Sancaktepe

In Sarıgazi and Samandıra extra storeys were added to existing buildings over the years, with the new flats wired straight into the old undersized service head at ground level. When the floors' neutral returns are pressed onto the same terminal, one flat's load flows through another flat's neutral. As a result a neighbour starting a washing machine trips a different flat's breaker, and voltage appears between neutral and earth.

The repair measures the load currents inside the service head with a True-RMS clamp meter, separates each floor's neutral onto an independent busbar and renews melted terminals with fire-rated ceramic blocks. Every flat is given its own 30 mA Type A residual current device. Where the riser cross-section is insufficient for present demand, a written renewal proposal backed by the measurement report is submitted to the management.

In the older housing stock of Yenidoğan and Abdurrahmangazi a ceramic screw-in fuse board still sits in the hall cupboard. These boards contain no residual current device at all, so protection against electric shock is zero. The fuse melts and welds into its base under overload, fails to clear a short circuit and the board body carbonises over time. The sockets usually have no protective earth either.

The old board is removed entirely and a flame-retardant modular DIN-rail enclosure installed. Each room receives an independent Type C breaker, the kitchen and bathroom get dedicated circuits, and a 30 mA Type A residual current device plus a Type 2 surge arrester are fitted at the incoming side. Where no earth exists a solid copper electrode is driven, its resistance measured and the bootleg jumpers in the sockets removed one by one.

In the crowded family flats of Meclis, Veysel Karani and Osmangazi, kitchen renovations leave a built-in oven, microwave and dishwasher all fed from a single old 2.5 mm² branch. When they run together at dinner time, crackling comes from the socket back-box behind the counter and a sharp plastic odour spreads. That odour is a definite sign the outlet has begun to melt and the socket must be taken out of service immediately.

The blackened conductor ends are cut back, the back-box replaced and an unbroken TSE-certified solid copper 3x2.5 mm² cable pulled from the board to the counter behind the skirting. A separate C16 breaker is fitted for the oven and another for the dishwasher. Daisy-chained extension blocks are removed entirely and enough fixed outlets installed on the wall so load no longer piles onto one point.

Across Sancaktepe the most common night call is a residual current device that trips again the instant it is reset. The technician disconnects every branch at the board and resets the device; if it holds, the fault lies in the installation. Branches are then energised one at a time until the offending leg is identified. This method avoids blind part swapping and pinpoints the faulty circuit in about twenty minutes.

The faulty leg is measured with a megohmmeter to separate leakage caused by damp, by charred insulation or by a defective appliance. If an appliance is to blame it is disconnected and the home re-energised; if the wiring is at fault that leg is isolated and the refrigerator, boiler and lighting restored within the first ten minutes. No drill is used at night in terraced blocks; location is done silently with a cable tracer.

At the end of every job the circuit is measured with a 500 V megohmmeter; if phase-to-earth insulation resistance falls below 1 Megaohm the cable is pulled anew rather than patched. Earth loop impedance is measured at socket outlets to prove the protective device clears a fault inside TS IEC 60364 disconnection limits. During testing phase, neutral and earth are read separately, and any voltage between neutral and earth triggers a search for a bootleg ground jumper.

Earth electrode resistance is measured with a digital earth tester; when the 2 Ohm target is missed an additional rod is driven or bentonite backfill applied. Every recorded value is written numerically onto the service report, handed to the customer and kept on file, so readings can be compared at the next inspection.

If a sharp Bakelite odour or smoke comes from the board and it is not yet in flames, trip the main switch using a dry wooden handle. Never pour water onto switchgear or a burning cable; water conducts, intensifies the arc flash and electrocutes the person intervening. Use only a Class ABC dry chemical powder or carbon dioxide extinguisher.

Never grab an electrocuted person bare-handed; the current passes into the rescuer too and leaves two people across the circuit. Separate the casualty from the source with a dry broom handle, a leather belt or a wooden chair, call the emergency ambulance number, then alert our 24/7 emergency electrician line. Even if the casualty is conscious and says they feel fine they must still attend hospital, because current that has crossed the torso can produce a cardiac rhythm disturbance hours later. Once power is off the board cover is closed and nobody attempts to reset the lever until the electrician arrives.

In an added-storey building in Sarıgazi, the breaker in the upper flat was reported to trip the moment the downstairs neighbour started a washing machine. Arriving in thirty-one minutes, our crew measured 26 volts between neutral and earth at the flat intake, a definite indicator of a shared neutral. Opening the meter panel revealed the neutral returns of three floors pressed onto the same terminal, blackened by overcurrent. Each floor's neutral was separated onto its own busbar, the blackened terminals renewed with fire-rated ceramic modular blocks and all connections torqued to 3 Nm. The flat board received its own 30 mA Type A residual current device; the final reading was 0.4 volts between neutral and earth and the neighbour's load no longer affected the other flat.

At the end of the callout line insulation resistance was re-measured with a megohmmeter, the values entered on the technical service report and a copy left with the customer. Fitted components carry both the manufacturer warranty and our 1 year labour guarantee.