Intermittent power to conservatory after pressure washer use

[cb1980]

A couple of weeks ago we used a pressure washer, plugged into one of the sockets in our conservatory. After a while, it stopped working, but we assumed a thermal cutout on the pressure washer. We left it to cool down and then moved it to another socket the other side of the house to use it for something else, and it was fine.

However we seem to have lost power from both of the double sockets (on opposite sides) in the conservatory. Strangely, it has working a number of times since then, I watched TV in there one evening (but it consistently hasn't worked when I've tried since) and there's a lamp on a timer switch in there, and I've noticed that the timer seems to have advanced by a few hours at least once but is otherwise static.

The conservatory was added to the house (built about 10 years ago, so the electrics should be modern) by previous owners, so I have no idea how the electrics were modified to include the 2 extra sockets. My dad suggested that perhaps a fused spur would be required to add more than one socket to the ring main, but there doesn't seem to be one for this purpose, either in the conservatory or the kitchen that adjoins it (there is one there, but I'm fairly sure that it's for the boiler). None of the circuit breakers have tripped on the fuse box.

Any suggestions before I call in an electrician to investigate? Really confused that it seems to work sometimes rather than always/never...

 

[plugwash]

Personally the first thing I would do is inspect all the sockets in the area for bad connections.

 

[ericmark]

I would also be looking for bad connections. Likely not the washer at fault it has just highlighted a fault already there.

 

[deadshort]

The greater the load the more evident a loose connection becomes. As the other guys have said, switch off the supply and check for a loose connection at each socket.

Regards,


DS