wierd popping noise,advice help

[thenugnug]

Hi i was called to my sisters house coz she heard a popping coming from the kitchen and was obviously worried. I went round and there was no signs of any damage or black marks on anything and all the downstairs sockets were still working.The noise only happens every 2 - 3 hours but she has old wylex bs3036 fuses and it has not blown the fuse. I tested IR and all the cables are clear so i'm confused as to what it could be. Just wondering if anybody had ever come across any loud popping signs before with no obvious cause,thought i'd give this a shot before i start to re-wire the ring? Any help would be appreciated,thanks andy

 

[Mark_Burgess]

Did you do continuity of all conductors?
Does it happen after something gets used like, kettle or toaster? Random fridge noises?
With old installations like that i'd isolate the ring, then unscrew the sockets and switches and check for loose cable terminals. I do stress its important to isolate even to check as I've seen so many line conductors still in the back of the box.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Could be just about anything...if the ring tests out ok what are you going to gain by rewiring it?....What makes you think it is the sockets?...could be lights or cooker circuit?? If you cant locate an obvious cause ,one option would be to temporarily install a 30ma RCD up front of the DB to reduce the risk untill the cause is found....or even fit a new DB with RCBO's,costly though.

 

[BigBreakfast]

Hi The nug nug,

One time I came across a popping noise in a Kitchen I traced it to the electric hob which had a tendancy to 'pop' sometime after use!

 

[martysparky]

I used to have a kettle that popped then one day it exploded!


And

Many years ago had a cooker ( elec) that popped and again one day started spitting hot sparks!

 

[Burnt Fingers]

Have heard some of teh larger elements (grill, cooker) doing a sort of popping noise...but I think I'd be up for a new ring there. Least then if it goes pop again she start looking elsewhere safely.

Had a pop coming from a cooker switch once - was about to do snap then crackle. I have hated pops ever since.

 

[vambo]

About ten years ago i had a job where the customer was complaining about a fairly large 'popping' sound coming from behind the tv, had been doing it for months. I spent a while tracing circuits, tested insulation resistance found it to be ok, 3036 fuses needed coming out anyway so recomended a cu change, left without finding anything said id come back when i had more time. Then got the call again saying it was still doing it so i started knocking the plaster away behind the tv socket and found the cables went down into the concrete floor, i pulled one the legs of the ring and it came up like it was loose, the other one rock solid, took the capping off that went into the floor and that's when i found what had been happening. The edge of the capping had actually started to rust (even though it looked galv) where it had started to oxidise the cable behind didnt like it and over the last 30 years or so it had eventually worked its way through to the conductors. The old T+E started to burn and arc (3036 awful overload protection for tempoary faults) when the conditions were right(or wrong, -was a damp wall) and there was loading on the circuit. I ended up changing the cu rewiring the faulty leg of the ring main happy customer. Before the day's of notification, they were the day's job's were at lot less hassle.

 

[thenugnug]

Hi guys and thanks for the replys,i have sorted the problem.cheers especially to vambne of the sockets next to the sink the cables went down about a foot buried in the wall and then into a 20mm peice of metal conduit that was also buried under the concrete on the wall not plaster concrete. At the other end they had no protection at all and so my guess is that over the last 20 - 30 years the concrete has eroded the insulation and it has completely burnt through the live and cpc and been arcing and welded itsself to the pipe,rewired both legs and job done,cheers everybody

 

[vambo]

Glad you got it sorted Nugnug. Great place you have found here for help, there wont be much that people wont have come across: there's that many of us!