Soumeh Sara is the county town, and I have work in it almost every day. Its buildings fall into two groups: older one and two storey houses wired several decades ago, and the new three and four storey blocks that have been replacing them. Each has its own problems, and what works in one is not always right in the other.
The main streets are lined with shops and commercial units whose electrics have been altered many times over the years. Outside the town, in the villages, the work is tied to farming: rice mills running three phase motors, paddy field pumps that only run a few months a year but cannot fail during those months, and small stores and workshops.
What ties all of these buildings together is Gilan’s humidity. It ages cable insulation early, oxidises terminations and increases earth leakage. A large share of what I do in Soumeh Sara is finding and fixing those problems before they turn into a breakdown or a hazard.
Neighbourhoods and places in Soumeh Sara I work in
- Soumeh Sara town centre and main streets
- Residential neighbourhoods around the centre
- Tulam Shahr
- Marjaghal
- Kasma
- Ziabar
- Taher Gurab
- Hendekhaleh
- Gurab Zarmikh
- Nargestan
- Gurabpas
- Paddy field villages around the town
How a booking works
- 01 Soumeh Sara is inside my daily working area and close to Gurab Zarmikh, so most visits are arranged for the same day or the next.
- 02 It helps to describe the problem first on WhatsApp or by phone, and to send a few photos of the consumer unit or the job if you can.
- 03 Small jobs such as replacing a switch or clearing a fault are usually finished on the first visit.
- 04 For a rewire, a board or a camera system, I visit first, measure, and then give a written estimate.
- 05 During planting season, when the pumps start, calls from the villages pick up; if you have pump work, it is better to arrange it before the season.
Older town houses: wiring that no longer copes
Many of Soumeh Sara’s older houses were wired for a fridge, a few lamps and a television. Today the same circuits carry split air conditioners, electric water heaters, irons and washing machines. The result is cable that runs warm, fuses that keep blowing, and sometimes a fuse someone has replaced with a bigger one.
These houses usually have no RCD, and the earth is either missing or exists in name only. The first thing I do is insulation test the circuits and measure the earth, to find out whether the wiring can be kept or needs replacing. The whole house does not always need breaking out; sometimes redividing the circuits and replacing the board is enough.
- Take a warm socket or a burning smell from a switch seriously
- Fitting a bigger fuse hides the problem, it does not solve it
- Air conditioners and water heaters need their own circuits
New three and four storey buildings
New apartment buildings in Soumeh Sara typically have three or four flats and a landlord supply for the common parts. In these buildings, doing it right starts at the conduit stage: a power riser separate from the intercom and camera riser, spare conduit for future work, and a sensible position for each flat’s board.
The common supply (stairwell, parking, water pump and electric gate) is where I see the most carelessness. Pumps with no motor protection, stairwell lighting with no timer, and the parking gate sharing a circuit with the lights. None of this shows on handover day, but it causes trouble a few months later and adds to arguments between residents.
Rice mills and workshops around the town
Rice mills in the Soumeh Sara villages run several three phase motors that must start and stop in the right order: elevators and conveyors first, then the husker and whitener. When that sequence is not built into the board, a jam or a lost phase burns out a motor. Mill dust also settles inside open boards and, with the humidity, builds leakage paths.
In these workshops I build boards with closed, properly rated enclosures, a phase monitoring relay, thermal protection on every motor and interlocking between motors. If the bill carries a power factor penalty, the capacitor bank is looked at too. A board service before the season (retorquing terminations and clearing dust) costs far less than a stoppage in the middle of it.
Paddy field pumps: a few months of work, no room to fail
Paddy pumps usually sit at the field edge, away from the house, fed by a long cable. Thin cable over a long run means voltage drop, and voltage drop means a motor that runs hot and burns out early. The box next to the pump is often an open tin that takes in rain and mud.
For a pump I size the cable from the run length and motor current, fit a motor circuit breaker matched to the rated current, and mount a sealed enclosure above flood level. On three phase pumps a phase monitoring relay is essential, because losing a phase on a village network is not unusual.
- Buried cable must be armoured or in protective duct
- An RCD is needed on a pump working in water and mud
- Before the season, insulation test the cable and motor
Shops on the main streets
Shops in the town centre have usually changed hands several times, and each tenant has added something: a display fridge, an air conditioner, an LED sign, more lights. The small old board cannot carry all of it, and the added cables usually run unprotected across a suspended ceiling.
For a shop I first measure the real load, then split the circuits so the fridge and the till do not drop out because of a fault on one light. I usually plan cameras and the alarm at the same stage so the place does not need wiring twice.
Electrical services in Soumeh Sara
- Building electrical New build wiring, rewires of the town’s older houses, and tracing humidity driven earth leakage.
- Solar power Grid-tied rooftop systems on houses, and off-grid systems for pumps or stores where the grid is far away.
- Smart home Lighting, heating and blind control in villas and flats, on a local controller that works without internet.
- Alarm and security Alarms for town centre shops and houses that stand empty for part of the year, with call-out notification.
- CCTV CCTV for shops, apartment blocks and rice mills, positioned so it records usable images.
- Video and audio intercom Video intercoms for new three and four storey buildings, on a riser separate from the power.
- HV and LV switchboards Control boards for rice mills and workshops, landlord boards for apartment blocks, and properly split shop boards.
- Consultation and inspection Electrical inspection before buying or renting a house, and review of a building’s electrical drawings before work starts.
Common questions about work in Soumeh Sara
How soon can you come out for a job in Soumeh Sara?
Soumeh Sara is part of my daily working area and close to Gurab Zarmikh. Most of the time I can come the same day or the next, though the exact time depends on jobs already booked. If you have a total loss of power or a burning smell, say so in your message so it goes to the front of the queue.
I have an older house. Do I have to replace all the wiring?
Not always. I insulation test the circuits and measure the earth first. If the insulation is sound, replacing the board, adding RCD protection and separating the heavy circuits is sometimes enough. If the insulation has perished, rewiring is the only safe option, and I show you the test figures that say so.
What does it cost to wire a flat?
I cannot give a fair figure without seeing the building. The cost depends on the number of points, whether the containment is concealed or surface, the grade of cable and accessories you choose, and whether a new earth pit is needed. After a visit I give a written, itemised estimate so you know what you are paying for.
Our paddy pump keeps tripping. What is wrong?
The usual causes are voltage drop on a long cable, a lost phase, an impeller jammed with mud and debris, or leakage in the cable or motor. Measuring voltage under load, current on each phase and insulation resistance usually finds the cause on the first visit. Fitting a bigger breaker just ends with a burnt motor.
Do you build control boards for rice mills?
Yes. The board is designed and built with motor start sequencing, thermal protection on each motor, phase monitoring and, where needed, soft starters and a capacitor bank. The best time is before the milling season starts, so testing and commissioning can be done without rushing.
For a new building, do you also install the intercom and cameras?
Yes, and it is best arranged at the conduit stage. When the low voltage riser is planned separately from the power from the start, intercom and camera images stay clean and nothing has to run across the walls later. I do the power, intercom and cameras together so one person is responsible for the whole job.
Can you help with getting a building’s electrics approved by the engineering inspectors?
I build to Chapter 13 of the National Building Regulations and hand over a single-line diagram, circuit schedule and test figures. That paperwork makes the supervising engineer’s job easier. The approval itself rests with the project’s supervising engineer, but I put right anything they flag.