Any electricians? advice needed...

[tony coleman]

Checked all the fuses 2x30amp 2x5amp 1x 15amp all read ok, although one of the 30amp fuses is a bit charred, the one that initially blew.

Still no power on two sockets in kitchen and three in living room, adjacent to kitchen. but, and this is puzzling me, when I plug a lamp into two of the sockets in the living room the bulb flickers slighter, if I plug the lamp into where the television and virgin box is, nothing !

And now its got friggin dark so I cant see what Im doing.

I think its time to call a sparky round to put my mind at rest !!!

 

[Shaw86]

If an electrician comes round to check the work and rectify the problem, depending on the extent of work he could hit you for a new consumer unit to bring it up to 17th edition wiring regulations. To me it sounds like you have a fault on one of the legs on the ring. This will need testing at each socket to find out if you still have continuity of the ring.

 

[tony coleman]

oh smashing, ..cheers mate, ..........kerchinnnnng

 

[DiscoSteve]

You want it right though. You don't want a fire do you?

 

[Skip Donoghue]

If an electrician comes round to check the work and rectify the problem, depending on the extent of work he could hit you for a new consumer unit to bring it up to 17th edition wiring regulations. To me it sounds like you have a fault on one of the legs on the ring. This will need testing at each socket to find out if you still have continuity of the ring.

Not necessarily so...a spark can only advise you to change it re-wirable fuses are still in the current regulations (I think)...but I would advise to change in the future and would state as so on any certificate if required to be issued

TC where abouts are you?

 

[Shaw86]

If an electrician comes round to check the work and rectify the problem, depending on the extent of work he could hit you for a new consumer unit to bring it up to 17th edition wiring regulations. To me it sounds like you have a fault on one of the legs on the ring. This will need testing at each socket to find out if you still have continuity of the ring.

Not necessarily so...a spark can only advise you to change it re-wirable fuses are still in the current regulations (I think)...but I would advise to change in the future and would state as so on any certificate if required to be issued

TC where abouts are you?

Yes, but like i said depending on the extent of the work that is carried out. I.e rewiring the circuit then that must comply with the new regulations which a ring circuit on a BS 3036 fuse is not.

 

[Skip Donoghue]

If an electrician comes round to check the work and rectify the problem, depending on the extent of work he could hit you for a new consumer unit to bring it up to 17th edition wiring regulations. To me it sounds like you have a fault on one of the legs on the ring. This will need testing at each socket to find out if you still have continuity of the ring.

Not necessarily so...a spark can only advise you to change it re-wirable fuses are still in the current regulations (I think)...but I would advise to change in the future and would state as so on any certificate if required to be issued

TC where abouts are you?

Yes, but like i said depending on the extent of the work that is carried out. I.e rewiring the circuit then that must comply with the new regulations which a ring circuit on a BS 3036 fuse is not.

It is the call of the spark/competent person who attends though, as there are sockets on this circuit that are in a kitchen/special location it could be tricky and if the customer agrees to a new DB no probs...but what if they don't because you are able to repair/rewire the faulty part of the circuit for £100 but anew board would add a further £300...this is why I would note it on the certificate that the customer was advised to have the board changed but declined...this is a grey area for me with Bs7671 as Bs3036 fuses are still allowed and covered the sooner they remove them from the regs the better

 

[Duphrates]

My thinking is that at the time the 3036's were put in they complied, so no need to change. However, if you were to rewire part of that circuit you are now taking responsibility. As the cabling is buried and it is a socket circuit they must be protected by RCD. So unless you want to go down the route of a shower unit (for instance) to cover the RCD then you'll have to upgrade to a dual rcd CCU.
Likelihood is though, the circuit could be repaired behind the socket. So you're not altering anything.

Saying that though, the op's problem sounds odd.If it was a broken ring then the circuit would still work. For a few sockets to go off would mean its broken in 2 places. Unless someone at some point has turned it into a radial and not derated the fuse. Or in the past it was a broken ring and became in effect 2 radials and worked fine (as it would, but unsafely) and now its broken in another place.

It's hard to say without doing a continuity test.

Seems there are at least 2 sparks offering their services to the op but he's not too quick on the uptake! :)

 

[Shaw86]

My thinking is that at the time the 3036's were put in they complied, so no need to change. However, if you were to rewire part of that circuit you are now taking responsibility. As the cabling is buried and it is a socket circuit they must be protected by RCD. So unless you want to go down the route of a shower unit (for instance) to cover the RCD then you'll have to upgrade to a dual rcd CCU.
Likelihood is though, the circuit could be repaired behind the socket. So you're not altering anything.

Saying that though, the op's problem sounds odd.If it was a broken ring then the circuit would still work. For a few sockets to go off would mean its broken in 2 places. Unless someone at some point has turned it into a radial and not derated the fuse. Or in the past it was a broken ring and became in effect 2 radials and worked fine (as it would, but unsafely) and now its broken in another place.

It's hard to say without doing a continuity test.

Seems there are at least 2 sparks offering their services to the op but he's not too quick on the uptake! :)

This was my thinking regarding the RCD's. As for the circuit the burnt fuse casing is down to an overload on the circuit. But as you said very strange. I dont actually do house bashing i do more commercial and industrial, and this is the reason why. With this being an old installation you will need a thorough inspection to actually find out how the circuits are wired as over the years you will not know what has been added and the condition of the wiring. First thing is to discover what sockets are on what ring as it seems odd to put half of one room on with the kitchen. You would have thought the rings would be upstairs and down stairs.

 

[Gelsons Dad]

I am the final silence
The last electrician alive
And they called me the sparkle
I was the best
I worked them all

New ways, new ways
I dream of wires