Power cut, but meters on.

RobH1990 · Jan 13, 2020

Hi guys hope I've got the right section.
My power went off randomly this morning half way through a shower (electric shower but 12 months old).
No tripped fuses, I flicked them all off and back on, still nothing. The meter is on and the red lights on it. Any ideas please?

telectrix · Jan 13, 2020

fault is obviously after the meter. some RCDs look on when they have tripped and need the toggle pressing right down, then back up fully. a pic of your Consumer unit /fuseboard might help.

snowhead · Jan 13, 2020

Is it just the shower or everything that's off?

A photo of the Consumer unit and anything around it would be helpfull

RobH1990 · Jan 13, 2020

Thanks alot for your quick replies I appreciate it.
The whole house is off. It went off during a storm the other week at 11pm then randomly came back on by the morning yet no engineers had come out.

ruston · Jan 13, 2020

Have you got an overhead supply?

RobH1990 · Jan 13, 2020

ruston said:
Have you got an overhead supply?

As in electrical wires on poles? Yes

Pete999 · Jan 13, 2020

RobH1990 said:
Hi guys hope I've got the right section.
My power went off randomly this morning half way through a shower (electric shower but 12 months old).
No tripped fuses, I flicked them all off and back on, still nothing. The meter is on and the red lights on it. Any ideas please?

RCD tripped out??????

RobH1990 · Jan 13, 2020

Pete999 said:
RCD tripped out??????

We flicked all the trip switches off and on again with no luck

ruston · Jan 13, 2020

As in electrical wires on poles? Yes
Source URL: Power cut, but meters on. - https://www.electriciansforums.net/threads/power-cut-but-meters-on.182372/#post-1601026

I have had this before . The incoming cables were worn almost through with constant sway at the house anchor . It may be worth checking with a neighbour to see if they are still connected. If they are , call the DNO to check your supply.

telectrix · Jan 13, 2020

looking at the pics.seems the fault is on the supply, unless you have a really bad connection to the main switch (extreme right of CU). could be as rushton says, fault only manifests itself when a load is applied. first port of call is your DNO to check supply. if it's PME, you can get some weird and wonderful faults if the supply Neutral is lost. it's possible that the meter is "seeing" a return path through the bonding of pipes, causing the LED to operate as if normal. ( thinking may be outside the box. feel free to put me back in after.

).

Midwest · Jan 13, 2020

Ring 105, option 2. It will put you through to local network supplier, who be able to tell if there’s any outage at your location.

littlespark · Jan 13, 2020

Try the rcd test buttons. If they trip off, there’s power at the rcd. If not, then there’s no supply.
Saying that, if the rcd is faulty, the push button may not trip it anyway. Power or none.

RobH1990 · Jan 13, 2020

Thanks alot for your help guys I'll check when I get home and see if we can find the fault.

static zap · Jan 13, 2020

Is the RED led (Meter-shot) photo caught mid blink , or is it LIT continuously ?
(normally only blink !)

RobH1990 · Jan 13, 2020

static zap said:
Is the RED led (Meter-shot) photo caught mid blink , or is it LIT continuously ?
(normally only blink !)

The light was constantly on

James · Jan 13, 2020

They do normally blink to show usage (the more power you are using, the faster they blink)
however, I have found that they can stay either constantly off or constantly on when you turn off the main isolator.

Problem is, this is not easy to determine if the fault is before or after the meter.

possible fault with the incoming supply or maybe even the isolator switch on the right hand side of the distribution board.

it is a case of getting someone out to have a look.

OPTION 1
get a local electrician out to have a look

advantages.
will be able to fix a fault if it is after the meter
will be able to test incoming supply and confirm if it is an internal fault or a fault with the network.

disadvantages
it is unlikely to be a free service.

OPTION 2
call out your local electricity supplier.

advantages
will be able to repair or organise a repair if it is an electricity supply problem.
may well be a free service,

disadvantages
could charge you for the call out if the problem is not with there equipment.

static zap · Jan 13, 2020

Cheers for useful info .
I like Rustons diagnosis , also mention outage during storm to DNO .

freddo · Jan 13, 2020

The light on most meters is designed remain permanently lit as a sort of indicator that power is present when no load is being drawn. I'm going to suspect a fault in the consumer unit here. If the neutral was disconnected at the supply the meter would be 'shorted' by the connected loads making all terminals a.t the meter live which would mean no indicators at all would show. Definitely a fault for an electrical professional to check.