Electric Cable Repair

1) Help, I have a damaged electrical cable!😨

If you have a damaged electrical cable and need an urgent ELECTRIC CABLE REPAIR then give us a call. Here is one of us laying on our front repairing a cable that has been damaged. 😊 

We can find and fix most issues very quickly. Other issues that involved lifting carpets, floorboards and tracing cabling may take a little longer, but hey, we don’t mind a we really enjoy our jobs. It doesn’t matter if you have drilled through something putting a shelf up, hammered through something hanging a picture or thrown something around in the loft and caused some kind of electrical problem. We are here to help.

2) I have wires that I am not sure are safe can you help?

This is a more common inquiry than you might think. The answer is YES.  We are able to come and investigate any issue for you. To avoid any unnecessary charges we will often ask you to send a couple of photographs first, this can SOMETIMES mean that we do not need to charge for attendance and are able to offer some advice or a quote for repairs. 

There are some situations that are dangerous and need rectifying and there are others that are probably fine. It is hard to put these into writing and it may be best explained with pictures. Let’s take a look at some examples.

In this photograph we have a few issues. Some of which can be seen and some of which are hidden:

• Cables hanging everywhere without being supported correctly.
• Single cable insulation visible outside the enclosure
• The hidden problem is that you can get your whole hand inside this consumer unit top and bottom as it was never installed correctly. This is a very dangerous problem and requires that the unit is replaced.

The next situation here shows a junction box in a loft that was installed poorly. There are a few issues with this:

• The cable was left dangling with no support for the box. 
• The junction box was not secured to anything.
• The red and black insulation around the copper was never stripped back properly to make a good connection.
• The terminal screws were just forced into it and had become loose.
• The earth was not sleeved.

This situation caused a boiler to work intermittently, and arcing was occurring on the line conductor here. This could have led to an electrical fire in the loft all because of either very poor or DIY installation work. 
In this case there was an ELECTRIC CABLE REPAIR required in order to put things right. 

This photograph shows a situation that we found after an emergency consumer unit swap. There was no earth on the lighting circuit and we had agreed to try and trace the issue. Whilst we were there we lifted the floorboards and found that somebody had nailed through the cables at some point! There were a few things wrong here as well….

• Cables were run in a notch of a joist rather than a hole that had been drilled. The reason for this drilling joists is so that we don’t nail cables through when left in a cut-out😊 
• Cables were entangled with piping under the floor.
• Cabling had poor junctions installed. 

These are situations that show wiring done badly. These are situations that should give cause for concern. If you have any issues similar to this, then definitely give us a call. If you are at all worried about any of your wiring then it may be a good idea to have an electrical inspection carried out by a qualified professional.

3) Can you carry out an electrical inspection for me?

Should we have to undertake and repairs or electrical work for you then there is a good chance that we will at least have to test the circuit which we are working on to ensure it is safe to re-energize. 

A full electrical inspection is a very good idea if you have not had one carried out in the last 10 years. A report is produced following an electrical inspection which is known as an EICR. There is a useful help sheet that we have written all about an EICR just here: 

https://www.electricalfaultsfixed.co.uk/helpsheet/eicr-what-expect

4) Why would I need a cable repair?

There are many situation in which we may need to repair electric cables in your home. 

• Rodent infestation
• Damage to wiring following a fire or a flood
• Damage to a single cable following a failed socket, switch or shower circuit.
• Damage following mechanical impact.
• There are no end of issues that can occur in the home and adversely affect the wiring systems. The severity of the damage will dictate the type of repair that has to be carried out. There are occasions where the damage is too severe to a wiring system and the most economically viable option is to rewire the property. 

5) Do I need a rewire?

There is only one way to tell if a rewire is needed to be honest.

Normally this is decided by an electrical inspection and the results that shows once complete. If the property has clear damage to a large portion of the wiring system following fire then the rest of the wiring system and its age need to be taken into account. There is no point patching an old wiring system up when it is nearly time for a replacement. 

In the case a rewire is needed then we will happily give you a quote for a thorough and professional rewire along with all the relevant certification needed following the work. 

6) What caused the problem in the main photograph?

There was an issue with a socket that had been installed. The socket had been installed without the use of rubber grommets combined with the sheath of the cable which had been cut too short leaving single insulation to press on to a metal box. It was only a matter of time before this caused issues. 

Sure enough, one evening there were popping and banging sounds as the cable was shorting out on the metal box. The result was that the cable was nearly blown to bits and the old fuse box did not turn off until there was a serious issue! 

We managed to salvage some of the cabling and make a joint under the floor to enable power to be restored to the socket and the circuit with safety. Our safety testing also showed issues on the circuit which needed further investigation!!

7) Electrician in Liverpool

If you need an electrician in Liverpool or Warrington then give us a call or use the contact form on our website. 😊