What substance is my meter box made from? (this is more improtant than it sounds)

[LynetteScavo]

It's a 1950's house, and I guess it's the original meter, made of black stuff. Not the meter, but a bit near it, where the electicity comes into the house is melting. It stinks to high heaven, and I'm fed up of it. The electricity company are sending someone out - they will call with in the next seven days to arrange a time. They tell me it's not dangerous, but it smells pretty damn toxic to me.

I want to google to find out if I'm being slowly killed by melting plastic fumes, but don't don't know what it's made of, so it's difficult...

I thought it was Bakerlight, but aparently that doesn't melt, and this stuff is melting, and slowly dripping into a blobby shape.

?

Plastic?

Personally I would be more worried about why it was melting than the fumes.

agree with soupdragon, is there a fault with your wiring or something. I would be worried about a fire or similar if the box is getting so hot it is melting.
I would phone back and make it sound worse than it is to get them out sharpish!

No idea what it is made of, but surely if it is getting hot enough to melt and give off fumes, then there is a serious and immediate risk of a fire hazard. Call the electricity company back and ask for an emergency appointment.

it will be a thermosetting plastic: probably polypropylene, which isn't very toxic.

BUT ANY MELTING PLASTIC CAN POISON

i would insist on someone coming round and changing it.

bakelite can melt, but it needs to have a really high temperature.
the best way to test if it's bakelite is to wet it, as it will smell of soap.

oh, yeah, (x-posts cos it took so long to find the plastic!) it's an indication of electrical fault and most definitely fire hazard.

it is an emergency.

actually, i'm reading the post again: you say it's not the meter itself? is it part of the wiring casing, or is it somethign completely separate? because it could be bitumen, which melts at a much lower temperature.
it shouldn't be melting though, so make them come out to an electrical fault, rather than a melting part.

Most electrical "plastic" is bakelite. Does it smell fishy? Bakelite will smell like rotten fish when it starts to melt

also agree with soupy..........I would be panicking about the fact that it is melting when electricity is involved. if that were me (and I admit I have a tendency to over react), I would be dialling for the firemen thinking it was about to burst into flames.

ah, but ringing for the firemen anyway, sexy beasts that some of them are, needs no excuses in my book

I used to work for npower and if you told me the above I would get someone out to you the same day.

The meter men/women get their jobs scheduled but there is always time in the day for emergencies. It is usually an all day thing but the person doing it would be able to ring you in this day and age with mobile phones to tell you roughly when they are calling.

What may be delaying things is if you are no longer with your regional supplier, ie if you lived in Birmingham then MEB (Midlands Electricity Board) were taken over by npower and so all the meters in that area belong to them BUT you may have your bills from Scottish Power. That means Scottish Power have to pay someone from npower to visit the property and it is a bit more long winded that normal but they should still treat it as a very urgent case.

I would ring back and speak to a supervisor. Get them to come out asap, take the supervisor's name and a direct phone number if you can. That means someone has to take responsibility for your case.

I'm going to phone them again. I doesn't smell fishy, more like burning rubber.

I'm on hold to npower now.

Hope you aren't STILL on hold

Let us know what happened.

Well, I was told to turn all elctricity off immediately, and someone would be around soon.

First a bloke in a bright orange land rover razed up to have a look, andhe called for someone else to do the work.

It was a bit of a cold, dark evening, but the DC's found it quite exciting. It's interesting to see how 3 DC's will amuse themselves in the dark with no TV/computer.

It turned out to be melting tar in the pipe, or something. Anyway, all is well now.

I'm not too sure how to get rid of the stench without airing the house, and it's just too cold for that!

yeay, i win!
i said bitumen!

glad you've got it sorted

Glad it sorted, at least they whipped someone out to you, you clearly scared the pants off them

DC's in the dark? I would have one off adventuring with a torch and the other stuck to my side like glue, if I were to look at him his eyes would be wide with fear