assume that the two black cables in the top of the Wylex fusebox are
1. Supply from the house
2. The feed going off to the shed?

I'd like to see a pic of the fuseboard with the cover off.

I am concerned about what fuse wire you have in those fuses.
A white dot means 5amp and this is generally used for lighting circuits but you seem to have sockets on the middle one

In the second pic, that plug that goes back into the Wylex board, where does that go?
Would like to see the shed end of things too.

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

No power to garden shed after fuse fix

Similar threads