Some sockets not working?

[blackcloud]

To try and break it down.
Fri 3pm - all power except lights went - fuse box had two switches down and wouldnt stay up. I disconected all plugs - turned up the fuse switch and they stayed up.
Began switching things back on, turned boiler on, fuse switch flipped again. Turned boiler off, fuse switch stayed up, turned boiler on, fuse switch stayed up! turned plug on in bedroom with lap top plugged in - fuse switch flipped - unplugged laptop from wall - turned fuse switch back on - plugged laptop and everything else back in a fuse box stayed on. Until 3am and went off again and nothing had just been plugged in or anything. TUrned it back on.
Sat 12noon went off again, turned back on. Electircian came and looked and couldnt find fault. 7pm went off again, turned back on, 3am Sun went off again, turned back on. 11am Sun went off again, turned back on, 3pm sun went off, would not go back on, turned and unplugged everything, would not stay on. Called the emergency electrican....

 

[JohnW2]

Yes I know that any competent electrician "should" have all the necessary equipment for what needs to be done in this situation but just incase he doesnt bring the correct equipment and has to come back another day Id rather avoid that and just say "listen please can you bring x and x" JUST IN CASE

Yes, I understand your concern but, as I implied, if an 'electrician' needed to be told what equipment to bring I would not want him/her anywhere near the electrical installation of my house. In any event, as we've said, that is not, and should not be, your problem - it is down to your landlord or his agents to arrange for a competent electrician with adequate equipment to attend your place in the very near future, and do whatever is necessary to make the electrical installation functional and safe.

Yes ALL of the breakers in my 'fuse box' are in the 'up' position, infact all the switches are on the up position (I think so) but not totally sure as the fuse box is at the back of a walk in cloest and I had to put everything back in and didnt look before I put everything back. He said he had left all the breakers in the on position though so presume he did.

Fair enough - that probably puts paid to the speculation I was just doing - however it would be good if you could confirm, if you get an opportunity. If all the breakers (and the two RCCBs) are 'up' and yet you still have 7 sockets, scattered all over the house, not working, then it sounds as if there is something very wrong within the wiring.

I presume that all those 7 sockets did work prior to these recent problems?

Kind Regards

 

[blackcloud]

but, as I implied, if an 'electrician' needed to be told what equipment to bring I would not want him/her anywhere near the electrical installation of my house. In any event, as we've said, that is not, and should not be, your problem - it is down to your landlord or his agents to arrange for a competent electrician

The thing is the if the letting agents gets their guy to come out he will call me first and I will explain to him what he needs to bring, so if hes not competent and needed to be told what equipment to bring then not much I can do as if hes sent from the letting agents.

Yes all sockets in the house worked fine until the first power failure on Fri at 3pm. Then since then 7 sockets have not worked in the house.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

... competent electrician

The thing is the if the letting agents gets their guy to come out he will call me first and I will explain to him what he needs to bring, so if hes not competent and needed to be told what equipment to bring then not much I can do as if hes sent from the letting agents.

If the landlord's electrician does call beforehand (as he or someone should to arrange mutually convenient time/day) just tell him what the emergency electrician said. The landlord's electrician may choose to address the fault using a Mandlebrot converter, an axe and the sacrifice of a small goat- NOT YOUR PROBLEM, NOT YOUR HOUSE so don't start telling them what to bring or how to do their job- that'll just **** them off. And don't be surprised if the landlord's electrician does a load of investigating rather than just believing what you/the callout sparks have told him- I've wasted hours fixing non-existent faults because the person who reported the problem got the diagnosis wrong.

Your role here is to chase the landlord for some prompt action so you can get on with your life.

 

[JohnW2]

The thing is the if the letting agents gets their guy to come out he will call me first and I will explain to him what he needs to bring, so if hes not competent and needed to be told what equipment to bring then not much I can do as if hes sent from the letting agents.

As you've been told, that is not your problem. If they send an electrician who turns up without appropriate equipment, (s)he will have to go away and then return with the equipment. If (s)he turns up (with or without equipment) and is not able to properly resolve the problem, then the agents will have to send another one who can. None of that is your problem.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

Yes all sockets in the house worked fine until the first power failure on Fri at 3pm. Then since then 7 sockets have not worked in the house.

OK - and the problem showed itself for the first time about an hour after your boiler had been repaired?

Do you know what was wrong with the boiler and/or what the guy did to fix it?

Kind Regards, John

 

[blackcloud]

Yes electrics tripped an hour after boiler was repaired. Yes the boiler guy NO POWER GOING TO GAS VALVE REPLACED PCB WATERING AS VALVE FITTED NEW GAS VALVE TESTED OK.

I even got him back out the next day as I said why has my electric stopped working since you repaired the boiler, he came back out and looked at the boiler and said everything was fine and didnt know what it was. So left. Maybe coincidence? The socket the boiler goes into no longer works though, thats one of the sockets that went, the socket that the boiler was plugged into. I did notice water dripping from the boiler and told the boiler repair guy this and the socket the boiler plugs into is right below the boiler. When I told the boiler repair guy there was water dripping from the boiler which happens to be very close to the wall socket the boiler plugs into he wasnt concered and just said "ohh thats just because somethign is not sealed or something to that effect", dont know what he meant by that. But surley that if water is dripping from the boiler and theres a wall socket right next to the boiler which the boiler is plugged into, that cant be a good thing?
Not sure if thats related, although I do know that the boiler socket was checked by both electricians and they said even though the boiler socket is no longer working that it is ok in terms of wiring etc.

