Please Help!

[smorri]

My mains electric circuit is bust! The 30A fuse in the fusebox went on Friday. I removed all the plugs from the sockets (except the washing machine and frdige) and rewired the fuse, turned the fusebox back on and it lasted about 10mins then blew again. Then I unpluged the washing machine and fridge, rewired the fuse, turned the fusebox back on, and it blew instantly! I have an electrician coming round first thing tomorrow but is there anything I can check before he comes to save me money?! A friend told me to unscrew all the sockets and make sure no wires have come loose, then check for any water leaks... Could it be the fusebox? Thanks loads in advance... I'd be grateful for any advice

 

[JohnD]

might be rodents gnawing through the cables. Do you have any sign of such things?

A water leak, outside an appliance, that you didn't notice would most likely be under the floor, where there shouldn't be anything it could affect (cables are insulated and sheathed in PVC and are waterproof).

Might be a nail driven though a wall and penetrating a cable.

Sockets don't usually go wrong except when they are fitted or removed, unless thay have been hit, and are cracked or dislodged, or you have exposed cables that have been tugged loose, or they have overheated.

You mention a 30A rewirable fuse, this tells me you have a rather old installation, you're probably best to leave the fuse out and wait for your electrician. Was he recommended to you, or from the yellow pages?

 

[smorri]

Thanks for the very thorough response

Nothing has changed in the flat for months in terms of things being moved, no nails banged in, or anything to do with wires being pulled or altered.

I don't know hold old the wiring is, it's been there since we owned the place (5 years). All the wiring is sheathed in white if that gives anything away.

I'll double check there's no damp around and check all the sockets.

The TV and fridge are plugged into the cooker socket with a couple of extension leads so we've been surviving.

I'll leave the fuse out and hope we've found an honest electrician - found and recommended on http://www.londontradesmen.co.uk.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[JohnD]

That's great! I see "Inclusion on the website is open ONLY to those tradesmen who have been independently recommended by members of the public "

I suppose Bill Sykes' mum is a member of the public, so could recommend him.

Phone and ask him if he is a member of a self-certification scheme, and, which one (unless this is stated on his write-up). This gives an indication of competence, but it is always an advantage to get a personal recomendation of someone local.

 

[smorri]

Yeah - it's always a bit of a lucky dip, but these guys are relatively small (hopefullly meaning they'll work well to get recommended by me) and he seemed unphased on the phone about the problem.

I did have an excellent bloke who was semi-retired and only charged £20 an hour - he even gave my friend £10 change from £20 as it only took him 30mins to fix his problem! He's changed his phone number though and I can't get hold of him - I cleverly never took a business card from him... although the chances are he's stopped now with all the new legislation, he only really kept doing it as a hobby.

Friends have recommended Aspect (umbrella company), but that by no means ensures a skilled person, and they charge so much I'm really reluctant to use them.

This is their (appalling) website http://www.londonelectriciansltd.co.uk/ I think the fact the website sucks is a good thing - skilled in electrics not website design! There's no call out fee and if he says the whole place needs rewiring I'll certainly shop around...


Thanks again for all your help.