Looking for a Burning Smell Electrician?

Under the right conditions, our electrical system can fail spectacularly and cause a serious fire. Thankfully, most homes have a modern electrical system that can detect any electrical issue quickly and trip circuit breakers or other electrical equipment in time to save the day. 

The photographs in this article show situation that we have been called to where house fires were narrowly avoided because the homeowners took action in time. 

1) Serious Electrical Problems

One of the first signs of serious electrical problems is a sudden fishy smell. This is a strong smell of plastic or fish and can appear in odd places throughout the home. These phantom smells may not occur every day, they may only occur when certain electrical equipment is used for instance.

The electrical fire smell is plastic insulation melting, smouldering and burning behind the scenes. The bad smell should not be ignored as it is the sign that things are not right and danger is present.

The important thing to do if you have a BURNING SMELL IN LIVERPOOL is to pay attention and try to ascertain where it is coming from. If you smell this fishy type smell, then turn OFF the electrical supply immediately and call an emergency electrician. 

If you can see smoke or fire then call then call the fire brigade, if you can, shut off your electrical and gas supply but make sure you are safe and get out of the property. 

2) Old fuse boxes at risk

An old fuse box is more at risk. There are still a great deal of electrical installations in Liverpool with these old fuse boxes installed. We can see from the photograph below that this fuse box had caught fire. This old fuse box is beyond repair and will need to be replaced. 

The situation could have been avoided had any electrical inspections been carried out over the last 50 years but unfortunately, this had never been done. Loose connections, electrical overload and incorrectly sized electrical cables can all contribute to situations where an electrical burning smell occurs.

3) Smell in the Bathroom

One of the most common causes of a BURNING SMELL IN LIVERPOOL is the electric shower pull cord. Electrical Wiring needs to be correctly installed and terminated by a qualified electrician. Where wiring has been installed badly, not checked for many years, or poorly designed for the electrical circuit, there exists a real risk that the acrid smell will appear as things start to smoulder and burn. 

Electric showers are extremely powerful, they demand a very substantial electrical supply from the mains consumer unit. They are also commonly swapped out for more powerful units as winter conditions can mean that the water does not get as hot as we would like. 

Without checking the cable installation conditions, the circuit breaker sizing and the cable power supply capacity it is NOT SAFE to swap an electric shower for a more powerful one. The number one cause of electrical burning that WE SEE in Liverpool residential properties is the electric shower circuit. 

This could be the connections inside the switch failing, the consumer unit being unable to handle the load or the electrical wiring not being up to the job.

4) What else could the burning smell be?

In modern homes that have been recently rewired, we do not tend so see any potential hazards or any electrical emergency develop. With older homes and old wiring there is more of a risk that things are not quite up to the job of supplying a new homes power efficiently and safely. 

It is common to find electrical junctions buried under the floor of properties in older homes. Whilst electrical wiring and the regulations have changed over the years, burying junction boxes in the floor has never been a great idea. 

Older electrical junctions are of the screw terminal type. These junctions MUST BE accessible for inspection and testing purposes as well as maintenance. Without access to these junctions the connections can work loose and cause electrical burning. 

5) Warning Signs

There are often a number of warning signs to indicate that you may have faulty wiring. If you know the signs then you can be forewarned and forearmed. Take preventative measures to ensure that you do not need the fire department and protect your wiring installation and home from serious property damage.

Signs that your wiring may be old or problems may be developing are:

• Flickering Lights 
• Buzzing Sounds 
• Crackling Plug Socket 
• Switches Tripping with nothing plugged in 
• Fuse Blowing Regularly
• Brown Out or Intermittent Power Loss 

These warning signs are not exhaustive but they are certainly the most common for indicating that there are electrical issues present. If these issues are occurring on a regular basis or many of them are occurring then it is more likely that there are serious issues with the wiring installation. 

The first time that any of these happen, it’s a good idea to find a registered electrician to have an informal chat with. Leaving problems like this for a long time is likely going to lead to a serious problem. The best course of action in many cases is to ask an electrician to carry out a thorough check of the circuit board / consumer unit / electrical panel and the wiring system for you. 

6) Summary

Ignoring an electrical BURNING SMELL IN LIVERPOOL could be rather costly in the long run.

Electrical work is more expensive when problems are left, having the installation checked on a regular basis will ensure that things are working as they should be, issues like a loose connection are less likely to occur and the need for a very large fire extinguisher could be avoided. 😊

A proper electrical check by a trusted and thorough electrician will leave you with a lengthy and in-depth electrical report. This will allow you to make an informed decision about making electrical repairs.

If you are experiencing a burning smell in Liverpool, contact us here at Electrical Faults Fixed. Our experienced and fully qualified electricians will be happy to help.