Help! Who needs to fix this part of electrical supply?

edinburgher

Bit of an emergency!

Have been experiencing regularly flickering lights on and off for the last few days (think it's limited to downstairs, but not 100% sure). There has also been a thumping/vibration affecting a wall mounted cupboard and a nearby fridge (enough to vibrate dishes/bottles, we thought it was next doors washing machine).

Anyway, today wife noticed a 'fizzing' noise coming from the cupboard with our electricity meter and I can see sparks coming from a cable connected to some of the wiring before the electricity meter.

In the picture below, the sparks are coming from the black taped bundle of wires going into the back right of the plastic unit at the bottom of the photo (unit is marked Lucy Oxford and the 'pillars' say MC 100/4 on them?)

Have spark coming out for an emergency call at 4, but he is a somewhat unreliable 'manana' type of guy. He did, however, install our consumer unit.

Is he going to be able to work with the cables described, or do I need to contact our electricity supplier?

molerat

Before the meter - your electrician can't touch it. You need your DNO to sort that - their emergency number is on your bills.

SplanK

If it wiring from the street to the meter, or a meter fault, then speak with your electrical provider and they should assist. Don't let them fob you off like Scottish power did to us once!!

Anything after the meter then its your responsibility and a domestic electrician should be able to assist.


If you have sparks, then I would suggest you get somebody in urgently to take a look and consider killing power to the house until the fault has been fixed. Sparks indicate a possible loose connection, or some sort of fault.


Regardless, having somebody to look at the situation is a good start and any electrician worth their salt should be able to assist one way or another.

keith969

Errr - where is that black taped wire going to? And who put it in (together with the yellow/green taped wire)? I can't believe any qualified electrician would do such a thing.

Robin9

And where are the DNO's seals ?

edinburgher

molerat wrote: »

Before the meter - your electrician can't touch it. You need your DNO to sort that - their emergency number is on your bills.

Many thanks Molerat, we got in touch with them immediately and they're coming out today to take a look.

I can't answer any of the questions left by other posters re. the state of the electrics, the previous owners had lived in this house since I was less than 2 years old, so I suspect that anything wonky about the wiring has been that way for 30 years :eek:

That's the problem about being a layman with no understanding of the electricity supply - what's messy/inelegant to one person probably looks deadly to another!

Owain_Moneysaver

edinburgher wrote: »

In the picture below, the sparks are coming from the black taped bundle of wires going into the back right of the plastic unit at the bottom of the photo (unit is marked Lucy Oxford and the 'pillars' say MC 100/4 on them?)

Your DNO emergency line. If you're in Edinburgh that's SP Energy Networks.

Tel 0800 092 9290 or the new power emergency number 105 (free)

Please phone NOW and they should be with you within 2 hours.

edinburgher

Cheers Owain, all fixed now, the guy tightened up several connections and replaced the meter tails.