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Q For Electrician / Builder
23 Answers
Good evening
My problem elates to a roof leak and its effect on electric wiring in the loft space.
During the past few weeks I have had two seperate leaks in the roof tiles on a pitched roof in the gulley where the roof turns through 90 degrees. Then the 5A fuse 'blew'. I looked in the loo and the bulb from the pendant as water was dripping off it, reset fuse and all OK,
Builder was called and fixed it a week or so ago but then it suddenly blew the whole house electrics WC and I needed to reset the the main fuse but the 5A was still in the set position? I reset it and all worked fine.
Builder came and found a further problem in the tiling which he put right and as far as I can tell there has been no further water seeping through - however even with the lightswich off if I put a bulb in the pendant it lights up, we cannot switch it off!!!
That was 4 days ago and the pendant is still permanantly live.
Firstly do you think the damp is still affecting it? I thought 48 hours 'drying' time was enough. Could the light switch itself have fused thus leaving it in the on position?
I will need to get someone in if you feel ther could still be a problem in the loft as due to disability I cannot climb up there myself.
Sorry this has been a book but any ideas appreciated.
My problem elates to a roof leak and its effect on electric wiring in the loft space.
During the past few weeks I have had two seperate leaks in the roof tiles on a pitched roof in the gulley where the roof turns through 90 degrees. Then the 5A fuse 'blew'. I looked in the loo and the bulb from the pendant as water was dripping off it, reset fuse and all OK,
Builder was called and fixed it a week or so ago but then it suddenly blew the whole house electrics WC and I needed to reset the the main fuse but the 5A was still in the set position? I reset it and all worked fine.
Builder came and found a further problem in the tiling which he put right and as far as I can tell there has been no further water seeping through - however even with the lightswich off if I put a bulb in the pendant it lights up, we cannot switch it off!!!
That was 4 days ago and the pendant is still permanantly live.
Firstly do you think the damp is still affecting it? I thought 48 hours 'drying' time was enough. Could the light switch itself have fused thus leaving it in the on position?
I will need to get someone in if you feel ther could still be a problem in the loft as due to disability I cannot climb up there myself.
Sorry this has been a book but any ideas appreciated.
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bhg - The pendant has had the cover removed when we saw the water dripping. However this now appears dry.
Bright spark - the 'main fuse' I mean is the one in the fusebox near the meter. There are a number of resettable fuses (lights - down sockets - up sockets etc) And a main switch for all - thats the one I mean.
old_geezer - my query is that it seemed odd that the switch jammed at exactly this point in time.
Looks like a sparks is needed.
Bright spark - the 'main fuse' I mean is the one in the fusebox near the meter. There are a number of resettable fuses (lights - down sockets - up sockets etc) And a main switch for all - thats the one I mean.
old_geezer - my query is that it seemed odd that the switch jammed at exactly this point in time.
Looks like a sparks is needed.
The main fuse i refer to is NOT the electricy board one mentioned by Tony V,
Some older systems people have fuses which, if they blow, you simply push a button in to reset it. Even older places have wired fuses. My 2 year old mains fuseboard has a number of flip switches on it with different ampere ratings for circuits like lighting - upstairs sockets - cooker - downstairs sockets. If you need to isolate a single circuit you simply flip it to the off position. There is also a main master switch which simply turns off ALL the individual circuits in one go.
So on the first occasion it was simply the lighting circuit flipswitch which tripped (no lights in all the house) but the second time it was this main master switch which flipped out hence no power at all, Reset and all was well EXCEPT the WC light
Some older systems people have fuses which, if they blow, you simply push a button in to reset it. Even older places have wired fuses. My 2 year old mains fuseboard has a number of flip switches on it with different ampere ratings for circuits like lighting - upstairs sockets - cooker - downstairs sockets. If you need to isolate a single circuit you simply flip it to the off position. There is also a main master switch which simply turns off ALL the individual circuits in one go.
So on the first occasion it was simply the lighting circuit flipswitch which tripped (no lights in all the house) but the second time it was this main master switch which flipped out hence no power at all, Reset and all was well EXCEPT the WC light
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Sparks has reported that the problem was NOT in the ceiling pendant fitting OR the light switch - I knew it wasn't the switch as I replaced it 2 days ago.
A junction box in the loft space had become too wet and had arced (sp?) / shorted out so was sending live feed 24/7.
He only came prepared to fit a new pendant and as it was now 4:30 on a Friday has wired up a temp feed to see us over the weekend and will return, hopefully Monday, to do a better job with the junction box and connection wires.
To top it all his total estimate was less than 50% of what we were expecting!
Happy Mr & Mrs Nut I'd say
A junction box in the loft space had become too wet and had arced (sp?) / shorted out so was sending live feed 24/7.
He only came prepared to fit a new pendant and as it was now 4:30 on a Friday has wired up a temp feed to see us over the weekend and will return, hopefully Monday, to do a better job with the junction box and connection wires.
To top it all his total estimate was less than 50% of what we were expecting!
Happy Mr & Mrs Nut I'd say