When Things Get Serious In Your Power Box And Wiring, Your Emergency Electrician Is A Critical Resource | Wilmington, NC
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When there are sounds, smells, or sights that say something might be wrong with your electric wiring, make the call to your emergency electrician first. At Mister Sparky of Wilmington, NC, we’ll take your call and get a licensed electrician at your side as quickly as possible. By getting a professional emergency electrician on the job right away, you may catch a small problem on its way to a big one. Our team knows the risks of dealing with unstable power, diagnoses electrical problems based on extensive training and experience, and makes sure that the repair they make is the right one to ensure your safety and your home’s protection.
Legacy Wiring and Other Sources of Electrical Issues
Many of the beautiful older homes in Wilmington, NC have not-so-beautiful older electrical service and wiring, which can result in a need for an emergency electrician visit from time to time. Bad wiring, fuse box problems, and old outlets with internal issues can produce sharp smells, sparks, and smoke that provide clues that there’s a serious electrical problem. These problems can occur in homes of any age, of course, and there are many signs to look for if you suspect a problem. Remember, your emergency electrician can diagnose and repair problems. Once you have a reason for concern, it’s time to call without delay.
Some important clues that something is wrong with your power:
- Flickering lights, especially combined with visible or audible sparking.
- Hot outlets, which should stay cool even if a heater is plugged in.
- Loose outlets where plugs don’t attach firmly, a sign that movement is going to create electrical problems at some point.
- Aluminum wiring, not necessarily a cause for immediate concern, but an important risk factor.
- Burning smell, usually the smell of the plastic coating on the wires.
- Signs that small animals such as rodents are chewing on wire insulation.
- Any kind of sensation when touching equipment that could indicate an improper ground, and possible shock. Likewise, any use of “adaptors” to reduce three-pronged plugs to two without grounding is a problem.
- Any wiring in your home, from the power box to the use of extension cords, that shows signs of a “disorganized” handyman and possible issues from wear or miswiring.
How About an Electrical Inspection Visit, Instead of an Emergency Electrician?
Our team of licensed electricians is experts at recognizing the kinds of problems that they’ve dealt with as electrical disasters. With an electrical inspection of your home, they can help you avoid the fires, shocks, and burns that result from improper wiring, worn outlets, and other electrical problems. They can also check out your incoming power distribution and make sure that your circuits are wired for the rating that the fuse or circuit breaker carries. Wiring that’s too thin for the current it carries is a hidden source of danger that may not present itself until one day when the wrong items are plugged in together.
Learning About GFCIs Can Save Your Life, and Save You Money
GFCIs, or ground-fault circuit interrupters, are installed wherever water and electricity are present together in modern homes. It’s a great idea to add them to older homes, too, as they perform an important service by interrupting power when they sense problems. You may see them in your home, especially in kitchens and bathrooms or on your outdoor patio, with two buttons in the middle and a small light glowing. If you’re experiencing frequent interruptions of power by the GFCI, it’s time to have an electrician take a look and see if the wiring or outlet has problems. Here’s a money-saving tip, too: one GFCI can handle multiple outlets, so that could be the first place to look if you don’t have power at a nearby outlet. It may be a simple fix. Once again, take any interruption by the GFCI seriously, but due to their sensitivity, there may be occasional misfires. When in doubt, have an electrician check it out.
Breaker Box and Fuse Box Fires and Your Emergency Electrician
Sounds, smells, and sparking from your circuit breaker or fuse panel can indicate wiring problems, equipment problems, or other issues from age, poor wiring, or in some cases equipment that has been found to be frequently faulty (FPE breakers, for example) and needs replacement for safety. There is plenty that can go wrong inside that metal box, and it is not designed to be fireproof. When you note any reason for concern from this core of your home’s electrical system where all the power flows through, it just makes sense to call an emergency electrician and get it checked out. The consequences of a breaker box fire are just too serious.
Getting to Know Your Emergency Electrician Before Trouble Strikes
Our team loves to build relationships with our customers, helping them with upgrades, remodeling, updating old-school wiring and outlets, and installing new circuits for hobbies like woodworking that require 220V power. These days, we also help with smart home equipment, especially lighting fixtures that make life more convenient with voice control. We’re always glad to take a look at concerns during our routine visits, to help customers avoid calling us for an emergency electrician visit instead. We know that the more we work together, the easier it is to help our community avoid dealing with the destructive power that electricity can unleash when improperly managed by poor wiring and other problems.
Your Local Electrical Resource for Professional Electricians and Upgrade Ideas
At Mister Sparky of Wilmington our team works to ensure our customers’ safety and also to help them enjoy life with creative lighting, the outlets, and wiring they need for new technologies like gaming systems in the family room or complex speaker wiring in the home theater. We’re experts at safely guiding power, music, video, and networks through the walls of your home. Call our licensed electricians for help today.