Loose Electrical Connections Are A Fire Hazard

Loose Electrical Connections Are A Fire Hazard

by | Jul 27, 2015 | Common Repairs, Dodgy Installations, Keep Your Family Safe

Loose Electrical Connections Get Hot, And This Could Be The Result.

Electrical connections can become loose for a variety of reasons.   A tightly made connection can become loose over time due to the tiny expansion and contraction that occurs as the cable warms up during use and cools down when not energised.  Perhaps the last tradesman to work on the installation didn’t do them up tight enough, or maybe the connecting parts have worn out and don’t make good contact anymore.

Occasionally we find connections that have never been tightened up at all.  The wire has been pushed into the terminal and the screw never tightened.   This can happen even in new homes and installations.  It’s a sign that the tradesman didn’t do a final check by pulling on each wire to make sure it’s solidly connected.

Sometime the connectors or terminals are faulty so even though the screw is done up tight it’s not actually clamping the cable enough.  Once again, a simple check by tugging on the wire will alert the tradesman to that type of fault.

Every electrical connection has the potential to get hot.  With increased heat comes increased electrical resistance, which in turns causes things to get even hotter.   Depending on the location of the connection this heat could potentially start a fire.

Common Locations

Common locations for loose electrical connections include switchboard connections of fuses and circuit breakers, connections to stove elements and hotplates and connections to power points.

The more load being drawn through the loose connection the more likely it is to fail.  For example a loose connection to a power point is more likely to be a problem if a heater is plugged in to the heater as compared to a phone charger or some other low wattage device.

Signs To Watch For

Signs that could indicate a loose electrical connection include flickering lights, intermittent power fluctuations, buzzing noises and burning smells.  If you do find any of these problems you should have an electrician check it out as soon as possible.

For fast attention to any signs of loose electrical connections,

phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711

Mance Electrical is your Launceston electrician offering same day service for urgent electrical repairs.

 

 

 

New LED Exit Lights Save Time And Money

New LED Exit Lights Save Time And Money

by | Jul 19, 2015 | Common Repairs, Keep Your Family Safe, Reduce Your Power Bill, Save Money

Traditional exit lights with fluorescent tubes require a lot of maintenance to ensure they will operate correctly in an emergency.

With the new range of LED exit lights now available it’s usually cheaper to replace a faulty older exit light than it is to repair it.

LED exit lights have many advantages over the older style lights.  They require much less maintenance, are cheaper to purchase, have more reliable batteries and chargers and use much less power.

Power consumption is an important consideration as many exit lights are required to run 24 hours a day.  There are big savings to be made on running costs alone.  The cost savings from lower maintenance requirements are on-going for the life of the fitting, which is considerably longer than for a fluorescent style exit light.

Each new lights come with a range of “running man” style graphics all in the one box.  There is no need to purchase a specific left or right arrow diffuser for each location.  The one fitting can be adapted to suit all situations.

If your commercial property has exit lights they are required to be checked every six months, with a log book on site to record the testing date and any repairs carried out.

For all exit and emergency light installation, testing, repair and replacement in Launceston and surrounding areas, phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711

Cook Top Dangers

Cook Top Dangers

by | Jul 8, 2015 | Keep Your Family Safe

Don’t Store Flammable Items On Your Stove Top

The simmerstats that control the temperature of the hot plates on your cook top can occasionally malfunction and turn on by themselves.

Even when they are turned to the off position it is possible for a faulty simmerstat to supply power to the hot plate causing it to heat up.

It’s not common but it does happen.  If you are in the habit of storing flammable items on the stove top you are taking a risk.  The risk may be small but the consequences are potentially disastrous.

At the very least you will have a nasty mess on the stove top, at worst a serious house fire.

The best practice is to never put anything on your cook top except for cooking pots and fry pans etc while they are being used.

Avoid placing plastic containers, paper or cardboard or any flammable materials anywhere on your stove top at any time.  Even if the hotplate controls are working correctly it’s very easy to turn on the wrong one by mistake and burn whatever has been placed on the hotplates.

