Find the fault.
Fix the cause.
A breaker that keeps going, half the house dead, lights flickering. We test until we know what it actually is, rather than swapping parts and hoping.
No call-out fee. Answered any hour, and across London we are usually there inside the hour for an emergency.
Sound familiar?
What the symptom usually turns out to be. Not a diagnosis of your installation — that needs testing — but it will tell you whether you are worrying about the right thing.
A breaker that will not stay in
There is a fault on that circuit and the breaker is doing its job. Forcing it back removes the protection without touching the cause.
The RCD trips at random
Usually accumulated earth leakage across several appliances rather than one broken thing — which is why replacing the RCD rarely helps.
Half the house has no power
Typically one circuit or one side of the board, and often a single loose connection rather than anything dramatic.
Lights flickering or dimming
Commonly a loose connection somewhere on the lighting circuit. Worth tracing early, because loose connections heat up.
One socket has stopped working
Often a loose terminal in a neighbouring socket on the same ring, not in the dead one itself.
A burning smell near a socket or the board
Stop. Turn that circuit off at the board and leave it off, then ring us — this one is not a diagnosis job, it is an emergency.
None of these quite it? Describe what it is doing and we will tell you what it sounds like before anyone comes out.
Describe the fault07502 396654Why swapping parts rarely works
Fault finding is a process of elimination, not guesswork. The point is to isolate which circuit, which section and which accessory is at fault before anything is replaced.
Most intermittent faults come down to one of a handful of causes: a loose or corroded connection, water ingress, a damaged cable, a failing accessory, or accumulated earth leakage across several appliances that individually are fine.
That last one explains a lot of "random" RCD tripping. An RCD trips at around 30mA of imbalance. Several appliances each leaking a few milliamps can sit just under the threshold for months, then push over it when one more is plugged in or when damp weather raises the leakage. Nothing has actually broken, which is why swapping parts rarely helps.
Testing splits the installation down, measures insulation resistance section by section, and narrows the fault to a specific length of cable or accessory. It takes longer than guessing but it is the only way to fix the cause rather than the symptom.
Most faults, one visit
We carry the parts that go wrong most often. If yours turns out to need something unusual or specialist, the circuit is left safe and we come back with it.
Split it down, test it section by section, narrow it to the cable.
It takes longer than guessing. It is also the only way to fix the cause instead of the symptom.
What it costs
Fault finding is charged by the hour. Until it is traced, nobody can honestly say how long it will take — so we tell you what we have found as we go.
There is no call-out fee — no separate charge on top of the hourly rate just for turning up, and nothing to pay before we arrive. Nothing gets done without you hearing from us first.
Anyone quoting a fixed price to find a fault they have not seen is guessing at the number as well as the fault.
- Systematic circuit testing
- Fault traced and explained
- Charged by the hour, no call-out fee
Breaker keeps going and nobody can say why?
Describe what it is doing and we will tell you what it sounds like. No call-out fee, and the line is answered whatever the hour.
What people say
Had a breaker that kept tripping the sockets in the whole house over the weekend, called Sunday morning and was here within the hour! … Instead of staying and doing the work under emergency rate the electrician kindly fixed me a temporary solution for the night and said he will come the next day where it will be cheaper to fix the problem. Not a lot of trade people will do that! … Only fixed what needed to be fixed and didn’t try to sell me anything extra, honest and straight forward and punctual.
Kuresh A. — Tripping breaker, Sunday callout This is the third time I’ve used this gentleman. I would highly recommend him — each time he was here within the hour.
Charles T. — Repeat customer
4.9 from 179 reviews on Google.
See everything we doGet the fault traced properly.
NICEIC approved, fully insured, and charged by the hour with nothing decided without you.
Fault finding & repairs: common questions
The things people ask us on the phone about this one.
Not covered here? Ring 07502 396654 and ask.
Why does my RCD keep tripping?
An RCD trips on earth leakage, which most often means water where it should not be, a failing appliance, or damaged cable. Splitting the installation down and testing circuit by circuit is the only reliable way to narrow it to one, because several small leakages can add up to a trip on their own.
How long does fault finding take?
It depends entirely on the fault, and anybody who quotes you a fixed time before seeing it is guessing. Some faults show up in the first ten minutes of testing; an intermittent fault on a long buried circuit can take considerably longer.
Can you find a fault without pulling my house apart?
Almost always. Testing narrows a fault to a section of circuit before anything is opened up, which is the entire point of doing it properly rather than guessing and cutting.
Is it the wiring or an appliance?
That is usually the first thing testing settles. If the circuit is healthy with everything unplugged, the fault is in something you own rather than in the fixed wiring, which is much better news.