Some advice required

[CrisaCristalina]

Hello. I am having a problem with the electrics where I live and I wanted to ask your professional opinion. There is a plug in the kitchen that has damaged several appliances: a food processor. a kettle, a vacuum cleaner, the fridge. Also, 2 ovens that are next to that socket have burned out. The damage does not happen instantly. The last oven was replaced about 3 years ago and the new one stopped working a few weeks back. The socket works fine for a while and then the appliance just break down. I once saw and heard electrical crackling in that socket. It is not a normal looking socket, it says Cooker on it, it has only one plug entry and has 2 red switch on/off buttons on it.
Does anyone know why this is happening? I am afraid to plug anything in that particular socket anymore, as it would damage it and I don't think the landlord would agree to pay me to get them replaced/fixed.

Many thanks, Cristina

PS I just remembered: in the living room, I have 3 extension cords linked to one another, instead of the usual sockets. One wire is coming in through the wall from the hallway and it goes into the first extension cord, which is fixed with screw on the wall. It then goes on to the next, which has been run through the chimney breast and comes out of the other side of it, attached to the wall again. A third extension is plugged into that one and goes around the room to the other side. Is that normal?

 

[littlespark]

The kitchen switch is a dedicated device for an electric cooker. (That come with an additional socket) It sounds as though you have a loose connection behind it, and it really needs an electrician to look at it.

A string of extension leads isn’t a problem in itself… the whole lot is protected by a 13A fuse in the first plug… but they need to be of good quality.
The biggest danger with extension leads is the tripping hazard.
Or someone putting a 13A fuse in a lead that’s only designed to take 10A.

Is this a rental property?

 

[CrisaCristalina]

The kitchen switch is a dedicated device for an electric cooker. (That come with an additional socket) It sounds as though you have a loose connection behind it, and it really needs an electrician to look at it.

A string of extension leads isn’t a problem in itself… the whole lot is protected by a 13A fuse in the first plug… but they need to be of good quality.
The biggest danger with extension leads is the tripping hazard.
Or someone putting a 13A fuse in a lead that’s only designed to take 10A.

Is this a rental property?

Hi Littlespark and thank you for the reply. Yes, it is a rental and I have been living here since 2011. The agency has sent a couple of electricians before, to replace the fuse board and a broken socket upstairs. As a fun fact and side note, one of them drank about a quarter of a home made spirit bottle that was near one of the sockets, replacing the missing fluid with water ...oh well, a drink is hard to say no to, I guess.

Do I have any chance of claiming back the money for the appliances I have lost? The food processor cost a lot of money. I was thinking of taking them to an electronic repair shop, maybe they could give me a report saying that the socket was to blame for the damage. Is that feasible?

 

[littlespark]

The biggest issue here is the possibility of a fire starting due to the loose connection.

Stop using the switch. Turn it off in the consumer unit. (Should be marked as cooker) and report it to your landlord.

If the consumer unit was changed recently, there should have been testing done on the whole installation… but maybe wouldn’t have picked up a loose connection at the time.

 

[Dartlec]

If it's a rented property, then the property should have had an inspection within the last five years, and a document called an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) generated which by law must be supplied to the tenant.

That covers a full electrical inspection of the property and should pick up issues including to loose connections, etc. Although it may not have done so if they were not there at the time of inspection.

Do you know if that testing has been carried out?

It's a legal requirement for the landlord to have had it done for existing tenants by April last year, and then every 5 years - it is meant to be policed by the local authority, who have the legal power to issue large fines - although they are not policing it very aggressively it seems, partly due to the pandemic and partly staffing issues. It is something that can be reported to them though if it's not been done.

The extension lead setup doesn't sound like a particularly well thought out setup, although it isn't by itself automatically dangerous as long as they are good quality and well secured, as @littlespark says.

A loose connection is certainly dangerous and should be resolved. However, it's not necessarily a likely cause for damage to several appliances. I'm wondering if your voltage is perhaps particularly higher than normal, or if there have been several voltage surges over a period.

Do you suffer frequent power cuts, or notice the lights flickering/dimming on occasions?

It may be possible to find someone to inspect the processor and provide a report as to what the damage was, although the best they could likely find is that certain components burnt out or were overloaded, rather than what caused it. If it was a simple overload, then they may be repairable with the replacement of an internal fuse, or circuit board - and if expensive might be worth the investment.