A problem can also occur if you remove the knobs from the hotplate controls to allow for cleaning and don’t put them back on correctly.  If the knobs are put back the wrong way round the indicator markings will be in the wrong positions. Turning the knob to the off position will actually turn it on.

For help and advice with any cook top problems call your local electrician in Launceston, Mance Electrical on 6331 4711.

Common Lighting Faults

Common Lighting Faults

by | Jun 27, 2015 | Common Repairs, Keep Your Family Safe

There are many possible causes of lighting faults.

From a simple blown globe to various wiring and light fitting faults to rodent damage and weather conditions, some faults are minor, some can be quite serious.

If your lights are flickering, dimming, sparking or turning on and off by themselves, you should call an electrician as these can be signs of potentially serious electrical problems.

Here are a few tips and ideas to help you identify the problem you may be experiencing and what you can do about it.

Don’t forget to check your power points as well.  This article describes lighting faults only.  If you have no power at all click here to see our information on power faults

Which Lights Are Out

First you should identify the extent of the problem.  How many lights are out?  Is it just one fitting, is it just part of the house, or are there no lights working anywhere at all?

Most homes have only one lighting circuit.  This means all the lights in the house are protected by one fuse or circuit breaker.  A problem with just one light fitting can blow the fuse or trip the circuit breaker and put all the lights out.

Lamps

If only one light is out, the first thing to check is the lamps.

Even for a seemingly simple job like changing a lamp, it’s a good idea to turn off the power to the lighting circuit by switching off the circuit breaker.

These days many lighting problems can be traced back to poor quality lamps.  If you put a new lamp in your light fitting and it blows immediately when you turn the light on it could be a problem with the wiring or the light fitting.

If you put a new lamp in and it only lasts a couple of days or a couple of weeks, then it’s more likely a problem with the poor quality of the lamps.  Even brand new lamps can be faulty.

See our article “Why do my light globes blow all the time” for more information.

You can always test a light fitting by removing a lamp from a fitting you know is working and installing it in the non working light.

If the light still doesn’t work it must be a problem with the light fitting itself.  In this case you will need to call an electrician.

A seemingly simple job like changing a light bulb can actually be quite dangerous under certain circumstances.

Most lights are high off the ground so you could be setting yourself up for a fall if you don’t have the correct equipment to access them.

In older houses a lot of lights are not earthed and so could be an electric shock hazard to anyone who touches them, when a fault occurs.

Reset The Circuit Breaker

If all your lights are out and you can’t identify an obviously faulty fitting, turn off all lights in the house and then try resetting the circuit breaker or reloading the fuse.

(Under these circumstances, circuit breakers are a great advantage over fuses because they are so easy to reset while carrying out the testing, compared to reloading a blown fuse each time.)

If the circuit breaker stays on after you reset it, go around the house turning on all the lights one by one.  If there is a faulty light fitting the circuit breaker will probably trip when you switch the faulty light on.

If this happens then you will need to call an electrician.  Make a note of which light is causing the problem and put a piece of tape over the switch to prevent it being turned on again.

Lighting problems can be time consuming to locate because all the lights are usually on one circuit.  Passing on useful and accurate information to your electrician will make their job quicker and easier and therefore cheaper for you.

Water Damage

Water in an outside light fitting is a common source of problems, especially if you have an earth-leakage circuit breaker (safety switch) protecting the circuit.  In this case turning the light off may not solve the problem as the safety switch can still detect a fault and turn itself off.

Heat Damage

Lamps with a screw-in type base can sometimes get stuck in the threaded lamp holder and when trying to screw them out you can actually be spinning the whole lamp holder and twisting the wires around behind it.

This is a dangerous situation as the wires can break or have the insulation damaged which could result in a short circuit, or even an electric shock for the person trying to change the lamp.

The fittings that are more susceptible to this problem are surface mounted spot lights which take an incandescent reflector lamp.  The lamps produce a lot of heat and can weld themselves into the lamp holder over time.

