Urgent Help Needed Please

[mumof4]

Ok..thanks for all the help/advice peeps..i have been on the phone again and they wont budge as the lady i spoke to said that they cant justify the emergency call out fee as it wouldnt be just a case of doing a little bit of work.She said that as long as i have electricity in the house it is not an emergency....Going no where tomoz as the electrician will be here sometime from 8am up to 5pm! :)

[Guest gooner52]

so they might come ' 7.30 am

or after 6pm :)

[mumof4]

Be just my luck if the guy turns up at half 4 has a look then says "sorry love, havent got the right part/bit/too big a job/ will call back tomorrow etcc" :)

[Guest gooner52]

sounds about right maz :)

[Scorpiorefugee]

Gregers is absolutely right, this IS an emergency.

 

Sparks and charing with nothing plugged in could be downright dangerous. At best it could be a loose connection and the fireworks were caused as it finally gave up, the load could be anywhere else in the house.

 

Either way you cannot be expected to have any way of knowing how to isolate the circuit without switching everything off.

 

If you want to play reasonably safe, switch off everything but lights and essential power, cooker, heating(may not be possible), immersion heater (Should be possible to isolate - check for indicator light or sounds of kettleing in the tank). do it one at a time. In all probability, all of your sockets will be on one or,at most, 2 circuits.

 

However, to be really safe, rule 1 is treat it as a potentially dangerous situation.

 

Rule 2 is, inexception to rule 1, apply rule 1!

[mumof4]

I have done everything i can to get someone out....and i keep getting told that they cant justify the expence as i still have working sockets downstairs and electricity!!....if i had the money id call out someone private..but i dont and i wouldnt be able to claim the money back.To them..this is not an emergency.This is all since the system changed for emergencies in MOD property....we live in crap housing 30 percent of the quarters round here are condemned, but if they still have people living in them then they do as little as possible untill they are posted to a different camp.

 

Down the road, 4 houses are being demolished because they have sunk!!

 

There is a couple across the road who have had no hot water for 2 weeks now.....they are not classed as an emergency as they have no children and have the means to heat water..a kettle!!

 

I have given the call centre all the info i have...i have begged and i have pleaded...but i keep getting told the same thing over and over again....they cant justify the expence!...ffs.....i am not a happy chapess..

 

I have left the heating on but turned off the water tank...i have turned off the freezer, fridge and everything else.all that is on at the mo is my pc, the telly, and 2 lights...everything else is unplugged.

[Scorpiorefugee]

My concern is that the sparks could fly again during the night so the intent was to isolate that circuit. All of you sockets should be in one or two rings. It is possible that the central heating is tapped into one of them. To be safe you should knock off anything that is not essential over night and to do that you need to identify what each trip does.

Lights should be 5/6A(White), leave on.

Immersion heater, if separate, 15,16 or 20 A. If separate leave on.

Fridge/freezer probably on your power (sockets) ring on 30 or 32 A (Red) Best off, but use while you are awake. don't use any high current (heaters) devices.

Elecric cooker on 45A - Leave on.

I don't really think that there is too much risk but, without seeing it I can only recommend playing safe.

 

Make sure your smoke detectors have batteries!

 

I think the most probable cause is a loose connection that gave up. Have you been using any high power devices?

 

Good luck,

 

Ron.

[mumof4]

I have turned off all the upstairs sockets via the trip switch.

 

Havent used any high power devices

 

Smoke detectors run on batteries and not mains.

 

cooker i always switch off at the wall..

 

 

thanks for all the advice peeps..greatly appreciated..

[fosterman]

Hi Maz,

 

Just caught this thread about your power.

 

Sorry to hear you have problem.

 

Suggest get back on phone, tell them you have young children, intermittent power, and suggest point out the dangers of errant electricity and the probability of a law suit for substandard maintenance.

 

Failing that call the Police and tell them it is an emergency 'cos no f**ker prepared to take respnsibility and you are concerned for the welfare of your children!!!!

 

Regards Graham.

[mumof4]

Ok...bods turned up half an hour ago and have been doing their thing..Yes have an RDC.

 

What has happened from what i understand, there was an overload in the system which caused a plug to go bang which took out the whole circuit..seemingly all the sockets need changing and all wiring replaced...just been told that they need authorisation to do the work as they were told to do the least amount of work possible as we move in a couple of months and the building will then be left empty.!..fookin marvelous.

 

Was asked what was plugged in at the time upstairs.....3 tellies, 2 playstations and a dvd player..the two tellies and playstations were in sep rooms on extension cables.one extension cable, the plug has black charring inside the plug.

 

Oh well......the fun begins now!!

 

Forgot to add..he said the wiring in this house antiquated and not adequate for the demands placed on it :P

[Grumpy]

Hope you get it sorted soon

[gregers]

as i said new consumer unit connected to crap wiring,so what your saying is there not going to do anything about it then,there probaly put in another(higher rated trip fuse)and tell you to run extension cables up the stairs :P doesnt the m.o.d have to ensure that the houses you live in are of adquate condition?.

[Scorpiorefugee]

Reading between the lines, it seems likely that your one extension lead caused the problem. I had assumed that there was nothing actually plugged in to the socket that exploded.

 

It now seems likely that the condition of your electrical installation is no worse or better than it has been for a good many years so relax and hope that the promised 2 months isn't a euphamism for 20 years.

 

Roll on Summer.

 

Ron.

[mumof4]

as i said new consumer unit connected to crap wiring,so what your saying is there not going to do anything about it then,there probaly put in another(higher rated trip fuse)and tell you to run extension cables up the stairs :lol: doesnt the m.o.d have to ensure that the houses you live in are of adquate condition?.

 

 

adequate condition......the money that is allocated to modernise the houses is usually taken away to fund other things..like the war in iraq....consequently we live with 1950s/70s kitchens, bathrooms with no showers and if you want to put one in you have to ask permission and take it down when you leave...if you repaint the interior then you have to repaint it back to the charming shade of magnolia..where they charge you for repairs if you damage anything....yes..they are supposed to provide accomadation..but not necessarily adequate.....most of the mod property is in such a state of disrepair they are becoming condemned whilst people are living in them!..but they wont move you out as to do so means they have to compensate you.if you demand to move out..then you get nothing as they class it as that you have asked to move.

 

the budget to repair the houses is as minamal as can be..

 

ok so we pay nominal rate in rent..but that will be increasing to be in line with what you pay in civvy street..but we still get nothing back....a normal repair top a quarter..lets say.......a blocked drain..they have a timescale of 3 months to send someone out to fix it...an emergency...is 6 hours....immediate..48 hours......it took 3 weeks before someone was sent out to remove the wasps nest that was outside our front door in the summer.!

 

living in forces accomadation is so much different to living in civvy street....but the standard of housing has dropped rapidly in the past couple of yrs.

 

 

um....step off soap box me thinks....sorry!!

 

anyway...will find out tomoz what they plan to do..

[Scorpiorefugee]

Perhaps they will offer you all a place in the new MOD office, complete with chairs at

[gregers]

dont be silly have you seen what her kids have done to the gal?