Burnt out spur?

In my earlier posts I have mentioned that we are having a wall removed between the kitchen and dining room. The wall is out and beam is in.

During the process of doing this our kettle and microwave were relocated to our separate utility room. This room is wired with its wiring in surface mounted plastic conduit and I am guessing that it is a spur off the ring main.

This weekend we lost all power to everything in the utility room after having the washer, tumble dryer, small beer fridge and kettle on at the same time. The wire appears to be a single piece of 2.5mm twin and earth. I now realise that it was not enough to cope with the demand being placed on it.

So my question - is it likely to burn out in one place such as the connection to the ring-main or is it pot luck? None of the fuses,MCB's or RCD's popped during the melt down.

Luckily we are taking the kitchen ceiling down this week to access other parts of the kitchen electrics and will sort out the above whilst we are at it.

The cable will not have "burned out" but a connection may have done, especially if it was a bit loose.

Look at screwed terminals in junction boxes or the back of sockets. Heat damage or discolouration may be visible.

If the spur was supplied via an FCU, the fuse will probably have burned out and can easily be replaced.

The tumble drier is the culprit and should not be used at the same time as a washer during its heating cycle, or a kettle or toaster. Preferably, not with anything.

JohnD said:

The cable will not have "burned out" but a connection may have done, especially if it was a bit loose.

Look at screwed terminals in junction boxes or the back of sockets. Heat damage or discolouration may be visible.

If the spur was supplied via an FCU, the fuse will probably have burned out and can easily be replaced.

The tumble drier is the culprit and should not be used at the same time as a washer during its heating cycle, or a kettle or toaster. Preferably, not with anything.

Click to expand...

Thanks John - we have got away with it for years but I guess it had to happen sometime. The house was rewired in the 80's at a time when the washing machine was in the kitchen and tumble driers were a luxury.

Whilst the ceiling is down I will be looking to replace the spur with a radial circuit after changing the consumer unit - work will be done by an qualified Electrician.