Switchboard upgrades
Ceramic fuses replaced with circuit breakers and safety switches, with capacity left for what you add next.
Electrician Camberwell
Camberwell is roughly two kilometres from our Hawthorn East workshop. It is one of the suburbs we attend most often and usually reach within ten minutes.
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- 25 years trading
Camberwell 3124
What goes wrong in Camberwell
Camberwell is Californian bungalow country. Street after street of 1920s and 1930s brick, built to a similar pattern, which means the electrical faults here are unusually predictable. That is useful: we generally know what we are looking at before we open the board.
The 1980s board is the defining problem
The typical Camberwell bungalow has had exactly one switchboard replacement, somewhere in the 1980s. Those boards brought in circuit breakers, which was progress, but most have either no residual current device or one covering the power points only, leaving lighting and the oven unprotected. They are also full. There is no spare way for ducted heating, a second bathroom or a charger. A switchboard upgrade is the single most common job we do in this suburb.
Bungalow roof spaces
Above the ceiling of an unmodified bungalow you will usually find original cable running alongside whatever was added in the 1980s. The old cable is fine while undisturbed and fails when it is not, which is why so many faults here appear in the week after downlights go in or insulation is laid.
Knockdown rebuild and large extensions
A lot of Camberwell stock is being extended rather than replaced, and a rear extension typically doubles the electrical load of the house. The board is the first constraint and the consumer mains are the second. Both are cheaper to deal with while the site is open, and both are commonly left until the fit-off stage, which is the expensive moment to discover them.
Camberwell Junction and Burke Road retail
The Junction is a working retail and hospitality precinct, and tenancy turnover is constant. Fitout electrical here is mostly about what the tenancy can actually carry against what the incoming operator intends to run. A cafe moving into a space last used by a clothing shop is a supply question before it is a wiring one.
Maling Road and the Canterbury edge
Toward Canterbury the housing gets older and grander, and the heritage controls tighten. Same work, different constraints on how cable is routed and what can be seen from the street.
Getting to you
Two kilometres from our workshop, so usually under ten minutes. Same-day attendance is normal for morning calls. For genuine emergencies we aim to be on site within two hours, and someone answers the phone 24 hours a day.
We also cover Hawthorn East, Canterbury, Glen Iris, Kew.
Services in Camberwell
What we are usually called out for here
Residential lighting
Downlights, pendants and outdoor lighting, replaced or run from scratch.
Power point installation
New outlets, USB points and outdoor weatherproof power, added on a circuit that can carry them.
Electrical repairs and fault finding
Dead circuits, tripping safety switches and power points that run warm, traced to the cause.
Three-phase mains upgrade
Single phase to three phase, for homes drawing more than the mains can supply.
Questions
Camberwell questions we get asked
How do I know if my Camberwell bungalow needs a new switchboard?
The common signs here are ceramic fuses, or an 1980s board with circuit breakers but a safety switch covering the power points only, or no spare ways left. If you are adding ducted heating, a wall oven or a charger, the board is the first thing to check rather than the last.
We are extending at the back. When should we call you?
At framing, before the plaster goes on. Running a circuit while the walls are open is a fraction of the cost of doing it afterwards, and it is also when we can tell you whether the board and the mains will carry the finished house.
Is an 1980s switchboard actually unsafe?
Not inherently, but the protection is partial. Circuit breakers protect the wiring. A residual current device protects the person, and most boards of that era either lack one or cover only the power points. Lighting and the oven being unprotected is the gap worth closing.
Downlights went in last month and now a circuit keeps tripping. Related?
Very likely. Original cable in a bungalow roof is brittle, and installing downlights disturbs it. The fault shows up days or weeks later, which makes it look unrelated. We test the affected circuit rather than just resetting it.
Do you do shop fitouts around Camberwell Junction?
Yes. We check what the tenancy supply can carry against the equipment schedule before anything is committed, which is the step that most often gets skipped and most often causes the delay. We work outside trading hours where a shutdown would cost the business.
Get it sorted
Book a Camberwell electrician
Fastest way to get an answer is the phone. It is answered 24 hours a day, seven days.
03 9889 3341Not urgent? Send the details and we will come back to you within one business day.