Fault finding
Fault finding on the Wirral
Tripping circuits, dead sockets and the intermittent ones. On an old installation, finding the fault is most of the work.
- We look before we price
- In writing, itemised
- We say what is not ours
Fault finding
Why fault finding is priced by time
Almost every other electrical job can be quoted because you know what you are going to do. Fault finding cannot, because the whole point is that nobody knows yet what is wrong. A fault that is obvious in ten minutes and a fault that takes half a day to corner can look identical when you describe them on the phone, and they are different pieces of work.
What makes it quick or slow is the installation. In a house with a clear circuit layout and a labelled board, a fault can usually be narrowed down fast by splitting the installation and testing. In a house that has been added to by several people over forty years, with circuits that go somewhere nobody expects, the first job is working out how it is wired at all.
Intermittent faults are their own category and worth being honest about. A fault that only appears when it rains, or when the washing machine is on, or at night, is harder because it may not be present when somebody is standing there. Those sometimes need more than one visit, and anybody who promises to fix an intermittent fault in a fixed hour has not met one. Often asked about alongside smoke and heat alarms, electric showers and extractor fans.
Describe the fault
Which is why it is time rather than a fixed price, and why an honest quote says so.
A clear circuit layout can be split and tested quickly. An undocumented one has to be understood first.
A fault that only appears in the rain may not be there when somebody visits, and that can mean a second trip.
Done across Birkenhead, Wallasey, West Kirby, and everywhere else on the peninsula.
Fault finding on the Wirral
What this job looks like
The slots below are placeholders. The pictures elsewhere on this site are example images of the kind of work described and they are not photographs of our own jobs. Nothing here is borrowed from anybody else's. Our own photographs go in as jobs are finished and customers are happy for us to use them.
Why people use us
What we will tell you
What has been found, what caused it, and whether what is around it needs attention too.
- Time based rather than a fixed price pretending to be certain
- The cause explained, not just the symptom cured
- Anything else found while looking reported rather than quietly left
- An honest view when a fault is a symptom of something larger
Frequently asked questions
Fault finding: the questions people ask
The ones that come up most. If yours is not here, ring and ask.
Why does my RCD keep tripping?
Usually because something on one of the circuits it protects is leaking current to earth: a failing appliance, water in an outside fitting, or a damaged cable. Finding which is the job, and it is done by splitting the installation and testing rather than by guessing at appliances.
Can you tell me the cost before you come?
Not honestly. The same description covers a ten minute fault and a half day one. What we can do is work to an agreed time and tell you what has been ruled out as we go, so you are never surprised.
My fault only happens sometimes. Is that harder?
Yes, materially. A fault that appears only in the rain or only when a particular appliance runs may not be present during a visit. It can mean more than one trip, and it is better to say that at the start.
Is a tripping circuit dangerous?
A device tripping is that device doing its job, so in one sense it is the system working. What it is telling you is that something is wrong and it should be found rather than reset repeatedly.
Done across Birkenhead, Wallasey, West Kirby, and everywhere else on the peninsula.
Describe what happens and when
What trips, how often, and whether anything makes it happen is genuinely useful before anybody arrives.
About Wirral Electrics
Wirral Electrics is not taking bookings yet. The pages here are finished and the information on them is accurate, and the brand will start taking work when the labour behind it is in place. What that means, and what this site deliberately does not claim.
Get in touch
Tell us what the job is and roughly how old the house is. A photograph of the consumer unit and of the inside of a socket front answers more than any description.
- Phone0151 453 8836
- Emailcontact@wirralelectrics.com
- WhatsAppSend us a photo of the job
- Based inWirral, Merseyside
- HoursMon to Fri 8 to 6, Sat 8 to 2, closed Sunday