I got a call for an emergency job today where the customer had been hearing pops and bangs, thought it was the heating valves on the boiler so had a plumber change them. The noise still went on and whilst waiting for me he discovered a hole blown in the floor behind the cylinder. Couldn't get in to see much but noticed a hole and a sooty mark on a pipe half a meter away.
The customer knew a cable was buried theer and showed me pics of the builder with cables pined all over the wall to get them behind his new render. Anyhow, i chipped away at the wall and found this
Not the best pics, had trouble getting a good view. I have found blown cables before but never like this. Almost 1.5 meters of cable was melted & charred. As it was exposed the smell of arcing was very strong & even the brickwork was charred. The popping noises had been going on for a couple of weeks. I recon a cable was pinched when the wall was rendered and the damp had taken about 5 years to penetrate. It was a ring circuit so all the sockets were still working, but again, never seen this much damage.
The customer knew a cable was buried theer and showed me pics of the builder with cables pined all over the wall to get them behind his new render. Anyhow, i chipped away at the wall and found this
Not the best pics, had trouble getting a good view. I have found blown cables before but never like this. Almost 1.5 meters of cable was melted & charred. As it was exposed the smell of arcing was very strong & even the brickwork was charred. The popping noises had been going on for a couple of weeks. I recon a cable was pinched when the wall was rendered and the damp had taken about 5 years to penetrate. It was a ring circuit so all the sockets were still working, but again, never seen this much damage.
