Electrical Fault Finding & Repairs
A socket that's suddenly gone dead, a breaker that keeps tripping, lights flickering or a total loss of power with no obvious cause. Electrical faults range from a minor nuisance to a genuine safety risk, and identifying the actual cause matters more than a quick temporary fix. We diagnose and repair electrical faults across Horley, Crawley, Reigate, Redhill, Banstead, Earlswood, Salfords and Smallfield, fixing the problem properly rather than applying a workaround.
Common Faults We Diagnose
Tripping circuits. A breaker or RCD that keeps tripping usually indicates a genuine fault on the circuit rather than a simple overload. Common causes include damaged cable, a failing appliance drawing excess current, a loose connection, or moisture ingress in an outdoor fitting.
Power loss to part of the property. When specific rooms or areas lose power without the consumer unit tripping, the fault is usually a broken connection somewhere in the circuit, a loose junction box, a damaged socket, or a failed connection at the consumer unit itself.
Flickering or intermittent lights. Often caused by a loose connection at the fitting, switch or junction box, or a failing lamp driver in LED lighting. Persistent flickering across multiple rooms can also indicate a voltage regulation issue rather than a single faulty fitting.
Burning smell or warm sockets. These indicate a connection running above its rated temperature, caused by a loose terminal, an undersized cable or an overloaded circuit. This should always be investigated promptly rather than left.
RCD testing failure. If a routine RCD test shows the device isn't operating within its specified trip time, it needs replacing before it can be relied on as a safety device.
Outdoor and garden electrical faults.Garden sockets, outbuilding supplies and outdoor lighting circuitsexposed to the weather are more prone to faults than indoor wiring. Water ingress, cable damage from gardening activity and corrosion at connections are the most common causes.
Why Total Blackouts Happen
Most people assume a total loss of power is a simple blown fuse. When the whole property goes dark, it's usually one of three things: a faulty RCD doing exactly what it's designed to do and protecting you from a serious fire risk, degraded wiring where insulation has cracked over time (common in older properties across Surrey), or water ingress into an outdoor socket or light fitting tripping the whole board.
How Electrical Fault Finding Works
Fault finding is a systematic process of elimination, not guesswork. We begin with a visual inspection of the consumer unit and any accessible wiring, then use a multifunction tester to carry out insulation resistance, continuity and earth fault loop impedance tests to identify exactly where the fault lies. Once the cause is confirmed, we carry out the repair, retest to confirm the circuit is operating correctly, and issue documentation confirming the work. If a fault reveals a wider issue across multiple circuits, such as deteriorated wiring in an older property, we'll advise honestly on the extent of the problem and the options for remediation, rather than just patching the one symptom you called about
Fault Patterns by Property Age
Horley and the surrounding area has a varied housing stock, and each era tends to bring its own characteristic faults. Victorian and Edwardian terraces around town centres often have deteriorated wiring or connections that have worked loose over decades. Post-war semis and 1970s and 80s estates frequently have undersized circuits struggling with modern appliance loads, and properties with older rewireable fuse boards are particularly prone to nuisance faults that a modern consumer unit would handle automatically. Newer developments toward Gatwick can experience faults from workmanship issues during construction, overloaded circuits from extensions, or modern appliances interacting poorly with the electrical supply.
Fault Finding Across Horley, Redhill, Reigate & Crawley
The causes of electrical faults are fairly consistent wherever you are, but the properties we get called out to vary a lot by area, and that shapes what we usually find.
Electrical Fault Finding in Horley
Horley's a mix of older housing near the town centre and newer estates like Westvale Park. One recent call out was a Westvale Park homeowner convinced their whole downstairs had a fault, since three sockets and the kitchen lights kept cutting out together. Turned out to be a shared RCD doing exactly what it should, tripping on a faulty toaster. Five minute fix once we found it. In the older streets near the centre, it's usually a different story: ageing wiring or a consumer unit that's well overdue an upgrade.
Electrical Fault Finding in Redhill
Redhill has a lot of Victorian and Edwardian housing, plus a fair few converted flats. We were called to a converted terrace last month where the top floor flat kept losing power entirely, no warning, no obvious trigger. The building had been split into three flats over the years, and the distribution board had been added to and modified each time. Once we traced it properly, a loose connection from one of those earlier modifications was the culprit, not a new fault at all, just an old one finally giving up.