 

[JohnW2]

Yes electrics tripped an hour after boiler was repaired. Yes the boiler guy NO POWER GOING TO GAS VALVE REPLACED PCB WATERING AS VALVE FITTED NEW GAS VALVE TESTED OK. ... I even got him back out the next day as I said why has my electric stopped working since you repaired the boiler, he came back out and looked at the boiler and said everything was fine and didnt know what it was.

Fair enough. Thanks for clarifying.

I did notice water dripping from the boiler and told the boiler repair guy this and the socket the boiler plugs into is right below the boiler. When I told the boiler repair guy there was water dripping from the boiler which happens to be very close to the wall socket the boiler plugs into he wasnt concered and just said "ohh thats just because somethign is not sealed or something to that effect", dont know what he meant by that. But surley that if water is dripping from the boiler and theres a wall socket right next to the boiler which the boiler is plugged into, that cant be a good thing? Not sure if thats related, although I do know that the boiler socket was checked by both electricians and they said even though the boiler socket is no longer working that it is ok in terms of wiring etc.

Water dripping into a socket could certainly produce problems, but it sounds as if both electricians have checked that.

When the sockets subsequently went off, did the MCB (the fourth 'switch' from the right in your CU) always go down as well as the RCCB (the right-most 'switch')??

Kind Regards, John

 

[blackcloud]

https://postimg.org/image/sh0u4zytt/

The first few times the electric switched off the first blue switch on the right with the button above it flipped and also the 4th blue button from the right went up. After the first electrican came and checked the sockets, he also rewired a couple of sockets that he said were not wired up correctly. After that when the electric tripped only the 1 switch flipped which was the blue switch on the right with the button above it and thats when it would not turn back on.

 

[JohnW2]

The first few times the electric switched off the first blue switch on the right with the button above it flipped and also the 4th blue button from the right went up.

Thanks, that's what I thought.

After the first electrican came and checked the sockets, he also rewired a couple of sockets that he said were not wired up correctly. After that when the electric tripped only the 1 switch flipped which was the blue switch on the right with the button above it and thats when it would not turn back on.

Hmmm - this is getting increasingly complicated, and certainly needs a competent electrician, with good fault-finding skills, to sort it out.

It sounds as if at least two things must have been wrong. If the first electrician stopped the MCB (the 4th blue button from the right) tripping by fixing incorrect wiring of a couple of sockets, it's hard to understand how those sockets were ever working previously, or how fixing the boiler could have caused the tripping to start. Once that was 'fixed', so that subsequent trips were only of the RCCB (the blue switch on the right with the test button), that would presumably be due to something totally different - maybe water getting into a socket or other part of the wiring.

As I said, you need a good electrician to sort this all out!

Kind Regards, John

 

[blackcloud]

UPDATE

Letting agents got an electrician in and pretty much did the same things as the other electrican (not the one who bypassed the RCD) spent 4 hours checking things and said its a compression fault and that one of the RCDs is faulty. So he left and 30 mins later it tripped again. I couldnt get it to stay back on and he came back again at 8pm, then left at 10.30pm. This time he put the working sockets in the kitchen/living room/bedroom on the non faulty RCD, so far been 3 hours and its not tripped. Hes going to advise the letting agents the whole flat needs rewiring, he said he could find the fault and fix but it would cost around the same and the same amount of time to get brand new wiring in the property but would take about 2-3 days and a plasterer would be needed. It will be expensive £2,000 - £3,000.
I still have 8 none working sockets, he said it probably wont last long - months-year not 5 years in this state.
I dont understand how if its a compression fault it is not flipping the RCD that is working?
He tested a toaster in the working sockets in the bedroom and it caused the fuse to flip, he tested toaster in the living room on sockets that worked and it caused the fuse to flip, he tested the toaster in the kitchen and it stayed on. He said not to plug the boiler in using a working socket in the living room but to plug in the kitchen.

 

[JohnW2]

... spent 4 hours checking things and said its a compression fault ...

I have no idea what a "compression fault" is. Was he perhaps suggesting that some cable was being 'compressed'?

... and that one of the RCDs is faulty. So he left and 30 mins later it tripped again.

So why didn't he replace this faulty RCD that he had detected?

Kind Regards, John

 

[blackcloud]

I dont know why he didnt replace the faulty RCD, maybe he didnt have one?

A compression faulty, ie a wire has been compressed for so long ie under a carpet that it no longer functions properly.

 

[JohnW2]

I dont know why he didnt replace the faulty RCD, maybe he didnt have one?

Yes, possibly, but if he'd determined that it was faulty, he surely should have arranged to get one and return to install it - he was surely asked to fix the fault(s), not just find out what they were?!!

A compression faulty, ie a wire has been compressed for so long ie under a carpet that it no longer functions properly.

Did he actually locate where this had happened? If so, again, why didn't he repair or replace the cable - or, at least, arrange to return to do it? If he didn't locate it, how on earth can he know what (or where) it is?

Kind Regards, John

 

[blackcloud]

He said he will come back today (monday) I presume to replace the faulty RCD.

A compression faulty, ie a wire has been compressed for so long ie under a carpet that it no longer functions properly.

He said he couldnt locate the compression fault he just said the because of the reading were so high that indicated a compression fault (I think he said something like that.)