House nearly caught fire...

ChristopherP

ChristopherP

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See attached from fuse box. Thought there was a funny smell by the stairs...

Scary.

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Which then went on to burn...

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Was cooking dinner, then the power suddenly went for half a second - momentarily but long enough to kill the TV and PC. Thought nothing of it until the better half said "CHRIS, CAN YOU SMELL THAT"

Uh oh.

Narrowed the smell to the stairwell - opened the front door to make sure it wasnt coming from outside, and ventilated the house. Then realised the smell was from the fuse box so I immediately turned ALL lights, appliances and sockets off and called the emergency electrician.... who opened the casing to find... well you saw the photos.

The switch in the photo had been welded "on" by the heat - the only thing that would have cut out is the meter/main switch outside in the cupboard.

Time for a more modern fuse box I think.

Electrician said it was caused by electrical arcing because the wires werent in tight enough.
 
Yeah but that RCD should have tripped pretty, much straight away

They have a trip speed of around 30milliseconds so that not tripping at all is not good at all.

You in rented accomodation mate? If so landlord has to fork out for it! :)
 
It's not an RCD. It's a fuse.

They replaced it with an RCD.

Yep - it's rented - although I feel bad as landlord has just agreed to pay for new carpets throughout the house, and to redecorate the entire house. On top of that he's just had to pay for a new gas valve for our boiler, and now this + a new fuse board which may well be fitted next week.

I feel sorry for him - he seems a really nice guy from what I can gather by email.
 
I'm sure he is a nice guy but he is also a landlord. He'll still make money it will just take a bit longer is all.

That is a faulty fuse, even if the wires were loose it should have tripped or melted the fuse wire and cut the current. Have you seen the current Electrical Safety Certificate every rented property has to have a new one each year after a full test of the electrics same with the gas supply.

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Arcing through loose wires is the biggest cause of electrical fires because of the heat generated through faults which usually ignites third party waste and not the electrical components themselves.

I have experience of this and cables can arc/burn without either tripping an rcd or blowing a fuse.

All that causes a fuse to blow is excess current. The gradual arcing and burning in a fuse box/rcd box will not neccessarily draw heavy current.

To my shame I once installed an rcd box and did not tighten the factory connected cables and the result was pretty much like the pix Chris has posted. There was no real risk of fire as no flammable materials were nearby but a strong fishy/burny smell alerted the houseowners to the fault.

I put things right but it was very embarrassing for me :o

Haven't done it since....

Never hurts to check the tightness of all cables with a screwdriver now and again where electricity is concerned and this is not limited to circuit breaker and fuse boxes either.

As for the landlord most landlords will always come out on top but some are actually suffering since this goverment changed the law where those claiming benefits now get cash to pay the landlord rather than previously where landlords were paid direct by Social Security.

This means some tenants now spend their rent money on other things than rent and then often do a runner when arrears are extreme.

Why this Goverment changed the method is quite beyond me...
 
Abarbarian said:
I'm sure he is a nice guy but he is also a landlord. He'll still make money it will just take a bit longer is all.

That is a faulty fuse, even if the wires were loose it should have tripped or melted the fuse wire and cut the current. Have you seen the current Electrical Safety Certificate every rented property has to have a new one each year after a full test of the electrics same with the gas supply.

nod.gif
Click to expand...

No? We had a corgi inspection, but no electric one? Our stuff was PAT tested exactly 1 year ago today I can tell you that much...
 
floppybootstomp said:
Arcing through loose wires is the biggest cause of electrical fires because of the heat generated through faults which usually ignites third party waste and not the electrical components themselves.

I have experience of this and cables can arc/burn without either tripping an rcd or blowing a fuse.

All that causes a fuse to blow is excess current. The gradual arcing and burning in a fuse box/rcd box will not neccessarily draw heavy current.

To my shame I once installed an rcd box and did not tighten the factory connected cables and the result was pretty much like the pix Chris has posted. There was no real risk of fire as no flammable materials were nearby but a strong fishy/burny smell alerted the houseowners to the fault.

I put things right but it was very embarrassing for me :o

Haven't done it since....

Never hurts to check the tightness of all cables with a screwdriver now and again where electricity is concerned and this is not limited to circuit breaker and fuse boxes either.

As for the landlord most landlords will always come out on top but some are actually suffering since this goverment changed the law where those claiming benefits now get cash to pay the landlord rather than previously where landlords were paid direct by Social Security.

This means some tenants now spend their rent money on other things than rent and then often do a runner when arrears are extreme.

Why this Goverment changed the law is quite beyond me...
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I read about that. Me? I pay my own rent - none of this complicated benefits stuff!! Our landlord only owns our house, and he lives and works in New Zealand.

That sounds about right Flops - thats what the electricians said. Hopefully they will replace it with a modern RCD board - these houses were built in 1988 so the fuse box is the original.

Sounds a good idea about tightening everything up - i'll keep my eye on it.

It was rather disconcerting to say the least...
 
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Portable Appliance Testing is exactly that - Testing of Portable Appliances.

It is not the testing of a property's electrical ring mains and lighting circuits systems.

For that a visual check will be done, tightness of cable connections in circuit breaker box or fuse box will be done and a megohm test of all circuits carried out.

This is what should have been done and would likely have prevented the occurence reported here.
 
Does this need to be done yearly? We moved in on the 25th July 08 - and no-one has touched the fuse box. I don't think there is a requirement for it to be checked each year in a rented property though.
 
christopherpostill said:
Does this need to be done yearly? We moved in on the 25th July 08 - and no-one has touched the fuse box. I don't think there is a requirement for it to be checked each year in a rented property though.
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I'll be honest - I don't know.

You're probably right.

Would be a good idea for an annual check though perhaps.
 
christopherpostill said:
I feel sorry for him - he seems a really nice guy from what I can gather by email.
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Bollox..As a landlord if he was registered with the NLA he would of had to by law provide you with a Electrical and gas certifiacte to say everything had been passed by an approved engineer, at the time you signed your contract. Chris why feel sorry for him..? You and the better half could have been asleep and the whole place coulfd have caught on fire, resulting in no Chris and no better half. Who would feel sorry then...?
 
christopherpostill said:
Does this need to be done yearly? We moved in on the 25th July 08 - and no-one has touched the fuse box. I don't think there is a requirement for it to be checked each year in a rented property though.
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Gas boilers every 3 months and electrics yearly, no matter wether the property is owned or leased
 
Yep you need a modern fuse box. Well worth the cost as they're much safer.

Anyway the landlord should pay up - I'm sure he doesn't want his place burned down.
 
The legal requirement for a gas boilers is yearly not every 3 months..

Landlord certificate is issued annually for gas appliances..I know this as I studied for CORGI a couple of years ago..

Electrical safety certificate is annually aswell..
 
Jeez if thats the case how do landlords make any money on there investment..wow..You live and learn..:nod:
 
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