What to check before you call an Electrician
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Great tips on what to check before you call an electrician for an electrical emergency. In most cases you will be able to diagnose the problem yourself without an electrician. So read on and learn on what to do, and in the process save yourself some time and money.
What to check before you call an electrician
You’ve sat down with your family all set to watch the latest episode of the sitcom you love (is it Two & a Half Men or Modern Family) and kaboom! your electricity goes out. Panic sets in as you realize you might miss out on the show, how will you ever know what happened?
Before you pick up the phone and call for an electrician to be there instantly, here’s a few things to check first. This will save you time, money and the embarrassment of having an electrician come all the way to your place and pressing a tiny button for resetting your fuse box. Let’s avoid him charging you for doing that simple task and leaving with your money.
The next time you discover seemingly extraordinary things happening to your electrical appliances, do not panic. More importantly, do not jump on the phone right away. Staying calm will significantly save you not just money but also from getting embarrassed after the electrician finds out that it was just the fuse box.
Checklist for Electrical Appliance Problems
Before you start panicking, try to answer the following questions first.
Is the electrical device plugged in properly?
Accidents, like tripping over the plugs and cords thereby pulling them out, can happen. A family member can also unplug or turn off your appliance, purposely or unintentionally. So when it stops working, check if it has been plugged in and turned on. Although obvious, a lot of people still take checking these things for granted.
Are you plugging it into an overloaded power-board?
If the appliance is plugged in correctly, your next option is to check if the multi-board found in the fuse box is overloaded. Take note that four-way adaptors contain switches. If they get too much load, they are automatically disabled. You can unplug appliances that you are not using and then look for that button in the multi-board and then try if your appliance is already working.
Is the safety switch or fuse box working well?
Now your electrical appliance still won’t work after plugging it in properly and checking for possible overloading. You can find a new area in the house to plug it in. For heavy appliances, you may opt to make use of an extension cord. If it works, then perhaps your safety switches have flicked off, or a fuse may have been blown. Look for the safety switch or fuse box and specifically locate the switch or fuse where your appliance was supposed to be plugged in.
If you turn the safety switch back on and it automatically switches off again when you turn the appliances on again then there is a high likelihood that it is faulty.
If you still have a fuse box, then it is best for your home and your safety to upgrade to a modern safety switch instead. This will help ensure the safety of yourself and your family, as well as making it a lot easier to just flick the switch back on after its been overloaded rather than repairing old fuses.
Does your power socket show signs of melting?
If none of your fuses are blown, the socket itself may be the cause of the problem. Burn marks in the socket can indicate malfunctioning and faulty wiring. When this happens, it is strongly recommended that you turn the fuse off to that area. This situation spells out danger, thus a skilled electrician will need to take over the soonest possible time.
In the event that you have tried all means but have not found any solution, you can check your appliance. You can plug another device to the same socket and if it works, then your appliance may be encountering problems. Depending on the type of your appliance, you can find repair tutorials online. If you can fix it, then the services of the electrician may not be necessary.
Remember not to panic, take out your checklist and if things go beyond your comfort level, you can always call electricians to help you out or (of course) post your electrician job request with Service Central and we'll have a qualified local electrician out to you straight away.
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