Small kitchen appliances keep blowing.

[duvet77]

About 3 years ago I installed a new kitchen and had the electrics redone by an electrician. Everything was ok until fairly recently when small appliances started blowing up. In the last year we've lost 2 kettles, a toaster and a microwave (none of them cheap).

Could this been anything to do with the wiring and sockets or is it just a coincidence? The circuit breaker trips as they blow, but shouldn't the fuse go in the appliance before it blows?

Has anyone got any thoughts/advice? I don't want to call the electrician if it's nothing to do with his wiring.

Thanks.

Edit to add:

None of the big appliances have caused a problem and all the small appliances plug into stainless steel sockets (fitted by sparky) if that would make a difference.

 

[BS3036]

Has someone who does welding as a hobby moved in near you?

 

[duvet77]

Has someone who does welding as a hobby moved in near you?

is that a serious question?
there's a garage on our street (the type that repairs cars as opposed to the type you have on a house).

Not sure about any other amateur welders.

 

[bernardgreen]

Unless the items have just come to the end of their natural life then I would suspect over voltage on the supply to the house.

Has there been any major development ( new housing or factories ) in the area, this might adversely affect the supply voltage to your property. The local supply voltage may have been increased at the sub station to compensate for increased voltage drop along the the network (street) cables to the new buildings. Unfortunately while this is good for those on the new development the buildings close to the sub-station get the higher voltage.

Conversely if you are close to a factory that has ceased operation and far from the sub-station then your voltage might increase.

Do you know how to measure the voltage of the supply ?

 

[duvet77]

Unless the items have just come to the end of their natural life then I would suspect over voltage on the supply to the house.

they've all been relatively new items (less than a year old). What is the lifespan of these sorts of things?

Has there been any major development ( new housing or factories ) in the area, this might adversely affect the supply voltage to your property.

Not that I can think of. What sort of radius are we talking and how big a development?

Do you know how to measure the voltage of the supply ?

Haven't a clue!

If it's over voltage, shouldn't the fuses be blowing and protecting the appliances or does it not work like that?

Is there a risk this could happen to my more expensive electrical items and is there anything I can do to protect against it?

Thanks for your help.

 

[bernardgreen]

If they are less than a year then the garantee may still apply. Take them back to where you bought them and explain what happened. You might be given a new one or a (partial) refund.

Fuses are primarily to protect cables and equipment from excessive currents that would cause a fire or other hazard. They are seldom there to protect the equipment from harm or failure.

Ask your electricity supplier to provide you with a reading of the supply voltage in your area. A measured value, they will try to give you a voltage that is the expected supply voltage, you need them to come and measure the voltage explaining that a number of items have failed.

Do your incandecent lights ( lamps with filaments that get hot ) change brightness ? That is is the most obvious sign of varying voltage supply.

 

[duvet77]

Yeah, I will take the toaster back as it's only a few months old, but obviously I want to sort the root cause.

I've not noticed the lights changing brightness.

Do I need to go out and buy loads of surge protectors?

What would the electricity supplier do if there was a problem with the supply voltage?
Should I check to see if the neighbours have had similar problems?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[BS3036]

I was thinking about voltage spikes rather than constant overvoltage. This wouldn't really be anything you could easily measure, or that the supply company could easily tell you. If you do see lights dimming briefly, then it could be an indication of the external presence of some equipment which might give rise to spikes. Obviously you wouldn't notice this during the working day.

One other possibility. We have some under kitchen unit florescent lighting. When switched off one day, the electronic timer in the next room literally exploded. It was sent back and replaced.

However it happened again immediately we turned off the same light when the replacement was plugged in.

The florescent lighting appears to have been missing some suppression component, and on switching off was causing large voltage spikes on the downstairs ring final.

 

[bongos]

Do I need to go out and buy loads of surge protectors?

You could do. But this wouldn't usually be necessary for running items like toasters or kettles!

What would the electricity supplier do if there was a problem with the supply voltage?
Should I check to see if the neighbours have had similar problems?

Not really sure what the DNO would (or could do) but your supply voltage should be no more than 253v. If you have a multimeter then you could take a measurement although it would only be a very rough guide. The neighbours are definately a good place to start though although bear in mind that on a three phase supply your neighbours may be on a different phase from you - of course all three phases could be suffering over voltage!

 

[Spark123]

Maybe worth phoning your electricity board and getting them to fit a recorder for a few weeks. If the voltage is too high then they are duty bound to do something about it.

 

[BS3036]

By the way these two kettles... Are they bog standard kettles, or are they fancy electronic ones with standby modes? I only heard of kettles with standby modes this week. Almost didn't believe it! You'd have to be pretty unlucky to lose a normal kettle to a voltage spike or overvoltage. A toaster could well have electronics in it, to do the timing, so may be more vulnerable.

I think I would have wanted to look at the failed items and see if there was an obvious failure mode, common to the appliances, but of course they will be long gone now.

There is also such a thing as plain bad luck. Four appliances in three years is actually quite good going.

 

[duvet77]

Thanks all for you input.

So the general consensus is it's nothing to do with the electrics in the house and is either a supply problem or bad luck on the appliances front.

The kettles were both pretty standard; the type that sit on a base. No standby mode... not even heard of kettles with standby.

Out of interest, how long would you expect a kettle or toaster to last? None of the items were cheap, so I'd expect them to last a while.

 

[Steve]

At least 5 years of general domestic use.