Fan oven

[neiloneil]

With cooker disconnected there are no noises, smoke or flashes.

I will advise my mum to cancel the check. Then I will talk with the shop owner and explain my need for a competent trades person.
I appreciate all your comments were given to me free of charge. So you might think it cheeky of me to ask you your qualification levels, but it would lend my argument some weight if you guys were of a higher level in the profession than our caller (who didn't grace us with his name or signature).

Thank you all for your comments

Neil

 

[dextrous]

The cooker was just switched off at the wall switch.
He disconnected the neutral wire on the back of the cooker and put a probe on it, he touched the other probe on the cooker casing. His mega meter passed 500v, proving the short circuit.
My multimeter also showed up this short, but after tracing it to the cooker to wall connection box, the short disappeared.

So he has found a short, but not specifically down to the wiring in the house. Thus he cannot claim that the cooker had "no fault found", since he didn't make a full diagnosis, although I'm not an electrician, but it sounds fishy. Also, could an electrician explain to me how he got a 500V reading from a 240V supply - am very curious about his! Or does this come from the way the meter functions?

Could someone also explain why he didn't completely isolate the cooker and check for faults of the cooker and house wiring independently? Or am I completely out of my depth here?

 

[ColJack]

you can't use us as a reason, we've not seen the house or the cooker, we're basing our council solely on what you've described to us..

however, if you like..

City & Guilds (C&G) 236 electical installation part 1
C&G 236 part 2
C&G 2391 Inspection and testing
C&G 2382 17th edition wiring regulations
BTEC ONC: Electronics and Electrical Engineering..

 

[neiloneil]

The meger meter contains its own power supply. (The Repair man explained this to me when he was showing me the readings).

 

[dextrous]

The meger meter contains its own power supply. (The Repair man explained this to me when he was showing me the readings).

Ta. So what he's shown you is that there is a fault between the neutral terminal on the cooker and the cooker's (earthed) casing, which he then seems to suggest requires a possible house rewire. Like I said, sounds fishy to me!

Ask him to come back, and demonstrate it again first as he did before, then without adjusting the meter, with the cooker totally disconnected from the mains. If he gets the same fault with the cooker totally isolated, ask him why he reported "no fault" on the cooker and tried to charge you £40+ for a complete misdiagnosis. Then tell him to f**k off.

 

[neiloneil]

Telling the fellow to do that would be a bit of a show stopper I think. I would rather get my money refunded or better still a good repair to the cooker.
The thing is, I'm still not certain it is a cooker fault. To test it on another circuit, could I put a 13 amp plug on it and plug it in a 13 amp socket. If I turn the oven on (at a low setting), then if it pops and fizzes, it would confirm that the cooker is at fault (since all other appliances in the house work fine).
I know it is not a recomended thing to do, but is there any reoson this would not be a good test ,providing I take great care.

 

[dextrous]

Tell him that you've had an electrician round to check the wiring and that this was found to be sound. Thus, put the ball back in his half!

 

[neiloneil]

I don't think it's a good idea to lie about it. But maybe I should get an electrician to verify things.

 

[dextrous]

I don't think it's a good idea to lie about it. But maybe I should get an electrician to verify things.

Good idea, although it does intially seem that he wanted to charge you good money for no resolution to your problem, and a possible misdiagnosis which may have led to a bigger contract for his "friend", which would not have stopped the cooker from not working. You never know, he might have found the fault which could have been easily repaired and decided that you may be a soft touch. TV programs have been made about people such as this.

If, as a plumber, I was called out to identify a fault then, if I were not competent enough to fix it, no way would I expect to be paid to tell you that I can't do anything about it. This is why I'm taking umbrage with this blokes actions.

If another electrician does find an error on the cooker and not the wiring, I'd definitely have a strong word with the first bloke!