CCPM Dunedin Student Flats
Power Problems
Please read down to try and analyse common faults.
There is no power to any sockets or any lights, everything is dead.
Either there has been a power cut to areas of the street including your flat, or the pole fuse has blown to your flat. Check with your neighbours to see if they have power. If all your neighbours have power then it is related just to your flat so call your power company. If some neighbours have also lost power then it is a localised power cut and you will have to wait for the power to be restored by your power company.
There is power to some sockets but not others.
Check the switchboard. All flats have a switchboard that has either fuses or circuit breakers that control power to different circuits of the flat. If your flat has some (or all) circuit breakers then check that none of the circuit breakers have been tripped (lever pointing the wrong way compared to the others, also pointing up is usually on and pointing down is usually off). Push the lever in the correct direction to reset the circuit. Circuits get tripped through overloading the circuit or because of a faulty appliance. If all the circuit breakers look fine, and the switchboard also has fuses then please contact us.
Photo shows a switchboard that has a combination of older style porcelain fuses and more modern plastic circuit breakers
I have reset the circuit breaker but it tripped off again.
Either there is too much demand on the circuit (running too many appliances at once, like running everything during a free hour of power, or using extra heaters in winter). Or there is a faulty appliance (like a jug, toaster or heater that has faulty cabling etc). Isolate appliances until you find the one that is tripping the circuit breaker.
Do Not keep resetting circuit breakers if they keep tripping all the time. They trip for a reason, to stop harm from electrical faults, please contact us if this occurs.
The switchboard looks fine but the washing machine or dryer still don’t turn on.
Check the plug that they are connected to. It may be a special plug to protect you from electrocution. These plugs trip out in the case of a power cut or a short. you need to make them work again by Pressing the “reset’ button. If the reset button just trips out again then contact us as it may be a faulty appliance causing the issue.
Photo shows a protected socket with a "reset" button and a "test" button. These are often installed in places where there is water (to protect you from electrocution)
There is power to the elements on top of the oven but the oven itself wont turn on.
Check if the oven has an analogue or digital clock. If it has a digital clock and there has been a power cut then the clock will have to be set (not necessarily to the correct time) before the oven will work.
If the oven has an analogue clock then it may have been set to automatic mode meaning a timer has been set. This needs to be set back to Manual mode as per diagram below. To do this turn the 'Cook Time' knob anti clockwise until the 'Hand' is showing.
