Electrical safety; computer and TV damage

[Tenantwithquestion]

Hello all.
Several issues have arisen in a property I rent. Moved into the property in mid-October last year. Flat has a managing agent in place who looks after all issues - have never met the landlord. Flat would be considered clean but with old fixtures and fittings throughout.

A few weeks after moving in our TV (owned by me) starting having problems...would flicker between off and on and ultimately wouldn't stay on in a watchable way. It was a Samsung which was top of the range for its screen size about 7 years ago (paid c.£1,500 for it). I put it down to age and replaced it with a new one.

Then, this past March, my iMac 27 inch shut down without warning while I was using it. This also happened to be around 7 years old. Also top of the range...paid about £3k for it originally. Never had any problem whatsoever with it, zero repairs. It switched off of its own accord a few more times in subsequent days until turning it on became impossible (no response from 'on' button but occasional high spinning fans). I have not explored getting it repaired due to lockdown and am now using an even older device for work. Research online suggests that iMacs of this vintage can have power supply issues. Anyway, I didn't really start connecting any dots until I was replacing light bulbs in the flat last week. About 6 or 7 have blown since I arrived including on a lamp which I bought into the property myself and which I can't now get any bulb to work in.

A month later, the electric oven gave up. Stopped working in the heat up phase. No light on or clock so clearly not getting power. A handyman eventually came and found a blown fuse in the plug...replaced it although now the fan setting on the oven no longer works.

Anyway, I asked the managing agent to consider getting an electrical survey. The survey came back with 2 x C1 items and 10 x C2 items needing attention (plus a raft of C3 items). My question is: could any of these items result in the damage to my personal equipment - it seems an incredible coincidence to lose so many things for them not to be related to electrical issues in the flat? Not sure how to upload extracts from the report but will try to do so now.

Lastly, is it unusual to have so many C1 and C2 items in a property? Are C1 items extremely dangerous? (have a 4 year old in the property so can't always control where he might put his fingers)

Thanks!

 

[Tenantwithquestion]

Can't seem to upload images so some extracts from report below:

C1...Open access to live terminations at front of DB2

C1...Non secured live connections at DB1 main switch

C2...3036 protective devices to 5 amp carrier 20 amp wire

C2...No provision of RCD to socket circuits less than 32amps

C2...No RCD to mobile equipment less than 32 amps ,liable to external use

Visiting electrician said he thought the sockets all tested fine.

 

[Murdoch]

Can't seem to upload images so some extracts from report below:

C1...Open access to live terminations at front of DB2

C1...Non secured live connections at DB1 main switch

C2...3036 protective devices to 5 amp carrier 20 amp wire

C2...No provision of RCD to socket circuits less than 32amps

C2...No RCD to mobile equipment less than 32 amps ,liable to external use

Visiting electrician said he thought the sockets all tested fine.

In bold - odd observation if its just a loose connection - quicker to tighten it up than write it on a report (in fact C1's should be addressed on the spot where ever possible)

The other C1 sounds like a blank is missing from the fuseboard cover - again, most of us carry these so why wasn't t fitted

C2 - 20A fusewire ? Maybe 15A - both wrong and again fixable on the spot.

How long was said electrician on site?

 

[Tenantwithquestion]

Hi. Electrician was on site for 1.5 hours. 3 bed flat over two levels. I imagine as the survey was done with a view to a future repair job to fix things, he didn't want to fix anything which might make the list of repairs shorter? Just a guess though.

 

[ProDave]

Chances are IF he secured the loose wire (I bloody well hope he did, I am sure most of us would) that will have fixed the issue causing your problems.

The rest of the C1's and 2;'s need fixing. That will probab ly result in one of the DB's being replaced.

 

[Tenantwithquestion]

Chances are IF he secured the loose wire (I bloody well hope he did, I am sure most of us would) that will have fixed the issue causing your problems.

The rest of the C1's and 2;'s need fixing. That will probab ly result in one of the DB's being replaced.

Thanks - have a further inspection this Friday by a contractor quoting to fix the works.

