No electric in my garage

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gimpchop

Hi i had my garage converted in to a office about 5 years ago. Today i went out to my garage and there is no electric. I have checked the mcbs in the garage and they are all in the correc possitions and allso the main mcbs in the house and all are in the correct positions can any one point me in the right direction in to trouble shooting it pls.
 
gimpchop said:
Hi i had my garage converted in to a office about 5 years ago. Today i went out to my garage and there is no electric. I have checked the mcbs in the garage and they are all in the correc possitions and allso the main mcbs in the house and all are in the correct positions can any one point me in the right direction in to trouble shooting it pls.
Click to expand...
Have you checked the RCDs? try resetting the cbs sometimes they can fail in the ON position
 
Hi dont think there is a fuse just a rcd in the main fuse box in my house leading to a fuse box in the garage conversation with rcd for lights, sockets, water heaterand the main cut all rcd all seem in tacked and in the on position. I have switched al rcds on and off a few times with no effect.
 
Hi dont think there is a fuse just a rcd in the main fuse box in my house leading to a fuse box in the garage conversation with rcd for lights, sockets, water heaterand the main cut all rcd all seem in tacked and in the on position. I have switched al rcds on and off a few times with no effect.
 
If there is no fuse to be changed and you've exercised the MCBs and RCDs and there's still no power, it's time to call your local friendly Electrician who will have the tools, knowledge and experience to quickly find the problem. And hopefully the fix won't take long either ... haven't been digging in the garden nearby have you ? :)
 
gimpchop said:
Hi rhanks for the reply. Yes there is a fused spure from my main fusebox in the house but it hasnt tripped the mcb in there either.
Click to expand...
Might seem a daft question, but that z-spa on for all those hours would be quite a heavy load, you haven't burnt out a main L or N in the Garage CU have you, due to a loose connection?
 
Hi done a little testing. With a voltage tester there dont seem to be any power from the mcb on the main fuse board. Ive teaced the cable from fhe fuse board to a join where it comes from the house to the armored cable and there is no power there either.
 
gimpchop said:
Hi done a little testing. With a voltage tester there dont seem to be any power from the mcb on the main fuse board. Ive teaced the cable from fhe fuse board to a join where it comes from the house to the armored cable and there is no power there either.
Click to expand...
Join what sort of joint? a wacky one?
 
Last edited:
davesparks said:
If you know how long it will take to fix and what it will cost then presumably you already know exactly what has happened, so why don't you tell us what the fault is?
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I might be wrong but I think LankyWill is assuming it will be a simple fault to find, not that he knows what the fault actually is.
 
Hi i have traced the problem it seems the main rcd in the garege cu melted due to the lay-z-spa. Can i ask a few questions regaurding it.
1. Why did it melt and not trip out as it should?.

2. Is 100a enough to run the spa as i intend to run it from there in the future.?

3. How can i prevent it hapening again?.

4. Can i legally change it myself or do i have to have a electrician to do it?.
We are a little worried as it could have caused a fire.
Thanks for any info.
 
Ps There is a join where it comes out the house and to armored cable it is a conector block in a waterproof box.
I am a cctv installer but not by any means a electrician but i know basics.
 
davesparks said:
If you know how long it will take to fix and what it will cost then presumably you already know exactly what has happened, so why don't you tell us what the fault is?
Click to expand...

Its only a simple fault Dave hardly string theory, any spark worth his salt could find it with an MFT in a short amount of time. Bearing in mind the OP wont know the simple fault finding process that we do. Fallout with your missus?
 
LankyWill said:
Its only a simple fault Dave hardly string theory, any spark worth his salt could find it with an MFT in a short amount of time. Bearing in mind the OP wont know the simple fault finding process that we do. Fallout with your missus?
Click to expand...

What is the fault? The only information we have is that there is no power in the garage but no protective devices appear to be tripped.
It could be a simple five minute fix or a couple of hours finding the hidden joint which has failed.
 
gimpchop said:
Hi i have traced the problem it seems the main rcd in the garege cu melted due to the lay-z-spa. Can i ask a few questions regaurding it.
1. Why did it melt and not trip out as it should?.

2. Is 100a enough to run the spa as i intend to run it from there in the future.?

3. How can i prevent it hapening again?.

4. Can i legally change it myself or do i have to have a electrician to do it?.
We are a little worried as it could have caused a fire.
Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...

1. An RCD does not operate on overload, it only operates on current imbalance, this is why you must also have overload protection in the form of an MCB or fuse.

2. 100A is the normal maximum rating of a domestic supply, if your spa needs that much current then you will need a commercial electricity supply to run it.

3. Get an electrician to investigate why this has happened and work out what needs to Ben done to fix it and prevent it happening again.

4. There is no law preventing you from changing it, but unless you know why it has failed and fixed the cause of the failure then just replacing the RCD will result in the same thing happening again, potentially with worse consequences such as a fire.
 
gimpchop said:
Hi i have traced the problem it seems the main rcd in the garege cu melted due to the lay-z-spa. Can i ask a few questions regaurding it.
1. Why did it melt and not trip out as it should?.

2. Is 100a enough to run the spa as i intend to run it from there in the future.?

3. How can i prevent it hapening again?.

4. Can i legally change it myself or do i have to have a electrician to do it?.
We are a little worried as it could have caused a fire.
Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...

If the main RCD in the garage CU has "melted" then you should isolate the supply to the garage CU immediately and call an electrician.
 
Thanks maybe I explained it wrong there is mcbs for sockets lights ect but nothing tripped.
The spa came with a 240v plug and is ment for household use. The spa allso has a circuit in line that didnt trip.
 
gimpchop said:
Thanks maybe I explained it wrong there is mcbs for sockets lights ect but nothing tripped.
The spa came with a 240v plug and is ment for household use. The spa allso has a circuit in line that didnt trip.
Click to expand...

Nothing will trip if the fault is just a loose connection. do you mean a 13A plug? In which case it certainly doesn't need 100A.
 
Thanks yes the damage is to the rcd. The join is where the cable comes out of the house and is joined to armored cable that goes underground to the garage its inside a waterproof box and there is no damage to it heat or age related but it is conected with a standard conetion block. Not sure if it the right one for the job.
 
Although the connection has lasted until now. It would be better to get the Electrician you use, to check that & the rest of the wiring as well. Just to be safe.
 
This is a pic of the join.

20170604_183058.jpg
 
replace that connection block with wagos.then look at the RCD thast's damaged. it will have a mA rating (trip current) and a A rating (max. current load) let us know these 2 values.

also, i can't see that the armour of the SWA ia earthed. that is bad.
 
OK, that doesn't look like a particularly bad joint. Unfortunately the box has been leaking & letting in water, it either needs re sealing or preferably replacing. In all honesty I'd replace the connectors with Wago's at the same time.
Have to say the cable looks rather thin to be feeding all you have on it, ask the electrician to check that as well.

Agree with telectrix, the armour should have been earthed.
 
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