1) Why would house sockets stop working?🤔
There are lots of reasons why your house sockets may stop working and the problem could be very simple or a little more complex. Our home wiring is a technical and complex system and has, in most cases, been designed by a professional to work safely under all operating conditions. When something goes wrong, it can cause worry and stress but, we are here to help.
We will look at the common reasons that house sockets might stop working and the steps that may be necessary for you or, in most cases, a professional to put the problem right. Common reasons why house sockets may stop working:
Back to top2) Faulty appliance plugged in
Just because the house sockets have stopped working does not mean that some terrible disaster has necessarily struck. The cause of the power loss could be something as simple as an appliance that has gone bad and caused the circuit to temporarily fail. The first step to finding the solution is to check the fuse box / consumer unit to see if a circuit breaker / switch has tripped or, if your box is older, to see if a fuse wire has blown. On occasion, a trip switch can trip or a fuse can blow through using too many appliances at once so see if this can easily be reset. If not then go and unplug all the appliances from the wall sockets and try again.
If the switch will not reset after this then it is time to call an emergency electrician to come and investigate the problem for you.
Back to top3) Bad wiring
We take for granted the electrical system in our home. What do I mean by that? Well, we can visibly see other things deteriorating like the kitchen, bathrooms and soft furnishings and will willingly replace these when they become tired or look worn. The electrical system in our home rarely gets a second thought and we will use this system until its absolute destruction, often without the intervention of a professional nor any maintenance or inspection. Wiring deteriorates as it ages along with electrical sockets, switches, and fuse boxes. Electrical systems do not last forever and regular professional inspection is vital to ensure the continued operation of this system and to be warned of any impending failure. Modern consumer units will pick up on many (not all) defects in wiring and will begin to trip when a problem is detected.
Back to top4) Bad socket
A bad socket can cause a whole circuit to fail. If the issue with the socket is severe enough to blow a fuse or trip a circuit breaker switch then the all the sockets (or even the whole house) will have no power. The number of electrical circuits affected (lights, cooker, sockets) will depend on the age and style of your consumer unit.
Electrical sockets do eventually fail and will require replacing, as they begin to fail, they may intermittently cause problems that trip switches and make circuits fail temporarily. Loose connections and failing internal components can cause melting, overheating, and wiring problems within the socket itself and at the rear where the terminals are located.
Wiring entering the ‘back box’ (box at the rear of the socket that holds it in place) can often grind against the metal and cause an electrical short circuit problem. Most good electrical installation professionals now use rubber grommets to prevent this happening but in some installations these grommets are lacking and we can see problems begin to occur.
Back to top5) Faulty circuit breaker
Circuit breakers do occasionally go bad. The switches in your electrical box / consumer unit will eventually fail especially if they have tripped many times and been reset. The internal ‘guts’ of these switches is put under enormous strain when there is an electrical fault. In order to ‘break’ the circuit and turn the power off, they will have to deal with and dispose of a very large electrical fault current in most cases and as such this can take its toll on them. Picture a car airbag that continually explodes, it will just pop at some point. 😊
Circuit breakers can start to go bad if they are continually overloaded as well. When an electrical circuit is poorly designed or has been added to over the years, it can put the circuit breaker under strain and cause it to fail prematurely. Sometimes the signs are obvious and sometimes not. If a circuit breaker is buzzing, crackling or looks discoloured then it should be given immediate attention by a professional to see what the problem is.
Back to top6) Consumer unit problem
The consumer unit is the brains of the electrical system in our homes. This unit and its components are responsible for such things as, fire prevention, arcing and sparking prevention, electric shock prevention, disconnecting circuits in the event of electrical faults and protecting cables from overload. The consumer unit also split up the incoming power into different electrical circuits and distributes it around the home.
When there is a problem with this box it can affect the whole electrical system. Switches can fail and require replacing, wiring can become damaged inside or other components can begin to fail. When an issue occurs with these boxes and their components, it is a job for an electrician with specialist knowledge and training. These boxes are dangerous and require special tools and experience to work safely within them.
6.1) Question?
📧 Contact us
Back to top
