any sparkys here?

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i have a very old bungalow that's falling apart, the roof has caved in and the electricity meter and consumer unit are still live and getting water damaged

i'm worried that this an electrical hazard, and at some point it will short out or worse :eek:

i know the meter and the service cable cannot be tampered with, but is there any way I can turn off the power?
i spoke to the DNO who have said it can take up to 4-6 weeks for a survey to take place and subsequent work etc

Have I got the wrong end of the stick?? - we don't want to relocate the meter or anything, we want to cut the power at the service cable - and if the electricity company want their meter they are welcome to it...

thanks for any advice :p
 
if you just want the power off asap and for free.......

phone uk power networks emergency line and report a dangerous situation, should get someone out 24/7 within 2-4hrs to pull the fuse for you.

downside is you will need them back to put it back in later, unless you find a spark who will do it.

if the area is wet and stuff probably best not to pull the fuse yourself

then just cover the service head area as best you can to keep water out

if your really worried you can get a spark to test the wiring before you power it all back up
 
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If you call UKPN the chances are they will remove the head completely and bag the incoming mains, which could be rather expensive when you need a new head putting back in (by head I mean the bit which the incoming cable is terminated into with the mains fuse in it. If I were you I would try and waterproof the area the best you can and call UKPN to pull the mains fuse. They will totally remove the head if water can easily get to it as you can't just switch off the incoming supply to the house 99% of the time.
 
Thanks for the replies -
If UKPN remove the fuse that would make anything beyond this point safe - eg. the tails, the consumer unit etc will be disconnected, but the service cable and the positive conductor are still live, and in a damp part of the wall
is there a rapid way to get the service cable shut down?
there's an overhead supply, and the last 10 metres are underground
 
If your supply cable is fed via overhead mains then its a simple case of breaking the connections on the pole. Underground is more difficult as to isolate your supply before the cut out (main fuse), the cable woud have to be located, excavated and cut and 'pot ended'. Lots of messing about so only ever done really if the building is being pulled down. Any pics of the overhead supply you mentioned?
 
in total the transformer serves 5 houses, the bungalow is the first -
could the UKPN team isolate the supply coming to me and disable that one only?
 
If there is only one low voltage cable coming down the pole (usually black, the big red one is high voltage), then no cos that is feeding all properties and the isolation would need to be done in the ground. Best bet is to ring your dno and explain the situation. I think they must have got the wrong end of the stick when you spoke to them before. This sort of thing comes up as a safety check where i work and they should send someone out that day.
 
If notified of the dangerous condition then the supply authority may well excavate the cable on the border of your property and pot end the service cable to your property a short way after the joint with the main street main.

[this is what they do in the case of someone who restores power in a dangerous way after they have been cut off for non payment etc, or what they do if there is an old cast iron servcie head in a dangerous condition that they need to replace (possibly with asbestos in that they need to dampen down first etc) - Basically its safer for a jointer to cut the cable live then mess around with a service head in a questionable condition]

It would be quite expensive to have it re-instated though
 
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