burning smell from electrics

[gucciman]

hi all electricians

a while back we had a burning smell coming from our old fashioned fuse box (bakelite type plug in fuse cartridges with fuse wire)
checked the fuses and the shower one was red hot. replaced it with a spare fuse and has been ok since. now this weekend the burning smell has returned.

is this likely to be a fault with the shower unit, the cable to the shower unit from the fusebox or the fusebox itself?

how much would an electrician charge to come out and investigate the problem? (south wales)

is it worth changing the fuse box for the new consumer unit type? how much would this cost?

thanks

[tombrandy]

Stop using it immediatly,and take the fuse out before you burn the house down

[shylock73]

How much is your house worth against a new fuse-box.?

[gucciman]

i dont have a problem with paying to get it done i want to know a ball park figure so the robbing ******** dont try to rip me off !

[buildersmate]

A fuse (cartridge or wire) works by melting when it becomes overloaded (it overheats). It cannot therefore be the fuse at fault. Normally a 45A cartridge fuse would be used in this type of installation and the cable to the shower is dedicated only to this circuit.
Heat comes from a situation where a poor connection means the impedance through the circuit is higher than it should be. Because the shower is drawing a large current, the amount of heat is correspondingly high (an equally poor connection in a lighting circuit might not even be spotted in terms of heat produced)
Because the supply cable is large and made of copper, the heat produced at the bad connection point is able to conduct along the cable, though it is fair to assume the bad connection is somewhere in the fuse box.
So much for what's (probably) wrong.
If the fault is a poor connection as above an electrician will within a few minutes be able to identify this. It may then be a simple case of tightening up and retesting the impedance of the circuit. However the heat may have damaged the cable sheathing or the insulation blocks - requiring new to be fitted.
Expect to pay a call-out for say an hour of time - after which a proper diagnosis should be forthcoming.
You know from your own trade what sort of pricetag this comes with.
A modern CU has two advantages - one, the circuit breakers (MCBs) trip much more reliably/quickly if the rated current is exceeded and are resettable. Two there is the opportunity to protect part of the circuits with an RCD. This protects against earth leakage faults (which may not be severe enough to blow either a fuse or MCB).. The cost of a decent box and breakers are around �100. The labour time to changeover depends how much of a rats-nest is behind the box.

[raysparx1]

It definitely needs checking, if you need unit changing it would be in the region of �200-�250 providing all the earthing is ok, if not this will also need upgrading, if you are not sure how to proceed, have the unit checked first then ask the sparky to do a "periodic report" for you, this will cost approx, �100-�150 and everything in the propety will be checked and he will explain what needs doing to bring the installtion up to current standards. most self employed sparkies are very honest so don't worry about being ripped off, go to napit,eca or nic websites and look for local registered electricians, just put in your postcode and it will bring up phone numbers and names for you, but please get it checked asap, good luck, Ray

[sddsddean]

In the early 80's when I was a student, we had a horrible smell for about 3 days. Looked everywhere, but could find no trace. Sunday evening we were about to go out for a drink when a crackling noise came from the cupboard under the stairs and my mate Steve said 'We're on fire!!'. Anyway, point of the story is that the Electricity Board came out within a couple of hours and replaced the old bakelite fuse box with a brand new one totally for free. Just wondered if they still do this.

[raysparx1]

Hello Knobby, hope you are ok, it probably could, but i would rather keep the old wires than install new ones cos they were better quality, specially if it was done in the old 7/029 better than the newer 2.5 don't you reckon, ? but he will probably be told to get it rewired, and then the fun begins eh. take it easy knobby, sparkies never work hard.

[Disco Fever]

Christ Ray and Knobbs, your bringing back memories for me when I was an apprentice, 7/029 and 7/036......

[pwong]

Hi

I just had a similar problem with my shower. Did you gt your problem fixed? I had a new shower put in and then ithere was a burning smell from my fise box and it burnt my shower fuse and wire.

I then got this fixed and a new CU unit put in. Now after 6 mpnths, the burning smell has come back.

I tried to cntact the sparky that fit the new CU in but he's not returning my calls.

I don't want to get ripped off again and just really want this fixed once and for all so would appreciate advise on cost and what the problem actually was.

Thanks,