Electrical Fault Find & Pre Rewire - Croydon

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Fault finding which led to the discovery of substandard electrical work & dangerous cotton cables!

The Problem

We had a call out to a home in Croydon, Inner west Sydney. The issue was a light not turning off... usually the other way around right?

What had happened? The old cotton cables insulation had broken down (Pic above), inside the wall, shorting the cables out arcing and smoking, thus, acting as a switch.

How did the owners notice this?... Obviously, the light would not turn off but the sizzling and smell of burning were also a give away from the switch.

Had they not been at home this was a fire waiting to happen!

We jumped up into the attic to find some extremely substandard electrical work, open junction boxes with exposed cables, earth cables not even attached, cables in connectors with no protection of junction box... the list goes on!

PLEASE If you have any trades jumping into your attic or loft for any other maintenance works like pest control, air conditioning, solar, ventilation, insulating etc, TURN OFF THE POWER at the main switchboard!! There have been too many electrocutions of late, and close to home!

If you know you've got this dated style of cable in your home, unlike modern cable, these have a used by date and you may need an electrical rewire. The inner west is littered with old homes like this, it's a ticking time bomb, don't risk it. Let us assess it for you.

Attic

Live, exposed, melted cables in the crawl space. All it needs is a hand on that cable and it's good night!!

When the pipe is removed from the cotton cables, you can see them starting to break down, they start to weep out a solder like liquid which hardens on the cables.

What a mess!!

Old cables mixed with new, some earth's connect, some not! Super dangerous. Exposed cotton and vir cables, next to the man hole. where. an apprentice of someone that was inexperienced could place a hand!!

Switchboard - not one safety switch (RCD) ?

Not only is the wiring substandard the switchboard is also a mess. Not one safety switch to prevent electric shock or electrocution.

Conclusion: We have passed on all our findings, done a digital report, issued a quotation to rectify the electrical install with a rewire - the client is going ahead with the rewire.

It's not worth running the risk if your home has not had the electrics seen to in years. Like your car, you home need to be maintained too. Stay Safe!

SEE THE REWIRE HERE IN PART 2

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