Electricity goes off and then comes back on

kev2009

Hi,

I've noticed in my property every coupe of months, my power seems to go out for a few seconds and then comes back on again all by itself. Nothing is tripping out and it affects the whole property, not just one area or anything. Main board is all on, nothing gets tripped. Only way i can tell is because the oven doesn't auto reset the clock so it is flashing but as i don't always use the oven I may not notice it on the day it occurred. My bedroom clocks auto change to the correct time so no indication the power went out. However,i know from 1 time when i was in the property all the power went out, fridge went off etc was dead quiet then about 10 seconds latter it came back on and everything worked so i know it affects everything. This was shortly after i moved in so i put it down to new home, maybe a one off.

Just curious what it could be? Wondering if there is some intermittent fault with something but it often goes out when i'm not at home so only the bare essentials are left on i.e fridge, freezer etc.

Its been happening on and off since I moved in back in 2015 but didn't think too much off it as it doesn't happen daily or weekly etc, its just random times. I keep meaning to ask my neighbours if they get it but as i'm never really there when it goes out, i can't pop next door and say did your power just go out and then by the time i see my neighbours i usually forget to ask.

Property was a new build when i bought it, just curious if i should be looking more in my property or if I should perhaps get an electrician in to check/test it or maybe even contact provider and see what they say? I'm thinking maybe its something to do with the supply to property given that fuse-board doesn't' trip out completely and no individual circuit trips out.

I have a smart meter (SMETS2), would that potentially record when the power goes out at all so I could get accurate day/time?

Thanks

Kev

Owain_Moneysaver

Warning signs:

It's the whole property
Your circuit breakers don't trip
It's a fairly new build
You have a smart meter

all suggest you have a loose connection in your service fuse or meter. Contact your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) on 105. They will have records of power interruptions in your area and if these do not correspond to your supply fails they can check your fuse and meter.

A loose service fuse or meter connection is a serious risk of fire or electrocution.

AndyCF

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

A loose service fuse or meter connection is a serious risk of fire or electrocution.

Can only concur with this sentence. Grab the phone and speak to them as the poster mentioned as soon as you can.

If the smart loses power it would go off (I don't think the main meter display works on battery power if its got its nicad in as its always mains powered) but that's not really the point here, the sentence I've quoted is.

It might not be that, it could be something stupid like a bad 'main power' relay in the Smart but that is extremely rare I think. I've never known it happen but I have seen relays very rarely do that so the theory applies at least. Disregard this as I'm just waffling.

Robin9

A temporary fault on the suppliers network associated with overhead lines.- can be very short with a Grid fault many, many miles away - a few seconds if on the local network.

unforeseen

We get that regularly where I live.

Before jumping the gun and calling the DNO check with your neighbours. It might well be an area problem as ours is.

They have yet to find the cause of ours. It only lasts about 2 secs but has been happening for about 10 yrs. Before that we used to get brown outs until they uprated the feed to the area.

kev2009

Just to clarify, it happened when i got bought the new build and on a standard meter that was fitted (Not smart meter). I then changed about a year later to a SMETS1 smart meter, same issue still happened and more recently (March this year) i changed to a SMETS2 smart meter so i don't think its the meter, unless i'm unlucky to have had 3 meters with the same fault.

Where is the "service fuse" ?

Kev

Robin9

Service Fuse is immediately adjacent to the meter - black or grey possibly labelled 80 amp

kev2009

As mentioned it only happens about once every couple of months for a few seconds.. its just odd.

Kev

Robin9

kev2009 wrote: »

As mentioned it only happens about once every couple of months for a few seconds.. its just odd.

Kev

Par for the normal if you live in the sticks.

Hazzanet

Autorecloser on a transient network fault?

kev2009

Thanks, i'll check with neighbours. As i say, its been happening for 3.5 years now just randomly goes off and then back on again and nothing is tripped. Had 3 different meters and all the same so think that rules out the meter. If neighbours get it then its not my property, if they don't then i'll call the DNO and have them check any power outages at my address or arrange a visit to check whatever they need to. It's just a shame i can't replicate the issue as i say it mostly happens when i'm not there so its not like I've got loads of appliances etc being used and i'm some how overloading it or anything as i leave most things turned off only general stuff on like fridge, microwave, clocks. TV, light all off.

Kev