Electrical Fault Finding in Reigate
Reigate's property mix runs from period homes to modern developments, and it's usually the older ones keeping us busy. A Reigate homeowner recently described their lights "flickering like a horror film" every time the shower ran. Classic voltage dip from a shared circuit under sudden load, not dangerous, but annoying enough that they'd been living with it for months before calling anyone.
Electrical Fault Finding in Crawley
Crawley combines residential estates with a strong commercial presence around Manor Royal. Most domestic call outs here follow the usual pattern, but commercial ones come with their own pressure. We had an office unit near Manor Royal lose power to half their floor on a Tuesday morning, and the real fault wasn't dramatic (a failed connection at a junction box) but the clock was the pressure, since every hour down was a real cost to the business, not just an inconvenience.
Recent Fault Finding Work
The Horley "Ghost" Fault. A property in Horley lost power completely, and the RCD wouldn't reset no matter what was unplugged. After a full diagnostic process, we traced it to a legacy DIY wiring fix behind a wall that had finally failed, causing a dead short. We carried out a targeted partial rewire of the affected circuit, bypassing the old cabling and restoring power to the whole house.
The Banstead Blackout. A similar total loss of power in Banstead turned out to be a cascading failure caused by a series of degraded connections. Using diagnostic equipment, we traced the cause to an overheating junction box tucked away in a ceiling void. The feed was stripped back and rewired to modern safety standards.
What It Costs
Our standard hourly rate for fault finding is £75 per hour, with a minimum one-hour charge. Emergency daytime call-outs are £140, including the first hour of fault finding. Out-of-hours and weekend rates are £120 per hour. For most straightforward faults, diagnosis and repair are completed in a single visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my circuit keep tripping?
A circuit breaker or RCD that keeps tripping usually indicates a fault on the circuit rather than a simple overload. Common causes include a damaged cable, a failing appliance drawing excess current, a loose connection or moisture ingress in an outdoor fitting. A qualified electrician can identify the exact cause using proper testing equipment.
How much does electrical fault finding cost?
Our standard hourly rate is £75 per hour with a minimum one-hour charge. Emergency daytime call-outs are £140, including the first hour of fault finding. Out-of-hours and weekend rates are £120 per hour. Most straightforward faults are diagnosed and repaired in a single visit.
Is a burning smell from a socket dangerous?
Yes. A burning smell near a socket or switch indicates a connection running above its rated temperature, which can result from a loose terminal, undersized cable or overloaded circuit. This requires prompt investigation and should not be ignored.
Why Do My Lights Keep Flickering?
Flickering lights are one of those problems people live with for months before calling anyone, mostly because it's easy to assume it's just a cheap bulb. Sometimes it is. Often it isn't, and the difference matters.
If it's one light, in one room - the most common cause by far is an LED bulb that isn't compatible with the existing dimmer switch. Older dimmers were built for the load characteristics of incandescent bulbs, and a lot of LEDs simply don't play well with that circuitry, especially at the lower end of the dimming range. This is a five-minute fix, not a fault.
If it's several lights on the same circuit - that starts to look more like a loose connection somewhere in that circuit, often at the point the wiring enters the ceiling rose or a joint box. Loose neutral connections are a genuine concern here, not just an annoyance, since they can generate heat at the connection point over time.
If flickering happens whenever a large appliance kicks in - the kettle boiling, the shower starting, an oven heating up - that's usually voltage dip caused by the sudden current draw on a shared circuit or an ageing supply connection, rather than a fault with the lights themselves.
If it's the whole house, and it's getting worse - this is the one we take most seriously. Whole-property flickering can point to a deteriorating connection back at the consumer unit or even the incoming supply, and it's the kind of thing that's genuinely worth an inspection sooner rather than later, not sitting on the "one day" list.
As with most fault finding, the actual cause only becomes obvious once you test it properly rather than guess. We use the pattern of the flickering - one light, one circuit, or whole house as the starting point for exactly where to look first.
Can you fix electrical faults in older properties?
Yes. We have experience diagnosing and repairing faults across all property types, from older wiring in Victorian and Edwardian terraces to modern developments. Older properties often need more systematic investigation due to deteriorated wiring, and we'll advise honestly on the extent of any wider issue found.
Do you cover emergency electrical faults?
Yes. We respond to electrical faults and emergencies across Horley, Crawley, Reigate, Redhill, Banstead and the surrounding areas of Surrey and Sussex, including evenings and weekends, and aim to respond to all enquiries the same day.