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MisterT2

1) Electric cooker - oven and grill only work occassionally, either will heat for about 45 minutes at a time, then will not work again for weeks, but the hotplates work all the time.

Could be a few things. Are the oven and grill combined? Assuming they are I would suspect the thermostat first and heater element second and connection block third.

Thermostats are pretty self evident. It could be that the heater element warms up and then goes open circuit. When it cools it would then contract again - but this would not explain a 2 week delay. Any more info?

2) Not sure if this electrical or plumbing? My central heating timer switches on and the central heating does NOT work but the hot water DOES work

First thing to check is the thermostat ......quite often these can lock up. Rotate and see if it clicks on and off. Second common problem is that the motor siezes up. Can you hear it turning? If not, you can take the end of the motor off and give it a spin (depends on type). Alternatively - its usually a new motor.

Need to find someone with a meter to check if this is right as these things can be expensive. I always run mine every few months in the summer for a minute or two. Alternatively, it could be a solenoid problem but these are very rare - and not all heating systems have them.

ioscorpio

1) Oven and grill is combined and it does only work periodically, that's what I don't understand.

2) Sorry I didn't understand your explanation,is the problem with the boiler or the timer box?   The timer control panel is in the porch Honeywell ST7100 and the boiler is in the garage Glow Worm Fuelsaver Mark II.  Hot water and central heating are both controlled by the timer, the hot water works but the central heating does not. The central heating had been programmed to run every day when it stopped working.

MisterT2

Okay - with the cooker - the only way is to get someone with a meter and check it, or else you can buy a multimeter yourself for around £4 - maplins probably. Basically you need something that will test for voltage and continuity. Nothing special.

With the cooker isolated from the mains, connect one probe at either end of the element and check for continuity (Resistance scale). It should give a reading of around 20 ohms.  If you get no reading (or very high resistance in Megohms) then it is open circuit and will not work.

If thats okay, switch the cooker on and then the grill. On the AC volt scale, check for 240v across the element. If not then its not getting the voltage and the problem is most likely the thermostat. Switch off at the wall, check all the wires to/from the element and thermostat. If all are ok then it can only be the thermostat. You could check the voltages around the thermostat to be sure, but this is a bit more dangerous and its impossible to tell you which proble to put where without having it in front of me. Unfortunately you might need to take a lot of the cooker apart to get to it.

2) Heating......
is the problem with the boiler or the timer box?  
I presume you have a thermostat in one or more of the rooms. First check these by rotating them. You should be able to hear them click on and off.

The timer control panel is in the porch Honeywell ST7100 and the boiler is in the garage Glow Worm Fuelsaver Mark II.  Hot water and central heating are both controlled by the timer, the hot water works but the central heating does not.  

Forget this bit for a minute. If you get hot water, then the boiler is working. Locate the central heating pump. a) Can you hear it rotating (have someone switch the heating on/off). If not then this is most likely the problem.

b) Check to see if the motor has a speed control on it. Mine has - a small tri-positiion level. Try changing the speed. Any difference?

c) If still not rotating, take end cover off - spin the armature. It might have got stuck. If no end cover then skip this.

d) Take the connection cover off and use the multimeter to check the voltage to the motor when the heating is switched on. If you have mains voltage on the motor, and you cannot hear it turning then the problem is with the motor. If there is no voltage to the motor then possibly there is a problem further back - either with the timer or thermostats.

e) Some timers are exceptionally complicated while others are very simple. You will have a supply cable (this is obviously ok). The cable to the boiler is fine as you get hot water. So you will need to check to see if you have voltages to the CH pump (follow the cable back). If this looks ok, then its probably that one of the thermostats have failed. Depending on what I thought at the time, I might be tempted to test the stat with a meter (remove all power to the central heating first!!!). Disconnect and check with a meter. Note position of wires or you will have to get an electrician in.

f) finally - if the stats are okay then I would buddy the pump wires with the hot water wires as a quick test . If the CH now works then its a timer fault.

Hope this is of more help. Its worth the investment in a cheap meter. You can probably get one at a market for a couple of quid.

terrierlady

:-/Problem its me.!..
.I have a double dimmer switch on the wall that controls the center light and also the wall lights.
Center light works ok but wall lights dont. Is it the switch and can i buy a replacement one easily?

Uncle_Cuddles

Hi. I want to electrify my loftspace, just a couple of double plugs and a couple of light fittings. Should I get a seperate ring(s) off my fusebox or run it off the existing bedroom light rings.

How much should an electrican charge for this?

System

hi, I need to know a little about voltage converters?
im planning on buying a laptop from the US and thus need to figure a way of plugging it in.

Is there an adaptor I will need to convert the voltage? and where is cheapest place for this

Many thanks if you can help,
Matt

MisterT2

Well this is turning into a full time job

terrierlady with a double dimmer:
I guess you have changed at least one of the bulbs in the wall lights. I once got called out at 2am to change a light bulb! It is most likely that the dimmer has become defective. Switch off the lights at the mains (turn the lights on first and make sure they go out). Take the switch off the wall. You should see 2 separate dimmers each with a red and black wire (the black wire should have a red sleeve). Can you see anything visibly wrong? Sometimes you will see that the triac or scr (a black square thing) has gone bang. Are there any fuses? If so you can switch them over - retest the lights. If a fuse has gone, you need to get a special sand filled fuse.

