Help needed with electrical stuff

[sparkybird]

Hi Guineveretoo all good advice so far. However to remove the fault that's causing the RCD to trip you need to physically unplug stuff, just switching off at the socket doesn't always disconnect. I would recommend you unplug as much stuff as you can manage without and wait to see if it trips again.

 

[Saul Goodman]

mysterious plastic toaster fault that carried on tripping the RCD even when I took out the earth

That'll probably be a PME system, using a combined neutral and earth. It helps prevent people removing the earth wire and killing themselves

 

[Guineveretoo]

Don't know if you missed my post but if you could post a picture of your fuse board there's a good chance we could get to the bottom of it

Sorry - I have not been able to get online much at all today. I did have a photo of the circuit breaker thing that I took last night just so I could read the labels - it is at an odd angle - but it is too late now. I have paid an electrician (or I will be paying him, once he sends me his invoice) whatever he feels like asking for coming out and sorting it.

Looks like we could have worked it out for ourselves....it seems it was the filter pump on the pond. Seems unlikely, not least because it was working fine this morning, and because it was serviced recently, but that was the conclusion he reached.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Hi Guineveretoo all good advice so far. However to remove the fault that's causing the RCD to trip you need to physically unplug stuff, just switching off at the socket doesn't always disconnect. I would recommend you unplug as much stuff as you can manage without and wait to see if it trips again.

Yeah, we did all that - I got my daughter to come round and help because I can't do these things myself.

Trouble is, I have got a strangely complicated set up with my electrics, and we didn't unplug the things in the garage/outside.

 

[Guineveretoo]

A pond fountain feels to me like a very likely candidate for spurious trips - it only needs a bit of water leakage in there, and it's going to trip an RCD very effectively.

Leave the pond fountain off, and see how the tripping behaviour goes. If that solves it, all you need the electrician for would be to sort out what's happening with that.

Yeah, I did that last night. Or I thought I had. When I went out this morning to check it out in the garage, it was running.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Not about electrical stuff anymore actually, but I realised this evening that the freezer had not been switched on again after the electrician came, so it has been off since Saturday morning.

I know all manufacturers say you shouldn't refreeze things, but which things is that really true for? It was very, very full

 

[two sheds]

don't know, sorry, but claim under house insurance if all else fails?

 

[two sheds]

I have unfrozen and refrozen stuff and then cooked the hell out of it and survived if that helps but I wouldn't listen to me

 

[WouldBe]

Have you checked to see if it's still frozen? It can stay that way for quite a while.

 

[existentialist]

If you switched off the freezer for 48 hours, and never opened it, then unless you have the world's supply of calamari, lobsters, those things the French call "coquilles St Jacques", and large quantities of aspic, I'd say you'll be just fine. To be on the safe side, have a quick prod around and see how much things have defrosted, and maybe prioritise getting them et.

 

[Guineveretoo]

Have you checked to see if it's still frozen? It can stay that way for quite a while.

I spotted it because I took some hot dogs out this evening and they were not frozen.

 

[Guineveretoo]

If you switched off the freezer for 48 hours, and never opened it, then unless you have the world's supply of calamari, lobsters, those things the French call "coquilles St Jacques", and large quantities of aspic, I'd say you'll be just fine. To be on the safe side, have a quick prod around and see how much things have defrosted, and maybe prioritise getting them et.

It has been longer than that, and I opened it yesterday and took some stuff out (didn't notice it wasn't working!)

I have had a quick prod around, and most things seem to be softish. I have taken some bread out and will chuck it out. I have cooked some sausage rolls.

We are vegetarian, so there is no meat or fish in there.

 

[Epona]

Cook anything that is not frozen and then store in the fridge for up to 3 days, some stuff can be safely defrosted cooked and refrozen in a cooked state (eg I make chilli from frozen beef or quorn mince and then freeze the cooked chilli) - it is defrosting and refreezing without heating to a high internal temp in a reasonable amount of time in between that is most hazardous. Raw meat can generally be defrosted, cooked in a recipe, and refrozen. Ready meals and stuff that has been more processed may not be suitable for doing that with, similarly pre-cooked stuff that you have frozen once should not be defrosted and refrozen. If you have any shellfish or other seafood that has defrosted I would cook and eat that now, or bin it if it has a strong or unpleasant odour.

 

[two sheds]

I wouldn't have thought vege stuff would be a problem except beans? and bread?

perhaps search individually on web if you're not sure of them

 

[Guineveretoo]

I was too tired/stressed last night to care too much about all this (shitty day with the freezer problems being the last straw) so I just turned it back on and went back to bed.