Were these breakers tampered with?

[soapdoggy]

Over the holiday period my partner returned home to her apartment with no power. None of the internal breakers in the consumer unit had tripped and so she was unsure what to do. She called an electrician who took the cover off the consumer unit and then showed her these singed breakers across the board. The main fuse had blown (which sits outside the apartment in the lobby) and that was replaced by the electricity company and the electrician replaced the entire set of breakers and RCDs in the consumer unit, without providing any explanation for the fault. He said the consumer unit is approx 15 years old, which we understand to be correct.

The electrician charged approx 4x the appropriate cost for each breaker and RCD and aggressively overcharged for the time, and I feel my partner was taken for a ride here. When I found out about this event I asked another electrician to come and assess the new work and to help diagnose why we have a fault in the first place. The second electrician, upon seeing these photos, suggested that the first electrician had taken a lighter or flame to create these burn marks across the unit and created a situation of duress so he could do emergency work at holiday rates.

The quality of the replacement work is not great, two of the RCDs are too small (40 amp instead of 64) and he has forced and bent some of the connection terminals to make the breakers fit the buss bar. The second electrician is quoting a tiny amount of money (and an appropriate amount) compared to the first to upgrade the RCDs that are too small and tidy up the breakers that don't properly fit the buss bar. I know trades often insult the work of other trades, but the second electrician was much more candid and helpful and clearly pointed out additional risks, and even offered to liase with the first electrician to try and rectify the issues instead of charging us to repair recently done shoddy work.

So the question, is this what really happened?

 

[DPG]

There may well have been tampering on your board (although that wouldnt be my first thought), but what caused the main supply fuse outside to blow initially? Has there been a surge caused by something? Was anyone else's main fuse affected?

 

[westward10]

I'm tempted to agree that a lighter has been held to those devices. I think he is spot on with that assumption.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Random blobs of soot and scorching will not appear on the underside of MCBs and RCDs just like that. It does look like deliberate sabotage.

If terminations are left loose on equipment they can overheat due to excess resistance. The heat is generated in the metal parts and conducted along them, so it is almost always the plastic that is in direct contact with metal that gets scorched. An overheated loose terminal in an MCB or RCD, for example, will be burnt right around the entry hole in the casing, and as the heat conducts along the cable, its insulation will also be burnt. Plastic that is further away from the terminal will be less affected. Internal faults in devices can also lead to parts of the casing becoming overheated. In the case of MCBs and RCDs the most likely internal problem would be arcing or high resistance at the contacts, in which case the scope of damage will be defined by the shape of the metal parts.

High-energy surges like lightning strikes can cause flashovers and cause areas of scorched insulation that do not tie in to conductors being overheated. But again, they will follow specific patterns and produce characteristic shapes and not just be random sooty blobs. Clearing a very high energy fault can even destroy a circuit breaker and burst its case open with the energy dissipated in the arc, but once more the damage will be focused on the area directly adjacent to the internal contacts, mainly on the inside, while the areas with the burn marks in your pics would be least affected.

As per DPG, there is still a question of what actually happened to begin with...

 

[littlespark]

Keep these photos and take the lone ranger to court.
Obvious lighter burn on plastic. As explained above, a faulty mcb or loose cable would heat from the inside the casing.

That’s fraud. And I can assure you and any other members of the public that these few crooked tradespeople give the honest hard workers a bad name.

 

[brianmoooore]

Agree with all above. No damage to the insulation of the cables to the affected terminals is the 'give away'.

 

[soapdoggy]

Thanks for the replies guys, it is sad to see other people agree with the premise and make the same points my second electrician made (no issues on the insulation or terminals).

As to DPG's point, it is obviously still a concern to me that the main fuse tripped. No other main fuses tripped in the building as we understand. My partner said she had put the washing machine on before leaving the house and when the power returned the machine continued on from where it had cut off in the cycle, so perhaps there was a fault in the machine, but nothing has repeated with use of the machine (and inconjunction with outer utilities on the same RCD) that have tripped anything.


The second electrician wondered if the old main fuse was a lower amperage than appropriate, but now it has been upgraded to 60 amps.

 

[Rockingit]

You've more here than just fraud..... technically that's also arson and criminal damage. I assume this cowboy was found via an emergency call-out service and as such is registered with a Part P scheme (Napit/NICEIC/few others). I wouldn't hold back with letting both that provider and scheme have two barrels, report the electrician to trading standards and the attempted arson to the Police.

You'll almost certainly never know what caused the upstream fuse to blow, for all we know the first 'electrician' could have made that happen deliberately, so that's not the issue any more.

 

[soapdoggy]

You've more here than just fraud..... technically that's also arson and criminal damage. I assume this cowboy was found via an emergency call-out service and as such is registered with a Part P scheme (Napit/NICEIC/few others). I wouldn't hold back with letting both that provider and scheme have two barrels, report the electrician to trading standards and the attempted arson to the Police.

You'll almost certainly never know what caused the upstream fuse to blow, for all we know the first 'electrician' could have made that happen deliberately, so that's not the issue any more.

Thank you Rockingit. I should have added the additional context that this is an apartment in France, so the general recommendations make sense but the specifics I need to work out for that country, and my general understanding is that there isn't such a formal process.

 

[littlespark]

What’s French for “cowboy”?

 

[DPG]

What’s French for “cowboy”?

Le cowboy?

 

[marconi]

Buy a cheap make mcb and a lighter and hold the flame underneath - you will discover what has been done.

With regards to the loss of power ask your wife to remember in detail what what powered up at the time - this is important to know lest the defence conjures up a freak but plausible explanation for what you can see. Most likely overloading and the protective devices have operated without drama or thermal 'scarring'.

I can provide you with a chap's name and his business who does forensic investigations and is an experienced expert witness in court.

 

[Rockingit]

I believe the process appropriate here, then, is interrogation by Madame Guillotine.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

this is an apartment in France

I had guessed as much from the type of board, wire colours etc. We have a couple of members with local knowledge who might be able to add something. @Mike Johnson, for example...

 

[LukeD]

Thats a external burn . Not from within the plastic etc etc . No question about it .BUT ...Not a chance in hell of winning or worth fighting . Unless there is photographic evidence that these marks where not present before he started work etc etc . Make threats, ask for 100% of money back might work . Bluff him. Tell him you have contacted local BC and his scheme etc and they want to investigate etc . But A good lawyer might say "dont go full legal" . If he has messed about .Chances are he will want to get away from it ASAP and hand the money back . Ive seen many "tricks " like this used by a very FAMOUS london Plumbing/electrical and all other trades Company . I wont mention their name .But I have seen them come unstuck on the steps of Courts a few times