Electrical fault finding and repair

The power goes off, the RCD keeps tripping or a socket smells of burning. We find the source of the fault and repair it, instead of swapping parts blindly.

The faults we get called out to most

Most of the calls we receive fall into one of these cases. Nearly all of them have a specific, traceable cause.

The RCD keeps tripping, or trips only when it rains or when one particular appliance comes on.
One area of the house has lost power while the rest works normally.
A socket or switch is getting hot, crackling, or has left a dark mark on the wall.
The lights flicker or dim when the washing machine or the air conditioning starts up.
A smell of burnt plastic near the consumer unit or a junction box.
A tingle when you touch the sink, the water heater or the casing of an appliance.

How we track the fault down

The cheap way to “fix” a fault is to change the RCD and hope. The right way is to measure. We isolate the circuits one by one at the board, test the insulation of each line and narrow down the section until we find the exact point.

When it turns up, we show you what it was and why it was happening. Very often it is an appliance with a punctured element, damp in a buried junction box, or a cable nipped in an old chase.

Safety first

Some call-outs cannot wait: a burning smell, smoke, a bare cable within a child’s reach, or someone who has had a shock. In those cases the first thing to do is switch off at the main breaker and call.

Never try to bypass an RCD that keeps tripping so that it “holds”. That device is what stops an earth leakage from passing through a person. If it trips, it is doing its job.

Shall we talk about it?

Tell us what you need and we will quote with no obligation. If it is urgent, calling is quickest.

In detail

What we resolve

Leakage tracing

Circuit-by-circuit testing to find the earth leakage that is tripping the RCD.

Hot spots

Replacing sockets, boxes and terminals that have overheated, before they turn into something serious.

Dead circuits

Repair of broken lines, poorly made joints and junction boxes in bad condition.

Boards and protection

Replacing worn or wrongly sized residual current devices and circuit breakers.

Faults in blocks of flats

Entrance halls without light, stairwell lighting, garages and communal boards.

Shops and catering

Chillers, ovens and machinery that bring the installation down when they start up.

What you can check before calling

If the RCD is tripping, try this: switch off all the circuit breakers, reset the RCD and switch the breakers back on one at a time. The one that trips it again is the circuit with the problem. Unplug everything on that circuit and try again.

With that information we already know where to start, and it often saves fault-finding time. Tell us over the phone or send us a photo of the board by WhatsApp.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions about faults and emergencies

Do you come out the same day?

We always try to, as far as the diary allows, and genuine emergencies (burning smell, smoke, risk of contact) come before everything else. Call and we will tell you honestly what time we can be there. If we cannot make it in time, we say so on the call.

Do you charge for the call-out?

Within our usual working area, the visit to assess the fault is not billed separately if we end up carrying out the repair. For towns further afield we tell you before setting off, so there are no surprises.

Do you work weekends?

We cover up to Saturday within normal working hours. For call-outs outside that, ring us anyway: if it is something that cannot wait, we will find a way.

What if the problem is the electricity supplier's?

It happens more than you would think, especially with voltage drops and cuts affecting several houses at once. We check it by measuring at the incoming supply. If the fault is upstream of your board, we tell you and point you to who to claim from.

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