Sounds and noises often generated while switching on an electrical appliance or plugging in to a plug point are ignored in most households. Treated as very common issues, these are part of the daily life in terms of switches and appliance handling. However, most people are oblivious to the fact that these issues are serious, and potentially life threatening and must be checked by a licensed electrician. This should be done immediately because houses where noises, such as crackling or buzzing sounds are heard from the switches, or flickers of fire are seen while operating switches are susceptible to electrical fires. That is the reason why you must develop a better understanding of why these things happen and what you should do if you ever notice something like this.

Looking Closely At The Noises And Sparks

The first thing you need to understand is whether you have a problem, or if things are alright. If there is a genuine problem, then it must be attended at the onset by you and then by a professional electrician. Some of the warning signs and symptoms that indicate problems are as follows:

• The appearance of frequent or occasional sparks while you put on or off a switch.
• The appearance of sparks in a similar way when you insert the plug of any electrical gadget or appliance in the socket. It is unsafe to insert the plug into the socket while the switch is turned on, yet people often commit this mistake and ignore it. Sparks are seen because of that. But if there is a spark even when the switch is off and you are trying to plug into that socket, then there certainly is a problem.
• Overheating of the cover plates on the switch board, which seems uncomfortable to the fingers on touching.
• Buzzing sound when you put on a switch.
• Crackling sounds from a switch or plug.

All these are the problems, which must be addressed on time by an experienced electrician.

Chances of Arcing

Arcing is that condition, where, you can hear a slight or prominent buzzing, crackling or sizzling sound behind the walls, switch boards or plug points. This sound may be constant or may stop in between or may not have any proper pattern. This indicates about the problem of arcing. Arcing happens when current flow gets strong due to electrical signals like putting on a switch, and it has to jump in between two points. When the current signal has to jump the gaps, it creates a spark. And such sparks often are the causes of deadly electrical fires. That is the reason, why, if you hear such noises, you must be alert and prompt, and call for an electrician immediately.

Such gaps in wiring or connectivity, resulting in arcing may happen due to numerous reasons:  a poor and nonmaintained electrical connection, the wires being too old or damaged due to oxidation at points, or overall careless and faulty wiring are some of the reasons. Many other direct and indirect reasons might also play its part in the issue. Hence, you need an expert electrician to check through the entire wiring of the house and detect the problem.

Not everyone is aware of electrical fires and the proper dos and don’ts about it. That is why every year many properties are damaged, and many people get hurt or die from electrical fires. Sometimes small and consistent sparks keep on damaging a part until bigger damage takes action while at other instances the fire ignites abruptly. Therefore, getting the electrical lines through the property checked by an electrician should be given utmost priority when you realize things are doubtful and not in a perfect state.

About The Author: Alyssa Moylan is an ordinary woman from Australia, a writer by day and a reader by night. She writes on various topics like home improvement, business, lifestyle, health, travel and fashion. She likes to think of ways on how to solve daily life problems of people. Follow her on Twitter to stay updated.

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