Fault Finding

€ 135 including 21% VAT for the first hour, including call-out within Amsterdam. A follow-up hour costs € 78. If the cause turns out to be a faulty appliance, you only pay that first hour and know in black and white what is going on.

If it is a short circuit that must be traced, we charge € 195 for locating it; with a cable locator to find a break in a run € 245. Outside Amsterdam call-out of € 65 to € 95 is added, and work outside office hours has a 50 to 100 percent surcharge.

Unplug everything on that circuit — including what you do not see: the washing machine behind the door, the freezer in the store, the garden lights. Switch the RCD back on. If it stays on, the fault is in an appliance.

Then plug devices back in one by one, a few minutes apart. The fault returns when you connect the defective appliance. Note: some appliances only fail during a certain programme, for example a dishwasher that only starts heating half an hour in. If the RCD trips again immediately with everything unplugged, it is in the installation and we are needed.

That is one of the most common patterns and almost always points to moisture in the outdoor installation: a façade light holding water, a garden socket, a junction box in a carport or under a shed roof, or an extension lead outdoors.

Test it by switching off the circuit that feeds the outdoor installation and seeing whether the problem disappears. We usually fix it by replacing the point with a fitting of the right IP rating — from € 145 per point.

With a burning smell, a scorch mark, brown discoloration around an outlet, or a tingle when you touch an appliance or a tap. In those cases switch off the relevant circuit and call the same day.

A tingle means voltage is present on something that should not be live, and there is no sound earthing to clear it. A scorch mark means a joint is running hot. Both are situations where continuing to use it is a real risk.

Wedging or bridging the RCD, replacing a breaker with a heavier one, or removing the cover of the consumer unit. And: repeatedly resetting a circuit that keeps tripping without finding the cause.

That last one sounds harmless but is exactly the scenario where a loose clamp gets time to heat up. Everything we suggest on this page you can do with the switches on the front of the unit and the plugs in the socket — you need go no further.

No, and we would rather say so honestly than have you call in vain. We work Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00. Within those hours we try to fix a fault the same day; outside those hours call us the next morning.

If there is acute danger outside our hours — burning smell, smoke, sparks — switch off the main switch and call 112 for smoke or fire. For faults on the supply itself, before your meter, call the grid operator’s fault line; that is available 24 hours.

Check whether your neighbours are also without power, and whether the main switch in your meter cupboard is still on. If only your home is without power and your main switch is off, the problem is with you — then we are needed.

If the whole street is without power, or your main switch is still on while nothing works, it is a grid fault. Report that to your grid operator’s fault line; we cannot help and it costs you nothing.

Yes. Fault finding costs € 135 for the first hour including the call-out within Amsterdam, and € 78 per hour after that. If the cause turns out to be a faulty appliance, you pay only that first hour and get a written note of what we found.

Before calling, try this: unplug everything on the affected circuit — including the things you cannot see — and switch it back on. If it holds, plug items back one at a time. Half of all faults are a single defective appliance. Do not bridge or tape down an RCD, and do not repeatedly reset a circuit without finding the cause.