Bedroom sockets failed, everything else ok.

[Andwarr]

Hi - I need advice before I get a spark in to help, please.

My upstairs bedroom sockets failed last night. The rest of the upstairs and house is fine, it's just all the sockets in one room. There are no tripped switches, and the sockets are all on one upstairs circuit according to the circuit board panel labelling.

Firstly, any idea what this might be? Secondly, any idea how much I should expect to pay an electrician to fix this?

Many thanks in advance.

Andy

 

[securespark]

A break in a radial? Two breaks in a ring?

An open CPD not yet discovered?

 

[davy_owen_88]

Firstly, any idea what this might be?

Check the terminals for lose connections. Have you put any screws/nails into the walls that may have damaged the cables?

Secondly, any idea how much I should expect to pay an electrician to fix this?

Depends on what the problem is, if you have damaged the cable then replacing the damaged cable may take some time if they are chased into the wall/take a difficult route. If it is a lose terminal nothing because you should be able to sort it out in a few minutes.

Davy

EDIT: Got me this time secure... *sulks away*

 

[securespark]

[Manic laughter....]

 

[Taylortwocities]

Licks finger, puts it in air...... could be, or maybe.....

TTC

 

[Andwarr]

Apologies if my question is so open, but I'm simply asking for first stage advice as I know nothing about electrics. I thought someone might be able to narrow down the possibilities so I was more prepared when I called an electrician.

 

[JohnD]

I'm going to guess that the house is old enough to have had an amateur rewire, and the homeowner took an unfused spur off an existing socket, putting several sockets on it, and the wires have overheated and burnt loose in their terminals.

In this case the fault will be found in the last working socket before the spur, or maybe the first non-working socket. It may be possible to identify it by signs of scorching or smoke on the socket, inside and maybe even on the outside. the wires inside will look either melted or loose.

It might be possible to identify the original and the newer sockets by their age or brand being different, or perhaps by the neatness of the plastering round the boxes.

This is of course as complete guess as we have not been given information to say anything sensible.

If you want to tell us how old the house is, how old the wiring is, who installed it, what make and colour the consumer unit is, what brand the sockets are, and preferably post digital photos of them (including the wiring inside the sockets after you have turned off the power) we may have more to say.

 

[dannyboi2003]

What if the bedroom sockets that have failed are indeed a spur but fed via an FCU, if a large load has been connected (one or more electric heater) its likely the 13amp fuse has popped.

Andwarr, have a look in and around the bedroom where the sockets have failed an see if you can find a discreetly located FCU (fused connection unit) that appears not to be doing anything obvious. If you find one remove the fuse and replace it with one of the same rating and try your bedroom sockets. Remember to disconnect anything connected to the sockets first and it may be best to isolate the mains power too.

Let us know how you get on

Dan

 

[dannyboi2003]

Any progress, did you manage to get the sockets fixed?

All the best
Dan

 

[Andwarr]

Apologies for the lack of response - I've have been out of the country for some time.

On that basis I have not yet looked at the issue, but plan to as soon as I get home tonight.

The initial problem, as I should clearly have mentioned in my first post, was caused by one of two devices. At precisely the same moment, my wife pressed standby on a clock radio (plugged into one socket) and I pressed standby on my TV (connected to a different socket). At that exact moment, the power failed.

There is no FCU that I can see. There are no signs of anything having burned. The appliances are still in working order. Since I purchased the house (recently) nothing other than these two devices have been plugged into the sockets I mention; a digital radio and a standard TV.

Apologies also for my earlier vague posts, but I was in a dark place (excuse the pun) before I went away, and was not explaining myself clearly!

Thanks.

Andy

 

[dannyboi2003]

Hmmmmm, I bet it’s an FCU hidden away somewhere, maybe even under the floor boards

Have a good look around the house for any FCU's that don’t do anything obvious and replace the fuses in any you find, failing that there’s nothing else for it but to pull up the floor boards and trace the wiring

All the best
Dan

 

[Andwarr]

In case you were interested, I've had this fixed now. My electrician pulled the main house circuit board from the wall, and found all the wiring was pretty loose. After firming up all the connections the bedroom ring was operating as normal. He seemed quite surprised!

Thanks for those of you who took the time to offer contstructive advice.