Please advise re my electrical box

[davidst01]

We live in a big 2 level house. Photos of our electrical box located in the garage are below.

 

Are there any retired qualified electricians who can comment on the levels in the photo where the orange light is turned on. Do they look normal? I presume that if the red light comes on we should get someone to check it all out?

 

Last week some of the power plugs in the wall of the kitchen stopped working. I checked the box and one of the switches had turn itself off. Its the first time its happened. I turned it back on and it hasnt happened again. What would cause this?

 

It looks like we have 'safety switch' cut device. Does this mean that we are less at risk of death by electric zapping.

 

Does it all look normal in your opinion?

thanks

[RichCor]

Wow, a bit industrial for a two-level home.  You probably should have stated the sqft/sqm2 size of the house, as that's a lot of breakers.

 

Breakers are designed to break (latch open) either when the connected wire heats up or the breaker amperage rating is exceeded for a given amount of time. Something could have crossed over a live connection, or an appliance pulled more amperage than the wire or breaker is rated to handle.

 

The usual procedure is to visually inspect all the lights, appliances, power points (plugs) connected (to make sure something or someone isn't still connected to it while it's in the off state) and then testing to see if the breaker allows a reset by turning it back on, and re-inspecting all connected devices for 'signs'.  But most people, even some electricians, will just reset the breaker and wait, and if nothing is making an awful sound then all should be good.

 

 

The letters R, S and T on your Voltmeter selector switch each refer to one of THREE PHASES of mains electrical current delivered from your service. The selector allows you to measure PHASE to PHASE, or PHASE to Neutral Wire voltage.

 

I'm wondering if your meters are calibrated correctly. It appears your "service" is running at 250vac. But then your Ammeter is indicating ~15amps while the selector is in the OFF position.

[Crossy]

I'm assuming the three lamps are just incoming supply indicators and they should all be on, check if they have removable bulbs which have failed. Otherwise they need replacing.

 

Which breaker had opened? You seem to have a lot of 32A units which would normally be for water heaters or possibly aircons.

 

Do press the "Test" button on the Safe-T-Cut, it should trip, assuming it does then you're good to go.

 

But as RichCor says, that is one BIG supply for a domestic, I'm assuming your meter is a 30/100 3-phase (EDIT Although the Safe-T-Cut is a 63A, maybe the supply is a 15/45 3-phase). This would be the biggest supply that PEA would provide without you needing your own transformer. Just how big is this home?

 

The ammeter reading is reasonable for a moving-iron unit when off, more important is what it reads when in the on positions.

 

What's your monthly power bill?

 

[All right]

Quote

Does it all look normal in your opinion?

This is not normal.
The two main reasons. 1) Bad contacts in automatic circuit breakers, sockets. De-energized, they should tighten tight with a screwdriver. 2)overloaded power grid dishes. You can do an experiment, gradually incorporate your conventional devices, the code shuts down, then you realize simultaneously how many devices can be enabled. For example, I turned on the kettle, blender, stove, coffee machine and disabling. So the machine cannot be activated. But, not only the machine but also the mixer. Because even with the included mixer network to the limit, the wires are heated.
In General, the problem is gone, but it is better to call a qualified electrician. You are not threatened, the threat of failure (more serious) for the network.
The color of the light bulbs near the devices is likely the names of the phases A,b and C. If a lamp goes out, there is no phase. But, in your case, most likely faulty themselves signal lamps (red and green). Otherwise, something would not have worked. It is necessary to look inside of the shield to say for sure. My opinion.

Edited February 17, 2017 by All right
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