Fuses tripped when hole drilled in wall - should I be worried?

#1

Hi there,

It just occurred to me that someone here might be able to advise me! Community Fibre came to do an installation on Friday, which involved drilling a hole through my outside wall near the existing Virgin Media line so they could pass their cable in.

When they were getting set up I pointed out that the VM cable is right next to a plug socket which might be a problem and they assured me they knew what they were doing so I made myself scarce.

I came back a few minutes later to find them fiddling around in my fuse box, and they admitted that the fuses had tripped when they’d drilled the hole and they’d have to drill another one a bit higher up away from the socket. They assured me it was all fine and they filled up the first hole, and the power stayed on when they flicked the switch back up.

Should I be worried about this? Is it possible they’ve damaged the wire in the wall and leaving it is a fire hazard? They insisted it was all fine but if I’m honest they didn’t fill me with confidence and it’s worrying me that I should get it properly checked out.

Any advice much appreciated!

Gillian

#2

I’m not an electrician. i know about small electronics and they are quite different. so i would trust howard, dermot, or joe more than myself on your topic.

but for now perhaps i could at least offer some insight and take some guesses but ultimately i would say there is insufficient information to base a determination on and so probably get it checked.

If the drill was plugged in to your outlet
it could potentially trip the breaker as it uses a lot of energy suddenly but also is an inductive load so you can get high voltages being sent back from the device and a lot of noise generated from the brushes sparking as they rub against the commutator as it spins. i guess another theory could be that the power cord could be damaged and being detected as a fault.

i wouldn’t say that’s enough to base a decision on and could still be that they struck something.

if it was a battery operated drill
i guess they struck something.

if the wiring in a socket or plug isn’t wonderfully secured, the vibration of drilling could make the connection intermittent and perhaps maybe in some universe that could trip it?

community fibre

i’ve had some dealing with CF and the fibre engineer was from an external company and they were phenominal. went way above and beyond to help us when CF started messing us about.

however, we had a different engineer trying to install the new router and he lied to my face saying it’s all setup and working properly… when i explained that i had heard everything and understood very well what was being said to his colleague on the phone - he was shocked and just kept telling lies to cover himself. I asked him to prove it, he couldn’t and would do things like point at the screen and try to convince me that information was saying something that it wasn’t.

the story is long and boring so i will spare you from the rest of it.

elsewhere the advice i received was to make sure to leave an honest review on trustpilot as these are very important.

(out of curiosity did they ask you for a review? also, did they have your permission to go into the area of your fusebox?)

#3

Thank you for your detailed reply!

They didn’t ask me for a review, although 5 mins after they left there was a knock and the door and one of them had come back to ask me to sign a digital form saying everything had been done ok - I feel like an idiot but I just signed it - I was a bit shellshocked by some other things that had gone on in the last 24h.

They did not get my permission! They didn’t ask me anything - I just happened to walk in and find them rooting around in the cupboard which they must have just found by opening things. I don’t think they would have told me what happened if I hadn’t happened to have come in.

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#4

Sounds like they have nicked a cable .

So there is a high Chance the insulation has been compromised, and some of the conductors damaged.

You do need to get an electrician to look at this, I would immediately switch off the circuit that powers that plug.

Depending on where you live I will probably be able to come and have a look at it.

If they have damage the cable it will have to be repaired and I will be happy to photograph it and issue an electrical danger notice if required to get the cash out of them, as far as I’m aware the only other qualified electrician in the space is Stefano

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#5

Thanks for your answer Joe - I’ve sent you a DM.

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#6

I’d consider contacting Community Fibre asap. Ask to speak to a manager and very briefly explain what happened and that you have been advised by a qualified electrician that this should be tested by a certified electrician. Offer them an opportunity to arrange that themselves. Get a reference number and make a note of name, time and date in all contact, and make full notes of all conversations.

#7

Results are in and yes the ******** had drilled straight into the wire, going through both layers of insulation. I’m glad that I did worry about it!!

Thank you all so much for the advice, and especially Joe for coming and having a look.

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