flickering of power

[p33kev]

Something strange has been happening to my electrics of late for which i cant understand.

Whilst working on my computer one evening i unplugged a socket on the power surge multibracket which cut the power off for the house for a few seconds. The power then started flickering until i removed the power surge bracket from the main wall socket.

I removed this bracket and replace with another multi bracket socket which seemed to work and all was ok. However from time to time when i connect plugs into wall sockets or switch kettle on, the entire house goes dead for 2 seconds and then comes back to life. This is even stranger by the fact the consumer units is not affected and doesn't trip.

Does anyone know what is happening to my electrics

 

[viewer]

Most likely poor connections either on the ring final circuit or in the CU (you don't mention the lights - they are OK then ring if not CU). If you have RCD check it is working. The surge protector is likely to be a red herring now, but could have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[Chri5]

I concur with 'Viewers' thoughts, there's something loose somewhere.

Without trying to scare you, you need to be aware that sometimes such seemingly minor issues can lead on to fairly major problems.

Please arrange for a electrician to visit and go through the system, starting from the CU.

An example of a loose neutral cable fault at the CU

Untitled

• Chri5
• 13 Sep 2010
• 2

 

[RF Lighting]

Nice picture

 

[p33kev]

To put some closure on this for anyone with a similar problem, the reason for the fault was a faulty plug socket.

Some fool who had the house previously thought it would be ok to simply connect all the wires with insulating tape for the radial mains rather than connecting via a connection box. These wires melted under the load and was very lucky to not have been in a fire.

The plug was hidden behind the wardrobes and was detected only by lifting all the floor boards to the house.

In addition the incorrect breaker was installed in the consumer units. It was 32A when it should have been 16A fro a radial circuit.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Kev, you really have little choice but to do a full check, with full exposure of all of the installation - someone who did that sort of thing in one place could do it in another.

As a minimum you must get an electrician to carry out a Periodic Inspection - "joints" like that might show up via testing alone but it's an imperfect approach.

I know it will be painful, disruptive and expensive to trace all the cables under all of the floorboards, but not as painful, disruptive or expensive as a fire would be.

 

[holmslaw]

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