Spanish mystery

[Alistair Pye]

Hello. I live In the UK but have had a (modern) Spanish villa for the last 5 years with no significant electrical problems.

Our supplier is Iberdrola whose customer services are not great especially for a very poor Spanish speaker like me.

We were last here on 07.01.22 and we returned 2 days ago - to discover that the following devices are all totally non-functioning: fridge/freezer (contents similar to a the liquid that emanates from a decomposing body), dishwasher and 2 air conditioning units.

There was one trip on the consumer unit but not related to the kitchen appliances (the hob, oven, dryer and washing machine are all fine). The strange thing is that the sockets into which the fridge/freezer and the dishwasher are plugged are working perfectly well (tested with a kettle) and neither of these appliances work in any other working sockets. So the appliances are definitely damaged. But this cannot be a coincidence.

As I said, no relevant trips on the circuit breakers. I managed to get through to the distributor (I suppose the equivalent of Western Power in UK) and they insisted there had been no incidents in the vicinity during the 6 weeks of our absence.

The obvious answer to me is a power surge. But where did it originate from? We have had (relatively) recently installed an air source heat pump for our pool which our pool man turned on a few days before we got here. But that has become temperamental too, turning itself off (while leaving the pool pump running) before reaching the set temperature.

I suppose the pool pump may overload the system? In Spain you buy a specific level of power supply which if exceeded trips devices, and you can upgrade it. But surely any overload would trip the circuit breakers, not damage the units? The dishwasher has a UK plug with a 13amp fuse in it that has not blown (Spanish plugs seem to be unfused).

So a total mystery! The electricity supplier is denying any incident that could cause a surge (eg lightening strike) and I cannot see anything on our property that might account for this.

I haven’t looked in the metre which is in a roadside box. If I can’t prove it was an outside problem my insurance won’t respond?

I’d be really appreciative of anybody’s thoughts on this.

Thank you.

Al.

 

[winston1]

I can't help with what has happened other than to suggest you get the faulty appliances looked at to see exactly what has failed and why.

But take that 13a plug off the dishwasher and fit a Schuko plug. Many (most) of the adapters available that people use are dangerous and don't conform either to UK or anyone else's regs. This is especially important with a high power load like a dishwasher. Not so bad for a phone charger etc.

 

[FrodoOne]

If the appliances concerned (Refrigerator and Dishwasher) are no longer working and are found to be damaged by an "Over Voltage", all that you can do is to have adequate "Over Voltage" protection installed at your Spanish Consumer Unit, in the hope of preventing any such an event from happening again - no matter what your electricity supplier states.

The cost of getting a Spanish "expert" to prove to a Spanish Insurance company that a Spanish electricity supplier has allowed an Over-Voltage to damage your equipment is likely to be well above replacement cost and the provision of adequate Over-Voltage protection for the future

 

[Alistair Pye]

Thank you. Our two AC units are also knocked out, so that’s 4 appliances. We have an electrician coming next week. Will he be able to determine whether each appliance has been damaged by an over voltage event? If he can and does so determine, that leaves the question of the origin of that event. Is it possible that it could have originated within my property? If so, how? And can that be investigated? Thanks very much.

 

[winston1]

Doubt that an over voltage event would have originated within your property.

What about lightning? Do you have overhead lines nearby?

 

[Alistair Pye]

No we don’t but our villa is in the hills of Northern Costa Blanca and the electrical storms here are spectacular. That said, the power distribution company insists there have been no reported “events” since we were last here on 7 January.

 

[FrodoOne]

As I posted earlier
"all that you can do is to have adequate "Over Voltage" protection installed at your Spanish Consumer Unit, in the hope of preventing any such an event from happening again - no matter what your electricity supplier states."

 

[JohnD]

I remember repairing and renovating the installation in a community building that had an old agricultural 3-phase supply when there was a lost neutral in the supply due to digger damage, and voltages went haywire. Some equipment was damaged.

The electricity company denied responsibility, saying that the fault was repaired as soon as it became known, but (at that time) provided qualified inspectors to advise on work that needed to be done, and inspected it afterwards, all f.o.c.

 

[bernardgreen]

Metal theft thieves removed the Neutral conductor. Fires in several houses

The video may be 11 years old but the effects of a lost Neutral are still high risk to appliances.

 

[MeldrewsMate]

...Our two AC units are also knocked out, so that’s 4 appliances...

From this statement, are you suggesting that you left the AC switched on for the six weeks you were away? Surely not.

 

[baldykev]

I live in Spain ,a small village in Almeria area. We can get up to 3 power cuts a day in winter months/weather. some last hours or the worst ones are the ones that the power comes on and off four or five times very quickly until power is resumed.
I am sure if I ask my electrical supplier who is Iberdrola they would not have a clue about these power cuts .

You can contact Iberdrola on a English speaking phone number I am out so have not got the number on me ,but look it up on google ,strange thing was when they answered they asked who I wanted to speak to Scottish power or Iberdrola ?