But does anyone think the electrical set up in the flat directly could or did cause the TV and Computer issues - if so, I don't think its unreasonable for the landlord to make good my loss on these?

Thanks.

 

[BorisJ]

Under the Consumer Rights Act these sort of items should last a reasonable time which in England has been stated as six years (5 in Scotland). So I would think it would be difficult to get compensation for something 7 years old, but I'm not a lawyer.

 

[Geoff1946]

I suspect there are too many "maybe"  factors which are probable but couldn't be proved.

A loose connection May have caused intermittent interruptions of power, which May have caused equipment damage which May not have happened otherwise.

Plus, did you not notice lights flickering, etc and take timely action to have the reason investigated?

You could perhaps approach your landlord for a goodwill contribution to your losses but I wouldn't raise your hopes much.

 

[ProDave]

Thanks - have a further inspection this Friday by a contractor quoting to fix the works.

Why is the person who did the inspection not quoting for the remedial work?

 

[Murdoch]

Why is the person who did the inspection not quoting for the remedial work?

I've come across this around here - the agent wanted 1 company to inspect and a separate company to quote remedials - a good idea IMHO as then the inspector can't really be thinking up ways to "create" work.

1.5 hours in a 2 floor flat seems a bit light to me. Wonder how many circuits there were in total?

 

[Tenantwithquestion]

Why is the person who did the inspection not quoting for the remedial work?

He already has quoted...second contractor visiting due to landlord request for another quote I imagine.

I suspect there are too many "maybe"  factors which are probable but couldn't be proved.

A loose connection May have caused intermittent interruptions of power, which May have caused equipment damage which May not have happened otherwise.

Plus, did you not notice lights flickering, etc and take timely action to have the reason investigated?

You could perhaps approach your landlord for a goodwill contribution to your losses but I wouldn't raise your hopes much.

Thanks. Suspected this might be the case - pretty fed up as have lost equipment which was in perfect working order and while residual value may not be very high, the replacement value certainly is.

 

[Evans Electric]

You will be able to post photo's  when you have 10 posts on the forum  by the way .    

Without any of us actually being there its a bit of guesswork .    

A loose connection on your main switch  would cause flickering of TV screen & lights .  

If your voltage is higher than the accepted levels , which can occur when you are near a sub-station say ,  you might then have lamps blowing  , even the TV failing .

Your  consumer unit has fuse wire which indicates  it must be ,  ..um ...30 yrs old ?   So no RCDs fitted .       

Most of us have noted there are cheap lamps  that don't last very long .   Generally  if you've heard of the make it probably a better product , Osram, Phillps , etc.  

Code 1  on reports means an immediate threat of danger to persons . 

 

[roys]

As well as what is mentioned above, I wonder if the average grid demand dropping due to Corona and season from 30 odd GW to 20 odd GW has pushed the grid Voltage up a little showing up any weak points in your installion, for example slack connections or failing power supplies on you electronic goods.

 

[Evans Electric]

, I wonder if the average grid demand dropping due to Corona and season from 30 odd GW to 20 odd GW has pushed the grid Voltage up a little showing up any weak points in your installion, for example slack connections or failing power supplies on you electronic goods.

Thats an interesting observation ,   factories shut , shopping centres closed etc 

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

As well as what is mentioned above, I wonder if the average grid demand dropping due to Corona and season from 30 odd GW to 20 odd GW has pushed the grid Voltage up a little showing up any weak points in your installion, for example slack connections or failing power supplies on you electronic goods.

Thats an interesting observation ,   factories shut , shopping centres closed etc 

Out of curiosity I have just plugged my meter into a random socket in out house...

Currently showing 250v....

which AFAIK is a tad higher than I generally see when doing my meter calibration testing..

Less industrial, commercial, office, retail  premises working at normal levels must have some impact on the supply voltage.  

:C

 

[Murdoch]

Thats an interesting observation ,   factories shut , shopping centres closed etc 

This made me look at gridwatch:

https://gridwatch.co.uk/Demand

Very interesting as I see that at the time of writing this 58% of production was from renewables AND we are exporting to France and the Netherlands - which is really rare.

My solar production has been high for weeks!