On Apr 6, 10:54*pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
Charlie wrote:
On Apr 6, 9:52 pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
Charlie wrote:
On Apr 6, 9:21 pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
Charlie wrote:
On Apr 6, 5:12 pm, Tabby wrote:
On Apr 6, 4:51 pm, Charlie wrote:

Got a call from my tenant saying the "the switch in the fuse box
keeps repeatedly tripping". It was just the main downstairs ring
that was affected, the other circuits and lights were ok. Got
her to unplug all the devices and she said the problem was still
there.

As I don't live that close to the property I decided to call an
electrician to have a look. He said that he was not able to
identify the problem but had bypassed the RCD to restore power
temporarily until a permanent fix could be found. He also
emailed me a quote for 600 for two man days work to identify
the problem.

I decided to visit the property last night just to make sure I
was happy the tennant and the house was safe. I tested a few of
the sockets with a socket tester and it showed that none of
them was earthed. I also managed to establish that the fridge
which is located in the middle of the kitchen "island" was not
receiving any power.

IIRC when I tiled the kitchen floor there is a spur to the
island from a JB under one of the tiles (don't ask - I didn't
want to mess around with the existing electrics). So maybe
there could be problem with the JB surrounded by tile cement /
concrete?

A couple of questions do I have two separate problems here?
1. No power to the kitchen "island"
2. An earthed live or neutral some on the ring (or possibly even
an appliance that wasn't unplugged). I guess it's possible that
there's a spur that we don't know about that something is
plugged into, or a mouse has chewed through a wire

Are the problems are related?
Is the quote from the electrician reasonable?

Any help gratefully received

This is exactly the sort of situation that puts landlords in
prison. Grow up, and provide your tenant with something legal &
safe. And do it now.

Re payment, I wouldnt pay the idiot a penny. What he's done is
dangerous, illegal and remarkably stupid. I'd tell him to sue me,
but point out that any court would be a lot more interested in
what he'd done than any payment due.

The first thing I'd do is identify the unsafe circuit and
disconnect it.

NT

Tabby,

Thanks for your post, glad I went up to check now. I'll get
another electrician first thing - just hope he's more reputable
then the first one.
Can I just clarify - how the other electrician left it (with
nothing earthed). That is completely illegal?
I'm not an electrician and certainly no expert, hence why I posted
here.

Thanks for you advice

Charlie

I would have expected the electrician to have discovered that the
sockets were not earthed and isolated that circuit.

--
Adam

I presume the sockets were earthed prior to the fault arising. My
understanding is that they are now not earthed following his visit.
I'm not sure exactly what he did. Nothing visible on the CU. Did he
just disconnect the circuit to prevent the RCD from tripping or did
he just disconnect the RCD?

Without looking inside the CU I do not
Ok, just interested to know what possible/likely. Presumably both
possible.

A bypassed RCD would still leave the circuits that it powers ON if the RCD
is turned off.

He might have disconnected the earths from the kitchen ring inside
the CU (and if he has I would like to see him shot)
Yeah, I was pretty surprised to find that the downstairs ring wasn't
earthed.
Didn't seem right.

Just checking. Is there an RCD or is it an MCB that was tripping? There is a
big important difference.

--
Adam

He said it was the RCD, agreed big difference if it was the MCB