House hold electronic noise ?

[Deleted member 6259]

Firstly I apologies if this is in the wrong section if so can a mod please move it to the correct place.
Ok ive lived in the flat I am in at the moment for 2 and a half years. Recently I have noticed that just about my electronic items are acting a bit strange shall we say. if fact they have been since I moved in but just thought thing were getting old and needing replacing etc.

Anyway I've broke my ankle fairly bad and have been spending a lot of my time in the house where I have noticed a strange buzzing noise. So as we do I started to look round and eventually come up with what I think is the problem but I need more expert advice on the matter. nearly every power supply's are making a weird buzzing noise, laptop chargers seem to be getting a little to hot for my liking also speakers seem to get some sort of interference also. Since I've live in the flat I've been though an iPhone 3 , iPhone 4 a microwave a 50 inch TV a corsair 850 watt psu and that's just the stuff that pops into my head ,even my iPhone 5 battery doesn't seem to last as long now as it did and it not to old. I have asked my landlord to have it check out several times but am still waiting. so guys this is where I ask for your amazing help, does anyone know what could be causing this ? it seems to be the longer I stay in the louder the buzzing/noise seems to get anyways here is a small YouTube video of the noise the psu is making off my sons Xbox one ht*p://youtu.be/wJLenZ2e_jI hopefully you can hear it and give me a little advice

Thanks guys John.

 

[miggy]

Have you checked the mains fusebox?. The symptoms all seem to relate to the plug socket circuits as if they are overloading or the incorrect fuse in the consumer box. Get your landlord to have a look it is dangerous.

 

[Deleted member 6259]

I have tried mate my tenancy has just ran out and they won't spend money on the place. I've lost a canny bit of money's worth of stuff so what I was hoping is I could figure it out or someone know what it is as feel like I'm owed something. If I had the money I would have the best sparky in pat testing every thing and try and get to the true. One other thing as well there's been a couple of times that it's blow bulbs and never tripped the fuse box. Is that Normal ?

 

[miggy]

I have tried mate my tenancy has just ran out and they won't spend money on the place. I've lost a canny bit of money's worth of stuff so what I was hoping is I could figure it out or someone know what it is as feel like I'm owed something. If I had the money I would have the best sparky in pat testing every thing and try and get to the true. One other thing as well there's been a couple of times that it's blow bulbs and never tripped the fuse box. Is that Normal ?

Do you have the old style fusebox or a trip switch fusebox?. Modern trip switch boxes would have shut that down ages ago with that fault. Let's see what some of our other members come up with?.

 

[Deleted member 6259]

Here are a few photos of the fuse box etc . Once again I'm sorry if it's not aloud I havnt been on the forum as much as I should
h*tps://www.dropbox.com/sh/airid9i4qt2b9an/AABSgArykMpOFQYIoYpkNP6Ga?dl=0

 

[Deleted member 6259]

I'm not sparky but what it looks to me I'd there has been two rooms rewired and the test is old . It's my own fault I suppose no landlord gives you a two year tenancy to start. But lost my old home in the floods so didn't have a choise

 

[trevortron]

Unless there is a bad connection in the fuseboard, that is unlikely to be the source of the problem. If a fuseboard (consumer unit) is working correctly, be it wire fuses or 'trips', it will put out exactly what goes in. It will only fuse or trip in the event of an overload where excessive current is drawn.


First off, have you tried any of the offending kit at someone else's house? That would confirm or rule out a problem at your property. If that proves it's your house, there are numerous possibilities in this case.

1) Over-voltage. Unlikely but possible, and easy to check. You can buy a very cheap digital multimeter for under a tenner (or borrow one) and simply check the mains voltage.(I didn't tell you to get one from Argos under the 16-day money-back ) Easiest way is to pop the probes into a fig-8 or PC mains lead, THEN plug it in. Check at various times of the day, and if there are big variations keep a record. It should be between 230 & 250V. (I lived in a house that frequently had 260+, bulbs didn't last very long!)

2) Bad connection causing arcing somewhere. Quite hard to trace, but if you have an old battery-operated MW transistor radio that might help. Have as much stuff plugged in and switched on/running as possible. Tune the radio in between stations and hold it close to your electric meter, fuse box etc', and see if it picks up any noticeable increase in interference. Again I've experienced this, it was a bad connection in a light fitting, again causing bulbs to fail prematurely.

3) MY own and very frustrating experience, tinnitus!! Yep, after exhaustively trying EVERYTHING, I discovered the problem was ME and not my electricals. Took 2 years lol!! But of course I didn't have failing PSU's just dodgy old ears!!

