No electric in my garage

[Pete999]

Please don't take the cover off the fuse board ...

He's not a complete novice, he is a CCTV Installer so should have some nouse.

 

[davesparks]

I'd call an electrician, should only take him 20 minutes to sort your problem. Won't cost you more than £40

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?

 

[Pete999]

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?

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.

 

[gimpchop]

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.

 

[gimpchop]

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.

 

[LankyWill]

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?

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?

 

[marc8]

if nothing has tripped either end & suspect no fused spur for the garage, could it be a loose or broken neutral ? if not failure of CB

 

[davesparks]

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?

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.

 

[davesparks]

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.

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.

 

[Andy78]

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.

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.

 

[marc8]

sorry did not see the above, but I bet the reason it melted is due to a loose connection

 

[LankyWill]

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.

Pedantic!

 

[gimpchop]

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.

 

[davesparks]

Pedantic!

What's wrong with that?
You stated that it won't cost more than £40 to fix, we now know it is a damaged RCD, depending on the brand it could,cost more than that just for a new RCD. You'll be making a loss on this job!

 

[marc8]

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.

Loose connection, normally main reason why something melts if it has not been overloaded

 

[davesparks]

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.

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.

 

[gimpchop]

Thanks could it be somthing to do with the join.?

 

[gimpchop]

Yes 13a plug

 

[davesparks]

Thanks could it be somthing to do with the join.?

What join? I thought you said it was the RCD which appears to be heat damaged? This is most likely caused by a loose connection, overload or a failure within the RCD.

 

[Specialist]

Thanks could it be somthing to do with the join.?

It won't be the join, you said that was on the supply into the office.
Go with what Dave said above.
The problem has probably been there for a while, but the prolonged extra current from the spa finished it off.