If not, switch over the black wires (don't worry about the red ones for now). Switch the power on. You should now have wall lights but no centre light.

Double dimmers can be quite expensive, but if you have a look at yours, the only thing holding the circuit board is a nut on the thing you turn at the front. Your cheapest option would be to buy another single dimmer and replace the defective unit. You should be able to see if its the same size etc. Some have an interference supressor (a coil of wire on a ferrite rod or circle). You can move these quite easily to make the other one fit. Alternatively, the normal search engines return a lot of places to get another.

Uncle_Cuddles and power in the loft:
You cannot run sockets off a light circuit. You have to run power from a socket or from the fuse box. I normally use the most convenient socket. The socket must be on the ring main - in other words it must have two cables in it. You are going to take a spur from it. So, with all power off you need to check that you have continuity across the reds, blacks, and earth. If not then the socket you have is a spur and the second cable feeds another spur (this is very bad practice). If you don't have a tester then you need a mains test screwdriver. Pull the red cables out of the back - separate them and make sure they are not touching anything. Switch power on and make sure that they are both live. If so, you are then fine to take a spur off. Get some 2.5mm 6242Y twin and earth cable, some earth sleeving (approx 5p per meter) and you are away.

With regard to lights, you can go in the back of any ceiling rose and take a supply from there. You should use a minimum of 1.0mm 6242Y due to the cable being in contact with at least one insulated surface and the heat that you get in the loft. In the ceiling rose, you have all the live cables stuck together in the middle. Put your red in here. The neutral cables will all be bunched together and connected to one side of the lamp (put your black in here) and the other black wire (possibly with a red sleeve but to be clear only 1 wire) will be the live-return from the switch (so you don't want that one). If you get the wrong one its easy to spot as the loft light will only work when the other room light is switched on.

You will usually need a long pole with a drill bit in the end to get down through noggins in the wall to get to the socket. If its easier, you can drop a plumb bob down through the cavity to the consumer unit but its not necessary.

PS To any sparks reading this. Yes I know that colours of cables are changing - I shall keep my opinion about that to myself as its pretty much unprintable. Yet another piece of Eurotrash and nothing but another money making scheme.

Matt Farrington Smith Voltage covertors:

I have replied at length on one of the forums. Many laptop PSUs operate from 110v-240v. So this could be one of the things you could ask. If so, all you need to get is an extension lead from the US which would cost about $3, and change the plug.

If its only 110v then you don't want a cheap voltage convertor that will frazzle a laptop if it goes wrong. Safest bet is a 110v transformer like they use on building sites. It weighs a lot, but the likelihood of it going wrong is very low. Usually about £45. Alternatively you might be able to pick up a cheap power supply from Maplins/Ebay.

ioscorpio

Mister T2
Thanks very much for all your advice.
iomexico

System

Hello,

I have a couple of problems with some kitchen applicances that I bought on ebay, any help would be muchly appreciated!

Firstly is a Whirlpool hob. I've wired it in, but the spark ignition shows no sign of life. I've pulled the ignition button out and my voltage testing screwdriver shows one side of it is live, but when the screwdriver connects the two contacts on the button (in order to test whether the button is at fault) still nothing happens... but the light on the voltage testing screwdriver goes out, which suggests to me that the spark ignition is using the power but not making sparks... any ideas?! ???

Secondly is a Whirlpool dishwasher. Initially I had a problem with this where a hose connected to a motor (which I think is used for pumping the water around the insides of the unit) had come loose during transit, so as a result it filled itself up and then leaked all the water over the kitchen floor... That was easy enough to fix, but now it just fills up, then sits there for quite a long time (say 10-15 mins), and then empties, without ever blasting any water around inside. - that's on a "rinse and hold" cycle, but it does similar things on the normal wash cycles too. Any thoughts on what I could try, or any estimate of how much it would cost to get some dude to come and fix it would be superb...

Cheers,
Rich

luciddreamer

Hi

I'm a qualified Electrician and willing to give advice to anyone using this website.

So if you need any help i will try my best to give you an answer.

Or if you want a rough pricing of an electrical job you need doing, i can give you that too so you can tell if you're getting ripped off or not.

Beware of NIC EIC one man bands i know for a fact that some electricians claim to be NIC EIC have all the stickers on the van and look official but are not! (if you're unsure get their NIC enrolment number from them and call the NIC yourself to confirm it)
also i'm not saying this is true of all NIC registerd firms but i have worked for some that could be considered "cowboys".

I will post more information at a later date.

Paul

Okay i've been away for a while because of family problems, but now i'm back and here to help
you can either contact me by one of three methods

this site (which i don't always check)

my e mail: electrician74@tiscali.co.uk

or on my mobile: 07958 598 964