Safety Concern

[Jayjay1]

Hi,

So when my electrician left he said he's turned my lights on as a quick fix but try not to touch the plates when switching the lights on... Sounds a little concerning?

The long story - awoke Boxing Day with full loss of electricity. It was the downstairs lights and downstairs sockets tripping the RCDs. Unplugged all items and problem still occurred so my electrician (first one I could find on Boxing Day) opened each socket downstairs and with time (2 hours) noted the problem stemming from two sockets by my tv. Disconnected these and the other sockets now function. He told me the junction box lays under the floorboards (below carpet fitted onto laminate, I recently moved in!) so he told me to get him back once I'd accessed it.

He could not isolate the problem with the lights which continued to trip and he told me this is a problem secondary to the socket problem and he has made a temporary adjustment to allow them to work but do not touch the faceplates. What is this temporary fix and how unsafe is it?

Apologies if this forum is for electricians only, but needed some assistance!

 

[Leesparkykent]

Hi,

So when my electrician left he said he's turned my lights on as a quick fix but try not to touch the plates when switching the lights on... Sounds a little concerning?

The long story - awoke Boxing Day with full loss of electricity. It was the downstairs lights and downstairs sockets tripping the RCDs. Unplugged all items and problem still occurred so my electrician (first one I could find on Boxing Day) opened each socket downstairs and with time (2 hours) noted the problem stemming from two sockets by my tv. Disconnected these and the other sockets now function. He told me the junction box lays under the floorboards (below carpet fitted onto laminate, I recently moved in!) so he told me to get him back once I'd accessed it.

He could not isolate the problem with the lights which continued to trip and he told me this is a problem secondary to the socket problem and he has made a temporary adjustment to allow them to work but do not touch the faceplates. What is this temporary fix and how unsafe is it?

Apologies if this forum is for electricians only, but needed some assistance!

whatever it is it sounds naughty/dangerous...I would isolate the lighting at the board and get a recommended sparks in to take a look asap.

 

[GMES]

If he has told you not to touch the faceplates I really hope he hasn't dissconnected the earth to stop the rcd tripping.

 

[Octopus]

Have you had much rain in the last couple of days?

did he do any tests on the circuit? Did the invoice note any details of such tests?

 

[Jayjay1]

We have had lots of rain, it is a part of the house that would be least likely effected by rain but indeed possible.

I am not sure what circuit tests are. He turned everything off and unplugged all items and still had the problem so he opened each socket out and reconnected them in turn until he realised where the problem was. He seemed a little annoyed that the lights were playing up.

Would my only option be to rip carpets, and flooring up? Also my hallway is tiled, if the junction box is under there I am in trouble (don't think of these things when purchasing!).

Thanks for for the comments

 

[Octopus]

Don't go ripping anything up until you get a good explanation as to why you should do it!

the tests would most likely be conducted at the fuseboard with the cover off

 

[Jayjay1]

Yes everytime he altered something he defaulted back to the fuse box. If it is rainwater will it just dry out with time? Guess it won't solve the problem.

 

[Octopus]

Yes everytime he altered something he defaulted back to the fuse box. If it is rainwater will it just dry out with time? Guess it won't solve the problem.

If it's water, then drying should clear the problem until it rains heavily again.

not taking sides here but I think you need more investigations and not on a bank holiday so it can be done properly

 

[HandySparks]

...he has made a temporary adjustment to allow them to work but do not touch the faceplates. What is this temporary fix and how unsafe is it?

Only your electrician can answer this. Get him on the phone and get a straight answer to both your questions.

We can all take guesses, but to what purpose?

 

[telectrix]

if you're stuck, i can manage bolton, but not till wednesday or thursday.

 

[Jayjay1]

Hi telectrix, thanks for the offer and il keep you in mind. I have him coming back on Friday when I'm back so see what happens then.

I realised we forgot to check one socket which is co-incidentally the most likely to be effected by rain water and isn't working now. It also had the small dyson charging on it at the time the leccy went off. That socket is on the far wall in the left corner of the back room, and the other two sockets are on the far wall in the right corner of the front room. They must be connected to the same ring which means the junction box could be anywhere in between!