Why is my electricity flickering?

[Caroline]

Last week I had a power cut in my house, after unplugging everything and turning off all the trip switches in the fuse box before turning them back on again I managed to get the lights back on but not the plug sockets.
I called in an electrician who managed to get almost all of the plug sockets working again. After 2 hours he figured out where the problem was and replaced some cable which at first he said a mouse must have chewed through and then finding no chew marks said that it was probably just old cable.
Then once he had done this he found that there was another plug socket on the other side of the house that wasn't working and he couldn't get it fixed so after four hours of trying he said he would have someone else in his company to come and try and fix it. The other electrician hasn't come round yet but I have noticed that the lights had been flickering a bit more than usual over the last few days. I ignored this at first because lights just do flicker sometimes but for the last hour the flickering has been really bad and the fridge freezer has been rumbling quite badly at the same time the lights flicker.

First of all there's the issue that the electrician that came round before was very young and I'm not sure he entirely knew what he was doing so I was wondering if anyone that knows a bit more about electrics than I do thinks that it sounds like he wasn't quite up to scratch because I'm inclined to have a word with the company and try and get a discount.
Also there's the issue of what to do about the new problem, does anyone know what might be causing it? The last visit by the electrician was rather pricy and I'm a bit strapped for cash at the moment so if there's anything I can do myself I'd love to know.
Also I do seem to have a mouse living in the walls at the moment which I haven't yet managed to catch, could this be the issue?
Sorry for the long message.
Any help would be really appreciated.

[ummmm]

For starters....how old are you?

[starone]

Good typing!! If you are real, do not try fixing electricity yourself. Too dangerous. Sounds as if there is a bad connection somewhere.

[ummmm]

I ask the age because as we get older everyone looks so much younger....and I'm still in my 30's (just)

[Buenchico]

Try an experiment:
Unplug the fridge/freezer. (You're food will be fine for several hours if you keep the doors shut). You might find that your lights stop flickering. i.e. it could be a fault with the freezer which is causing intermittent excess current drain (at the same time as it makes a strange noise). That, in turn, could be leading to your lights flickering. If so, it would be pointless to pay an electrician lots of money, to spend hours checking out all of your electrical circuits, if the fault lies with the fridge/freezer!

If your lights still continue to flicker, with the fridge/freezer unplugged, then either there's a poor connection somewhere (which could lead to a fire risk through sparking) or current is somehow managing to find its way to earth without tripping the circuit (which could lead to a fire risk through the wiring overheating).

Chris

[Caroline]

I don't know if this is the way I'm supposed to reply to the answers but never mind. Thank you for posting so quickly, I really appreciate it. In answer to ummmm I am 27, I'd say the elctrician was 18 or 19.
Also I have just turned the freezer off to give Buenchico's suggestion a try, when the electricity failed originially I did wonder if it was the freezer that was at fault.
Thank you

[Caroline]

I tried unplugging the fridge but the lights are still flickering.

[Buenchico]

Well at least you've eliminated one possible cause of the problem.

It's possible, of course, that the problem isn't even inside your house. If your power supply comes via overhead cables (as is the case with many rural areas), a faulty connection on the supply could lead to your lights flickering every time the wind blows the cables about. (A decent electrician should start by checking the supply arriving at your house, before spending lots of time looking for the problem elsewhere).

Regrettably, it looks as if you'll definitely need to call in an expert (but my definition of an 'expert' definitely doesn't include anyone who can take 4 hours to trace a simple fault!).

Chris

[tamborine]

If a mouse chews cables it will be electrocuted & you will smell the mouse rotting. Check if you can smell plastic burning & look for burnt plugs, showing a short.

Wear rubber shoes before you mess with electricity. This may help:

http://www.electricit...de.org.uk/fix-it.html

[The Builder]

I just want to back up what Chris is saying. Instead of spending all that time investigating odd symptoms, an experienced electrician would most probably look at the whole picture ............ that is, he'd start at the consumer unit (fusebox), then isolate and test each individual circuit. It would be rather like a full periodic test.
The good news is that he should soon identify the faulty circuit(s)....... plus, you'd have an up to date test certificate........ which is always worth having.
Do talk to the Company again........ you deserve better!

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Try switching the trip switches off and on several times...you may have some dust or grit between the contacts causing a bad connection.Why did you switch them off in the first place?

[woodchopper]

Check if your neighbours lights are flickering too.