A complex problem?

[PaulMac07]

If you've checked that the MCBs and the busbar and neutral bar are all connected tightly, as well as the main tails then you could have a supply fault. Is anyone down the road experiencing any problems?

I'll check the MCB's out tomorrow when it's light.

A couple of neighbours have said they have flickering lights, but ours gets worse under increased load, while theirs don't.

 

[sparkyspike]

If neighbours have flickering lights then I'd definitely be suspicious of the supply. I'd call up the electricity company. If you fancy doing detective work, pop down to your substation or pole transformer and see if there are any sparks!

 

[PaulMac07]

If neighbours have flickering lights then I'd definitely be suspicious of the supply. I'd call up the electricity company. If you fancy doing detective work, pop down to your substation or pole transformer and see if there are any sparks!

The first thing I did was call the supplier, but they refused to do anything until the internal work had been checked.

Our street road was resurfaced lately, but I'm guessing that the supply lines are well away from danger?

I nipped down to our subby, and it's humming along nicely...!

 

[dingbat]

Our street road was resurfaced lately, but I'm guessing that the supply lines are well away from danger?

You'd like to think so, wouldn't you?

 

[PaulMac07]

One other thing. My Missus called the supplier, and after explaining the difference between the meter and the CU to the operator, the girl said she would get an engineer to come out and replace our CU..........free of charge...??

Do Powergen employees smoke dope at work, or are they just very customer focused?

 

[PaulMac07]

Our street road was resurfaced lately, but I'm guessing that the supply lines are well away from danger?

You'd like to think so, wouldn't you?

They took out my broadband cable, no problem, but surely the lecky cabling is 10 feet down and wrapped in 6" spring steel conduit?

 

[dingbat]

They took out my broadband cable, no problem, but surely the lecky cabling is 10 feet down and wrapped in 6" spring steel conduit?

The last time I had cause to get the street dug up, the digger driver went through the supply cable with almost the first cut! It was eight inches below the road surface.

 

[JohnD]

hahaha!

That's right, they never get damaged, and are never found nestling an inch under the tarmac.

 

[PaulMac07]

hahaha!

That's right, they never get damaged, and are never found nestling an inch under the tarmac.

So, after I've check the CU, I'll be on the blower to the good old Powergen folk.

 

[JohnD]

have a listen for fizzing, and a good sniff.

I'm thinking loose connection; could be in CU, maybe at the main switch, (or Henley block if you have one) shouldn't be at the meter or service head, though that is not impossible (they have big strong terminals, and the big strong fitters do nothing else all day, so usually do them up really tight)

 

[PaulMac07]

Thanks very much everyone for your help and advice, I switched off the buggered shower, lights still flicker, so thankfully the wife was wrong...

I'l have a look at the CU tomorrow and post the results.

Cheers,

Paul

 

[securespark]

They took out my broadband cable, no problem, but surely the lecky cabling is 10 feet down and wrapped in 6" spring steel conduit?

The last time I had cause to get the street dug up, the digger driver went through the supply cable with almost the first cut! It was eight inches below the road surface.

UU repaired my supply cable. It can't be more than 4" below a concrete slab between the kerb and the asphalt.

 

[IJWS15]

They took out my broadband cable, no problem, but surely the lecky cabling is 10 feet down and wrapped in 6" spring steel conduit?

The last time I had cause to get the street dug up, the digger driver went through the supply cable with almost the first cut! It was eight inches below the road surface.

UU repaired my supply cable. It can't be more than 4" below a concrete slab between the kerb and the asphalt.

And they are allways on the prints the utility provides to those of us who dig up the road aren't they

 

[bernardgreen]

And they are allways on the prints the utility provides to those of us who dig up the road aren't they

This danger of hitting an un-marked buried power cable was given to me a the reason so many American towns have all the utilities hung along the street on poles.

 

[PaulMac07]

Well dudes, i checked out the CU connections and all seems fine, no iffy smells or signs of arcing. Lights are still flickering now and again. If it was due to a dodgy appliance, would the MCB trip? At least that way I can narrow it down to a specific circuit.

I will monitor the situation and see if there's a common factor in all of this, but so far I haven't noticed any coincidences.

Thanks for all the replies.

Cheers,

Paul