safety hazard

Electrical Safety Tips

There are a great many things which can cause electrical faults in a household or business. It can often be difficult to spot when there is such a fault. However, keeping an eye out for the following tell-tale signs will help ensure that you keep ahead of the game and are not caught unawares.

Electrical Outlets which are Warm when you touch them:
When an electrical outlet is warm to the touch it is usually a sign that its workload is too high. This could be a case that it does not have the sufficient wiring (ie: the electrical devices’ wattage is higher than its related wiring can deal with) installed correctly or that said wiring has somehow come loose. Dimmer switches which are generally lukewarm to touch when they are in operation. Once they are not hot (as opposed to just warm) there should not be a problem in most cases. Dimmer switches which are generally lukewarm to touch when they are in operation. Once they are not hot (as opposed to just warm) there should not be a problem in most cases. If you need to investigate, always ensure that you have cut the power to them completely before proceeding. Moving your devices to another electrical outlet and checking to see if they work there is one way of establishing where the problem lies. If the device works properly (ie: without excess heat at the outlet) at its new location, then something was wrong with that particular electrical outlet. If the problem persists at multiple electrical outlets, it could be a case that the device itself is faulty or simply that all of your electrical outlets are not geared up to work with such a device properly. If you find that one or more of your electrical outlets is experiencing such problems then you should consult us.
Wires, Chords or Cables which have deteriorated:
Over time, it is inevitable that any form of wiring or cabling will suffer from wear and tear simply by virtue of being in use. Implementing a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach to wire maintenance is always a good idea. If any of your home’s wires appear even a little bit unkempt looking then you should not use them until the necessary maintenance / repair works have been carried out. Damaged sections of cabling should be snipped off. Loose plugs and male/female ends should be tightened while damaged ones should be replaced as should any wires which have sustained more than a little bit of damage. If you are unsure how best to fix such wiring then you should seek our help.
Flickering Lights:
While flickering lights can generate an interesting atmosphere in a disco scenario or a horror movie, generally speaking, you don’t want to have them at home. The most common causes of flickering lights are loose wiring or the light fixture itself being worn out.

Loose Plug Socket Mounting:
If the plastic frame which acts as the insertion point for your electrical devices’ plugs is loose and/or wobbly you should tighten it in order to make sure that will work properly and does not pose any safety concerns. Before doing so, make sure that you have cut off the power supply to the electrical outlet.
Refrigerator Causes Light Shocks:
One might think that it would go without saying that if an electrical device shocks (i.e. electrocutes) you then you should get rid of it immediately. However, an alarming amount of people seem to be resigned to simply ‘put up with’ being shocked by their fridge. In many cases, old fridges suffer from worn out insulation in relation to the internal wiring. This brings about the risk of electrocution which can be magnified to dangerous levels in situations where your refrigerator is located on a concrete floor (concrete conducts electricity). The effect is increase even further when the floor surface is wet or even damp, which can occur quite easily by means of leaking from an old or run down fridge. If your refrigerator is relatively new it should still be under warranty, so you can have it repaired or replaced with ease. However, if your fridge is quite old and its warranty has expired then you should seek to have repairs done immediately. If your fridge is particularly old you may even wish to consider replacing it with a new, more energy efficient model which will save you money in terms of your electricity bills. Fridges designed and built before the late 1990s, in particular, tend to be extremely draining when it comes to electricity use.
Do as your Trip Switch says:
An electrical trip switch (sometimes called a ‘circuit breaker’) is a precautionary device which is designed to prevent your electrical circuit board from overloading or short circuiting. In some cases, the trip switch is simply playing the ‘better safe than sorry’ game and can simply be reset once it is tripped. This can happen when too much electricity has been used at once.
However, a trip switch tripping should be heeded as a warning. It could well be a case that its tripping was caused by something far more serious. A severe and potentially dangerous electrical problem could be causing the switch to trip. If the trip switch is consistently tripping then you should not keep resetting it as this could serve to aggravate the problem and potentially cause a fire. In such cases, your best course of action is to call us and we will get a qualified electrician to look at it.

electrical

Check out our electrical page: electrical