Sensor Lights

Sensor lights can fail due to moisture problems or be affected by a power spike.  This may cause them to not work at all or to stay on all the time.  A damaged sensor light cannot be repaired.  It will have to be replaced.

Rodent Damage

Rodent damaged wiring can be a serious problem in your roof space and may cause noticeable problems with your lights.  Click here for more information.

Old Wiring

Old rubber cable with crumbling insulation could also cause similar problems.  Click here for more information.

Other electrical items that may be connected to the lighting circuit include exhaust fans and sweep fans, bathroom Tastics and air-transfer fans.  If you can’t find a fault with your lights it may be a fan causing the problem.  Smoke detectors are also connected to your lighting circuit but do not generally cause a problem with lights tripping.

If you can’t locate and remedy the problem yourself, call an electrician as soon as possible.  Don’t attempt any electrical repairs yourself.

You don’t need to go to the expense of an after hours callout if your power points are still working.  You can get light from any lamp that can plug into a power point and that may be enough to get you by until an electrician can attend.

Be very careful with candles as they do present a higher risk of fire.  LED torches and lamps are reasonably cheap to buy and don’t use a lot of battery power so you should have a couple handy in case of power faults anyway.

Whatever you lighting fault, Mance Electrical can provide free advice and prompt service in Launceston and surrounding areas.  Call us today on 6331 4711.

Broken Power Point Is Electric Shock Hazard

Broken Power Point Is Electric Shock Hazard

by | Feb 9, 2015 | Common Repairs, Keep Your Family Safe

One of our clients had this dangerous power point in their garage.

The switch mechanism was knocked with a piece of steel pipe and had fallen out, exposing live parts.

Anyone touching the power point could have received an electric shock.

We have seen power points where the switch mechanism has cracked down the middle and half fallen out.   We have seen switches where the switch rocker has been pushed back inside the switch, or popped out completely.

Sometimes it is caused by physical damage, sometimes the parts are just worn out.

Broken switches can be especially dangerous because you are often entering a dark room, feeling around for the switch and not able to see what you are about to touch.

In this case the home’s switchboard had an earth-leakage circuit breaker (safety switch)  fitted which should cut the power in less than 30 milliseconds if someone had accidentally touched the contacts inside.

Safety switches are great and have saved many people from injury and death, but just like any electrical or mechanical device, they do have a failure rate.

You should not be relying on a safety switch to protect you from dodgy electrical equipment.  If your switch or power point is damaged, you should get it replaced immediately.

While waiting for your electrician to attend you can cut power to the damaged item by pulling out the appropriate fuse or turning off the appropriate circuit breaker.

If you’d like your damaged power point or switch fixed in a hurry call Mance Electrical on 6331 4711.  We have staff available every day for small repair jobs like this.

It may be a small job, but ignoring it could have serious consequences.

 

Sparking Light Switch?

Sparking Light Switch?

by | Jan 6, 2015 | Common Repairs, Keep Your Family Safe

Sometimes when you turn a light switch on or off you may hear a crackling, arcing sound and even see a small blue flash of light.

Is this a problem?  Could it be dangerous?

The spark is caused by an arc across the contacts as the switch is operated and could have a couple of different causes.

The contacts in the switch could just be worn out from repeated use.  In this case the switch should be replaced.

Another cause of a sparking light switch is excessive load, with the switch operating too many lights.  Normal light switch mechanisms are rated at 10 amps which is more than enough, even for a larger home.

Excessive load is more of a problem in commercial situations, particularly with large numbers of fluorescent lights.  Higher capacity switch mechanisms are available for these applications.

You may see and hear a spark from your light switch if you move the mechanism too slowly.  By operating the switch slowly you can hold the internal contacts just the right distance apart to cause an arc.  Be firm and direct when operating a switch, don’t hold it in a half way position.

When in doubt, the best idea is to get the switch checked, and replaced if necessary.

If you have a dodgy switch that you are worried about, just give us a call during business hours and we’ll be happy to help you resolve the problem.

Phone Mance Electrical on 6331 4711.

 

 

 

 

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