Funny smell from electrics in Liverpool?
If you notice a funny smell from your electrical system then please have an electrician come and investigate this for you as soon as possible. Any unusual smells that come from your electrical system are normally a warning that something serious is wrong and this requires immediate intervention.
During normal operation there should be no unusual smells from your electrical system and everything should operate as normal.
What can cause a fishy smell or burning?
Discolouration: One of the signs of problems in an electrical system is discolouration of electrical accessories or components. Once these items begin to change colour on the outside they are normally completely destroyed and dangerous on the inside. If there has been enough heat / smouldering / fire to cause the outside colour to change then its time to change the accessory. The picture shows a main switch from a consumer unit that was completely ruined. Lucky there wasn’t a fire.
Electric Showers: One of the most common electrical circuits in the home to develop problems is the electric shower circuit. This circuit demands high power from the electrical installation every single time it is used. As such, and minor issues on the circuit can quickly develop into bigger problems. It is not uncommon for us to find shower circuits that have:
- Burnt cables
- Burnt pull cord switches
- Ruined circuit breakers
- Damaged consumer unit / fuse board
- Burnt out connections
One way of avoiding these kinds of issues is to have your electrical works installed by a qualified electrician. Avoid the temptation to have a more powerful shower installed unless a qualified electrician has inspected the cable, the consumer unit and the installation conditions of the cable and said it is ok to do so. Have your installation checked at least every 10 years.
Old aluminium cabling: This type of wiring was very briefly used when there was a copper shortage. In particular solid aluminium wiring can be dangerous and an electrical inspection of the property in which the wiring is used is recommended. Aluminium is not suitable for termination into most electrical accessories and consumer units. It is a metal that is easily crushed and can fracture under stress and as such it will not hold sufficiently tight into circuit breakers, switches and sockets. We have seen a few installations where circuit breakers have caught fire due to loose aluminium connections. A rewire is normally recommended. Aluminium was used around the 1970s when there was a copper shortage and combined with the dangers of this wiring in most installations there is also the fact that the electrical installation is now around 50 years old!
The photograph shows come cabling that had been extended by a previous electrician. Unfortunately the connectors were unsuitable for aluminium cabling and did not hold correctly. This caused loose wires and small fire broke out. The homeowner only noticed an issue when the sockets went off. That’s right, you will only normally see any sign of a problem once there has already been a fire!
Cooker circuits: These types of circuits can also be susceptible to a fishy smell due to high powered cookers drawing lots of power and possible loose connections at cooker switches, sockets and terminals on the appliance. If you find that you have FISHY SMELL burning smell when you use the cooker then turn the circuit off at your consumer unit / fuse box and do not use it until you have the circuit checked out by a qualified electrician.
Overloading cables, circuits or extension leads: Electrical installations are carefully designed by suitably qualified electricians to be safe. Considerations are given to cable sizing, protective devices like circuit breakers, cable runs and installation conditions and many other factors. We follow the wiring regulations which is a near enough 600 page British Standard that lays out what is required in order to achieve safe, long lasting wiring installations.
We regularly come across work that has been carried out to a price rather than a standard. This is where things can go wrong…. ☹ We can find:
- Cables that are too small
- Poorly installed accessories and cabling
- Circuits poorly designed
- Dangerous junctions or situations
- Multiple breaches of the wiring regulations
When cables are overloaded, they will begin to overheat and can be the cause of that smell of burning plastic / chemical type smell. It may be hard to pinpoint at first and it is sensible to call an electrician to come and investigate this for you. We specialise in electrical fault finding and testing and as such, we tend to spot dangerous situations and problems quickly.
Make sure you are not overloading your sockets by checking out this link to a free calculator here.
Electric immersion element to water tank: These immersion elements are responsible for topping up the heat of the water in certain types of heating systems. In all electric systems there are often two elements. They are typically very high-powered heating elements that demand a lot of power over a relatively long space of time electrically speaking. When we consider an electric kettle, we all know they use a fair bit of power but only for 30 seconds or so. A Heating element for a water tank can use more power than a kettle for sometimes an hour or more.
This large amount of power can cause issues to occur if the electrical supply to the element is not spot on! We find certain issues with these types of element set ups that could be avoided with a couple of checks by your electrician:
- Incorrect cable size or type for the supply to the element
- Connections not correctly sited
- Incorrect or NO crimping used on flexible cable
- 13a fuse present which will cause problems
- Excessive copper on show leading to short circuit or cable damage
All these issues can lead to severe problems and electrical burning.
We have covered many different scenarios where a FISHY SMELL could occur from the electrics. There are many others but these are the most common. If you notice any strange odours in your home that cannot be explained and you think there may be an electrical problem then please call us. It is sometimes worth the cost of a visit to investigate or an electrical inspection in order to reassure you and to have some peace of mind.
Electrical systems do not last forever and even if there have ‘never been any problems’ it does not mean that everything is necessarily ok. If you have not had your electrical system checked in the last 10 years then it is recommended that you do so. Contact your local electrician in Liverpool & Warrington.
