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-   -   Electrics advice needed (https://britishexpats.com/forum/hungary-140/electrics-advice-needed-927779/)

JBinhungary Sep 8th 2019 11:10 pm

Electrics advice needed
 
Hi we have not had our electrics updated and now in about 3 months. 3 sockets in one area of the house have stopped working? All advice welcome.

tooboocoo Sep 9th 2019 6:14 am

Re: Electrics advice needed
 
Have you considered calling an electrician? Trying to solve an electrical problem using random strangers from the interweb is asking for trouble.

Jack_Russells4ever Sep 9th 2019 7:02 am

Re: Electrics advice needed
 
, I must say, you cannot diagnose a problem by talking to strangers on a forum. I will just say it could be anything from a bad connection in a circuit to rodents chewing on wires and a short somewhere. Are all your breakers on? are you certain? Did all 3 sockets fail at once? Compared to the UK Sparky's are relatively cheap....ever consider calling one? It could be a circuit breaker or loose connection somewhere... really difficult to ascertain without being there.

Peter_in_Hungary Sep 9th 2019 7:23 am

Re: Electrics advice needed
 

Originally Posted by Jack_Russells4ever (Post 12733593)
, I must say, you cannot diagnose a problem by talking to strangers on a forum. I will just say it could be anything from a bad connection in a circuit to rodents chewing on wires and a short somewhere. Are all your breakers on? are you certain? Did all 3 sockets fail at once? Compared to the UK Sparky's are relatively cheap....ever consider calling one? It could be a circuit breaker or loose connection somewhere... really difficult to ascertain without being there.

Wot Jack_Russells4ever said +1.

If you don't have knowledge and skills to be DIYing then get an electrician. Otherwise I would suspect a break in a wire, probably in a junction box or in a socket in the line immediately before the failing sockets.

The Hungarian system of wiring is not like the UK system that uses ring mains and separate circuits for power and lighting but uses a radial system with power and lighting combined on the same radial line. In addition depending upon the age of the wiring you may find aluminium wires rather than copper (mixing the two can cause problems) and earth wires that are coloured red and if you are like me who remembers the old UK system of red, black and green with a red live confusion can happen.

So first understand what you have and if you don't fully understand it then get an electrician and if you are not a competent electrician then get one.

JBinhungary Sep 9th 2019 9:13 am

Re: Electrics advice needed
 

Originally Posted by Peter_in_Hungary (Post 12733602)
Wot Jack_Russells4ever said +1.

If you don't have knowledge and skills to be DIYing then get an electrician. Otherwise I would suspect a break in a wire, probably in a junction box or in a socket in the line immediately before the failing sockets.

The Hungarian system of wiring is not like the UK system that uses ring mains and separate circuits for power and lighting but uses a radial system with power and lighting combined on the same radial line. In addition depending upon the age of the wiring you may find aluminium wires rather than copper (mixing the two can cause problems) and earth wires that are coloured red and if you are like me who remembers the old UK system of red, black and green with a red live confusion can happen.

So first understand what you have and if you don't fully understand it then get an electrician and if you are not a competent electrician then get one.


Peter thank you for your reply. . I was just trying get a feel for what may be wrong and yes we will get an electrician obviously to check it all out. I was in no way just intending to use odd random information as seems to be the suggestion on one post.

JBinhungary Sep 9th 2019 9:14 am

Re: Electrics advice needed
 
Was merely asking as am sure others must have had the similar experiences over the years.That is the joys of there forums tho, to share information.

wolfi Sep 9th 2019 11:55 pm

Re: Electrics advice needed
 
Especially the old houses where the walls are often humid have problems with short circuits etc. But it could be a problem with the wires too. When I renovated my house around 15 years ago I had everything electric replaced - the old wiring and the switches and contacts looked so horrible and amateurish!
A good electrician knows about this and hopefully will find a solution.
PS:
If you don't have a RCD yet I'd ask him to install it - it gives more safety. Also think about three phase for higher power if you don't have it yet.
Good luck!

heli2010 Sep 11th 2019 12:10 am

Re: Electrics advice needed
 
get yourself a plug in socket tester that should give an indication of which wires are compromised

Peter_in_Hungary Sep 11th 2019 6:24 pm

Re: Electrics advice needed
 

Originally Posted by wolfi (Post 12733759)
Especially the old houses where the walls are often humid have problems with short circuits etc. But it could be a problem with the wires too. When I renovated my house around 15 years ago I had everything electric replaced - the old wiring and the switches and contacts looked so horrible and amateurish!
A good electrician knows about this and hopefully will find a solution.
PS:
If you don't have a RCD yet I'd ask him to install it - it gives more safety. Also think about three phase for higher power if you don't have it yet.
Good luck!

Unless you are going to use industrial 3 phase kit IMO you would be better off with more amps on a single phase. You need to work out what you need and see what is available or possible with your local infrastructure.


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