Power loss to wall sockets mystery resolutionr?

[Kevanto]

Hi
Apologies, I'm not an electrician, but wondered if someone could suggest a reason for the following:

Last night, around 10:30, I put the tv on in my bedroom, and headed downstairs to make sure everything was locked up - ended up watching tv downstairs for a while, and eventually headed for bed around midnight - to find the upstairs tv had no power - neither did my bedside radio alarm - I tried the lights, they were okay in all the upstairs rooms, but none of the wall sockets in any of the upstairs rooms were working.
I assumed the circuit breaker had tripped, and decided I'd head down to the cellar in the morning to reset it.
Around 5AM this morning, my radio alarm starting making noise, like radio interference - I got up and checked, and was surprised to find all the upstairs sockets were back in operation - without me having checked the circuit breaker.
Any thoughts on what might cause this? Couldn't have been a general power outage, lights in all rooms were working, and all downstairs sockets were too (guess they're on a different circuit) - just found it very odd that the problem should appear to resolve itself.
Any advice greatly appreciated!
Cheers, Kevanto

 

[telectrix]

sounds like you have a loose connection somewhere. best to get it checked. could be a fire hazard. if you post your location, a member may be close

 

[driverman]

As above ^^^^^ mentioned.Had any work done on the houses recently by any trades?

 

[Kevanto]

Hi Telectrix
Apologies for the very late reply and thanks for your response to my query.
As you suggested, I had an electrician check out the sockets in question, they all appeared okay - but when he checked the circuit breaker box in our basement, at first it looked fine - then there was a crackling sound, and it turned out the fuse for those sockets was arcing (the circuit had burn marks on it.) It's twenty-odd years old, so I've gone for a replacement box of a more modern design, so can sleep easily now!
Thanks again for the help and advice!

 

[Paul.M]

Well done Tel, you may have just stopped a house fire!

Thanks to the OP for getting back to us.

 

[telectrix]

Hi Telectrix
Apologies for the very late reply and thanks for your response to my query.
As you suggested, I had an electrician check out the sockets in question, they all appeared okay - but when he checked the circuit breaker box in our basement, at first it looked fine - then there was a crackling sound, and it turned out the fuse for those sockets was arcing (the circuit had burn marks on it.) It's twenty-odd years old, so I've gone for a replacement box of a more modern design, so can sleep easily now!
Thanks again for the help and advice!

just make sure that you employ a competent spark to install it. there's a lot of chancers in the trade at present. ( short course wonders who should have taken up plastering, plumbing or or kitchen fitting.