Electrical repairs and fault finding in London

Electrical faults rarely announce themselves clearly. A breaker trips at seven in the evening but not at nine. Half the upstairs lights go out but the sockets are fine. A circuit holds all week and then drops out the moment the washing machine spins.

Fault finding is the part of the job that takes patience: isolating circuits, testing them, and narrowing down the cause by elimination. Swapping parts and hoping is not the same thing, and it usually costs more in the end.

Faults we are called out to

• A breaker or RCD that trips, immediately or intermittently
• Sockets that are dead, on one wall or throughout a room
• Lights that flicker, dim, buzz, or fail as a group
• A circuit that trips only when a particular appliance is used
• Burning smells, scorch marks, or a socket that is warm to touch
• Loose or damaged sockets, switches and light fittings
• Old junction boxes and previous work that was never finished properly
• Faults that appear only in wet weather, often on outdoor circuits

Signs you may need fault finding rather than a replacement

If you have already changed the bulb, the fitting or the appliance and the problem has come back, the fault is in the installation rather than the thing plugged into it. The same is true if resetting the board works, but only for a while.

• The problem moves around, or comes and goes
• Resetting the consumer unit fixes it temporarily
• More than one fitting or socket is affected at once
• A brand-new replacement part has failed in the same way

How the work is approached

The affected circuit is isolated and tested, and the fault is traced back to a cause — a damaged cable, water ingress, a failed connection, an overloaded circuit or an appliance that is at fault rather than the wiring. You are then told what has been found and what the repair involves before it goes ahead.

Sometimes the honest answer is that the appliance is the problem and no electrical work is needed. You will be told that too.

Why this is not a job to attempt yourself

A tripping circuit is a protective device doing its job. Working around it — resetting it repeatedly, or replacing it with something that will not trip — removes the protection without removing the fault, and that is how a nuisance becomes a fire. Please do not open sockets, boards or fittings to investigate.

If a socket is hot, scorched or smells of burning, switch that circuit off at the consumer unit, stop using it, and call.

Repairs across London

Electrical repairs and fault finding are carried out for homeowners across London. If the fault has been going on for a while, note when it happens and what is running at the time — it genuinely shortens the search. You can send those details with your enquiry.