Wiring problems: what to do and how to fix them?

The article discusses the most common causes of problems in the wiring, and talks about how to deal with them yourself.

Why suddenly the lights go out in the apartment and the appliances stop working? There may be several reasons for this. Contact is broken at the junction, mechanical damage to the wires while drilling the walls to install any fasteners, short circuit or wire break in the wall.

Problems in the storey electrical switchboard on the landing

The machine on the landing is the first device that protects the common network from the wiring in the apartment. If the machine’s flag is in the “on” position, and there is no voltage at its output contacts (checked by a tester or indicator), then the reasons may include the following: short circuit, damaged machine, current leakage through RCD, a problem with wiring.

For all of the above malfunctions, an electrician is needed. On your own, you can eliminate network problems that occur after the opening machine.

Half of all accidents are due to electrical wiring disturbances (disappearance or poor contact at the junction). The smell of burning wiring, dark spots on switches, sockets or lighting fixtures are the result of sparking, short circuit or heating in bad contact area.

Overload or short circuit in the outlet group

If the machine knocks, you should determine which network it serves. The operation of the input circuit breaker indicates overcurrent. Knocking out an automaton of a group of sockets or a lighting group indicates a breakdown of the elements in the corresponding group.

Turning off all appliances and extension cords from outlets most often helps in solving the problem with the automatic machine of the outlet group. In the event of a short circuit, you can hear a pop and determine the location of the breakdown by this sound.

Lighting problems

In the lighting group, if the machine operates with de-energized circuit breakers, then the reason is either a faulty circuit breaker or in junction boxes.

If the machine operates after turning on the light in a room, the lamp, switch or junction box is to blame. You can check the last option after opening the junction box. Touching each other's bare wires will cause the problem.

For details on what to do if the machine operates in the electrical panel, seehere.

Mechanical damage to wires

If the circuit breaker works, and there is no current in the apartment’s network, then the wiring is broken. The reason for this may be damage to the wires during drilling, chiselling or other mechanical stresses on the places of laying the wiring.

The lighting group of wires is most often laid in screeds of cement-sand mortar. From the shield in the corridor, the supply wire passes through the screed in the floor of the upper apartment and, reaching the corridor, enters the first junction box through the hole.

From the box at the entrance to the apartment, the electric wire rises again and goes along the screed in the floor of the upper floor to the chandelier and the second junction box above the bath and toilet switch. Wiring goes to rooms in a similar way. During repairs on the top floor, workers, removing the screed, can ruin the wiring in the apartment from below.

Examples of finding the cause and troubleshooting in apartment wiring

For example, the machine is turned on, but there is no light in the apartment. The cause may be a malfunction in the electrical panel or junction box. It is necessary to check with a tester or a control lamp whether there is voltage after the machine.

If everything is in order, the fault must be sought in the first junction box. If there is no voltage, then an open in the wires between the switchboard and the junction box.

If there is no lighting in one of the rooms (the chandelier is not lit), a breakdown in the chandelier, in the switch, in the junction box above the switch or in the previous junction box. First of all, you need to check the chandelier with a control lamp, then, if everything is in order - the switch. With a functioning chandelier and switch, the junction box above the switch will have to be opened, and then the previous box must be opened.

Consider the option when the electrical wiring of the outlet group is located in the floor screed of the apartment. From the electrical panel in the corridor, the wiring goes to the first outlet closest to the panel. Then the cable goes along the floor in the screed to the second nearest outlet (usually on the opposite wall). Through the hole in the wall, the wiring of the outlet group passes into the next room.

In the absence of power in all outlets, a breakdown can be, as for lighting, in the electrical panel or the first power outlet. The load on the first outlet is the largest and the number of faults is the highest. If there is no power on the part of the sockets, then the voltage must be checked with the first non-working and the last working sockets.

Oxidized contacts can be the main reason for the lack of voltage. Having cleaned the contacts and reconnecting the socket, they again check the voltage.

It happens that there is tension in the apartment, but partial, then the cause may be a break in the wiring in the wall. The search for the cliff special devicesdisassemble the wall, connect damaged wiring or lay a new one.

For any work involving electric current, safety precautions should be followed and electrical devices must be handled carefully!

See How to Prevent Wiring Problems here. And even more information about troubleshooting in the electrical wiring of an apartment hidden in the gates - here.