 

[miggy]

Here are a few photos of the fuse box etc . Once again I'm sorry if it's not aloud I havnt been on the forum as much as I should
h*tps://www.dropbox.com/sh/airid9i4qt2b9an/AABSgArykMpOFQYIoYpkNP6Ga?dl=0

There is a lot of taping up on that incoming feed Draca it looks very dodgy?. The old earthing wire also looks crumbly hence the new wiring. Whoever did the job doesn't seem to be very professional if you ask me old wiring mixed with new is not a good idea mate.

 

[dwblob]

The problem is probably not in your flat. Electrical equipment in the neighbourhood can create disturbances on the electrical lines. It can be in another building. Do your neighbours have the same problem?
How long a a cellphone battery lasts is affected by the geographical position. It has probably nothing to do with the noise in your equipment.

It could be better to talk to the electrical company than the landlord. The electrical company has equipment for measuring disturbances on the electrical lines.

 

[Bronto]

Try switching off all the breakers and then turn them back on one at a time to see which circuit is making the noise, once you have isolated which circuit is making the nose you can trace what equipment is attached on that circuit and isolate each of those until you hopefully find what it is causing the problem

 

[Deleted member 6259]

@miggy , That's what I thought , even the earth on the incoming feed was loose on the main incoming feed. and the big thick wire with some old tape around it doesn't look safe at all.
@bdblob you may have hit the nail on the head there , I was talking to a neighbour that has also had buzzing in her ear but just assumed it was tinnitus and has no professional advice so my well have.
@trevortron I think ill try and get hold of and old transistor radio and give it ago as well, Ive spent the last couple of months trying to rule out me lol , suffering from mental health issues isn't the best when you have buzzing in your ears it was driving me wild when I first noticed it. I was thinking men with white jackets were coming again pmsl.
@Bronto I give what you said today a go and it seems to be centred round the living room and the bairn bedroom. Its without a doubt socket related ( the socket in the bairns room is directly opposite one of them in the living room and its only a stud wall. while the one on the other wall is once again directly opposite the one in my room.

Any speaking to another neighbour before I moved in it seems that my Jewish landlord had a bunch of polish folks living here doing the place up and rewiring the flat amongst other things. That its self me concerned because judging by some of the light fittings they look rather old , as in black 2 core old.

Does anyone know if a flat needs an electrical safety test similar to a gas one and if it does am I entitled to a copy of it ?

Thanks ever so much guys your input has been amazing

 

[nara]

my Jewish landlord

Off topic and irrelevant Draca.

 

[Deleted member 6259]

Off topic and irrelevant Draca.

And how would that be off topic and irrelevant Nara? The company are well known not to give a shit about there tenants and more about the money, I have not got a racial bone in my body but when it comes to my sons and my safty i believe it is relavant.

 

[Spectre]

Off topic and irrelevant Draca.

Nara, I have experience of Haredi (Hasidic) Jews due to where I used to live. These are people who will literally avoid your shadow because they think it is unclean.

 

[Bronto]

I think what nara means is simply "Landlord" would of sufficed, whether a landlord is shit or not is nothing to do with where they are from in my opinion

While we're at it a bunch of folks would have also sufficed

Anyway we can see you are worried for your families safety @Draca, best thing to do is to have it checked out by a professional, if it turns out to be the landlords fault then bill him, if he refuses to pay then tell him you will take him to the small claims court and go to the local newspaper

 

[miggy]

Off topic and irrelevant Draca.

On the contrary @nara cheap labour seems to be the priority in this case hence the dodgy workmanship. @Draca it could be something as simple as a loose cable in your fuse box that is not working your plug sockets properly. Try knocking the mains off and having a look at the offending sockets on the walls?. Check for loose wiring. TURN THE MAINS OFF FIRST mate.

 

[Deleted member 6259]

@Bronto I think that's what I'm going to have to do. Yeah I agree and know a lot of white English landlords that are the same, so yes I can see your points but considering where abouts I live is primarily owned by the Jewish community and no one has a good comment regarding there letting skills and maintenance record that is why I mentioned it. I'm sorry if I have afended anyone but some of the stories I have read are outrageous. And no I'm not tarring every Jewish landlord with the same brush just mine.

 

[Deleted member 6259]

@nara I'll give it a go but think I'm best of trying to get a professional in as if it is down to faulty workmanship , small claims court it will be

 

[Bronto]

@Bronto I'm sorry if I have afended anyone

Don't think you have offended anybody mate, well definitely not me

 

[nara]

On the contrary @nara cheap labour seems to be the priority in this case hence the dodgy workmanship. @Draca it could be something as simple as a loose cable in your fuse box that is not working your plug sockets properly. Try knocking the mains off and having a look at the offending sockets on the walls?. Check for loose wiring. TURN THE MAINS OFF FIRST mate.

Sorry miggy, either you've completely misunderstood my point, or you're having a bad hair day. :wtf:







(Anyway, Bronto got it.)