Electrician Emergency

1) When you have an Electrician Emergency in Warrington or surrounding areas then give us a call.

We are electrical emergency specialists and can fix various problems in your electrical system. The photograph shows a job that we attended for a customer where the cooker had stopped working. The customer had a very old fuse box that did not detect this problem happening and as such the connections burnt and burnt until they were completely ruined. This could easily have caused a house fire but thankfully didn’t. 

What did happen is that the appliance is now totally ruined and requires either replacement or fairly substantial repairs. 

2) Why didn’t the fuse box detect this?

The fuse box is very old and contains little technology that could have helped in this situation. Nothing tripped, no fuse wire blew, no circuit breaker operated… in fact… nothing happened at all! 

Modern fuse boxes / consumer units are designed differently and contain different components compared to the older style. The more modern unit is designed to protect against fire, arcing, electric shock, earth faults, moisture ingress, damaged cables and more. 

Older fuse boxes are not capable of detecting this situation as they rely on a piece of wire to save you, your cables and your electrical appliances. This may work reasonably well in a plug top but not in a consumer unit / fuse box and if your box is that old then we strongly recommend and electrical inspection and a fuse box upgrade. 

3) What did you do to make safe?

In this case all we could do was isolate the supply, cut the supply cable back to decent cable and install a junction box on the end of the cable to prevent access to live parts. The cable was then ready for the installation of the new cooker or repaired cooker. We made some recommendations to the client regarding the age of the electrical installation and safety upgrades that should be carried out. 

4) What types of electrical problems can you help with?

We can attend your home for a variety of electrical projects or electrical problems. Typical electrical problems that you might have may include:

• Power going on and off
• Lights flickering
• Fishy burning smell
• Trip switch problems
• Cracked or broken switches or sockets
• Lights that take a long time to come on
• Bare cables

There are many more potential problems that could mean you have an Electrician Emergency but we are able to tackle all of these for you and get you back up and running again quickly. 

5) How long does it take an emergency electrician to come out?

It can take up to a couple of hours but we are with you as quickly as possible. We will tell you what the ETA is at the time of booking so you can decide to book with us or someone else if you prefer or need somebody quicker. The time depends on what other jobs we currently have and the estimated time of finish for these jobs. But rest assured, emergencies are our absolutely priority and we will let you know when we will arrive. 

We can give you a tracking link so you can track our visit to you and see where abouts we are. This will give you some peace of mind as you know that we are on the way to you and will be there soon. 

6) My fuse box hasn’t tripped, what has happened?

This will normally involve a visit to find out what has happened. If your fuse box hasn’t tripped then it can mean a few different things. 

• A power cut
• Burnt out connections
• Failed switches
• Broken fuse box / consumer unit
• Loose wiring

The important thing is not to worry and not to attempt a repair yourself. We are professionals with the right tools, test equipment and knowledge and we will safely undertake any repairs for you once we have completed our investigations into what has happened. 

7) Is it dangerous if the power is flickering?

It depends on the nature of the problem. Normally power fluctuates like this when there are poor connections being made or a supply issue to the property. If you see lights flickering then it can mean that there are problems in the house or equally that there may be problems in the street. 

We always advise that if you have had a power cut, nothing has tripped, lights are flickering then you call 105 to see if there are any local issues on the electrical network first BEFORE calling an emergency electrician. This may set your mind at ease sooner and negate the need for an electrician to attend out of hours or in the middle of the night. 

If you are told that there are no problems in the street or on the network then it is imperative that you call an emergency electrician as soon as possible so that they can come and investigate. 

If you live between Leigh and Liverpool then we can help. We cover most WA and L postcodes including some WN too.

8) Is an old fuse board safe?

If an old fuse board is in good condition and has been checked by an electrician qualified to do so then it is safe as a car without seatbelts, airbag, modern brakes and crumple zones. These are all things that we expect our car to have and if it doesn’t then a crash could result in a serious injury or worse. 

It’s a similar situation with your old fuse board. Whilst it will still power your home, its ability to do so safely or in the event of a problem is seriously poor in comparison to the modern equipment available today. We have much better fire protection, electric shock protection and protection for cabling and equipment in your home that it is well worth considering an upgrade.