blown fuse (or not?) don't really know, need advice please

[theotherfossilsister]

Aaaagh, all power in the kitchen is off. No fuse obviously gone (old fashioned fuse box rather than switches like we're used to.)

Think it's been off from last night. Freezer defrosting.

More urgently though, we have biologics in there (an RA medicine which needs to be kept cold.)

Partner just taking photo of fuse box now to send to brother, but I don't know what to do and am panicking. Not sure brother will be much help. It kind of looks like dominoes.

Could you put the medicine in a neighbour’s fridge? Don’t open the freezer at all. Put a picture on here and someone will help, I’m sure.

Thank you, just tried to attach a photo with my phone, but not sure it worked?

Going to take them over to some friends who live locally. Still worried about fridge/freezer. Partner wants to carry the whole damn thing (which is ridiculously heavy) through to the part of the house with power. I maintain this is a terrible idea.

Does this work? Going to take medicine to local friend now. A little less stressed now she's answered.

Sorry I have no idea, I wonder if @PigletJohn can help (hopefully I got the name right). Really hope you manage to sort it OP.

Do you have an extension lead? Can you get one locally?

That solves the freezer problem temporarily.

Have you actually taken each fuse out and checked them?

Do you have an extension cable?

Looks like the old type of fuse .
Find the 30amp ones . Pull out and check that the wire that goes across hasn’t broken .

You need to take each fuse out and see if the wire is still there. If the fuse wire is broken the the fuse has blown. You must replace the fuse wire with the same type of fuse wire (same ampage or it could be dangerous)

Turn the electricity off before fiddling with the fuse box

www.cashfloat.co.uk/blog/money-borrowing/blown-fuse-solutions/

Extension table seems like a good plan, have taken out the fuse, and it looks burnt and really old

I think I've identified fuse.

Thank you all, I am not that hndy so a bit scared to do it myself.

You would need to replace the wire with new fuse wire. It’s not difficult (I did it as a teenager before our family home was rewired). I would watch some You tube videos so you can see how it is done.

However, you should get the old fuse box replaced as soon as you can.

Do you have any idea what blew the fuse in the first place? There is a chance you will replace the wire and something will cause it to blow again.

Thanks all, we actually got a similar fuse free from the nice man in the hardware shop. No idea what caused it to blow, although kettle was on.

How expensive to replace a fuse box? Is an old one like that dangerous? Thanks

Get an extension lead!

Looking online it's usually between £250 and £550 for a fuse box replacement.

And there's a good reason fuse boxes have been upgraded over the years. It may not be dangerous exactly but it's certainly not the safest type.

If putting the kettle on caused it to blow then make sure kettle is moved to a different socket. Is is possible a leak from upstairs has dripped into the socket the kettle was plugged into?

We had a faulty toaster that tripped the fuse. So as a PP suggests move the kettle to a different socket. If nothing trips then it could be the socket. If the fuse blows again it might be the kettle.

The red-dot fuseholder is (should be) a 30Amp one.

if it blew, and it supplies your kitchen, it was most likely overloaded.

It cannot safely supply more than two of the following during their heating stage:

• washing machine
• tumbledrier
• dishwasher
• kettle
• toaster
• george formby grill
• fan heater

An electric cooker should not be plugged in to the socket circuit.

The washing machine and dishwasher have a heating stage lasting about ten minutes near the start. The dishwasher may have another at the start of hot rinse and hot dry.

The tumble drier and fan heater (not at this time of year) may be running continuously for an hour or more.

The other appliances may only be heating for a few minutes at a time, and, by luck, it's rare for several to be running together, so kettles and toasters rarely add up to enough to blow a fuse unless it is already overloaded.

When your consumer unit (fusebox) was installed, around 30 or 40 years ago, it's very unlikely the kitchen was expected to have a tumbledrier or a dishwasher, so sufficient capacity was not planned in.

modern practice is to have an additional circuit in kitchen or utility room for heavy-load appliances.

Do you remember which appliances were connected at the time the fuse blew?

oh, and an electric iron. The appliances most likely to have a damaged flex which caused a short-circuit have been electric irons, due to the constand bending and turning.

Other cables may be subject to gnawing by dogs and rodents.

p.s.

The man in the hardware shop will probably not accept payment, but offer to drop £5 in his charity tin, if he has one on the counter.

Thank you Piglet, it's actually still not working, but the idea of donating something sounds good, as he was so nice and gave it us for free. We literally just put on the kettle on it happened.

We are definitely getting replacement after this. Might ask man in hardware store if he knows any good electrician, as he seems to know what he's on about and is nice.

And don't forget that replacing a consumer unit is notable so you'll need the works certified. Make sure that all is correct before agreeing to having it replaced.
The certificate is not simply a piece of paper signed by the electrician, it is a legal document and the electrician needs to carry out several tests on the installation before they can issue a certificate.

The Electrician who carries out the installation should also issue the certificate. BEWARE some 'electricians' employ someone else to issue the certificate. This practice is NOT APPROVED and means your electrician is not Part P compliant.

A change of consumer unit is a serious undertaking and must meet all of the relevant Standards and Regulations,