Arcing at fuse box strange happenings with electrics in house - Help! Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

[jimp]

Hi. This is my first post here - I've thought of joining a forum like this for a while as I'm really no good at DIY!
For a while now the electricity in this house does weird things. Sometimes the lights flicker briefly, occasionally the oven will switch itself on for a microsecond. But last night my son plugged in his computer and ... well we all heard a bang. Now all the applicances switch on and off very rapidly: the lights, fridge ... everything that's on all the time. It's very scary, especially as it's accompanied by the smell of burning. The only way to stop it is to flick the master fuse switch. Now for the weird part. I tried to identify if there's one particular fuse that's faulty by switching them off one by one: the arcing continues. If I switch all the fuses off then flick on the master switch, the flickering/ burning recommences. The problem must be coming from something before the fuse box. But the problem definitely started the very instant my son plugged in his computer.
A few more details. We bought this house from a guy who really didn't know what he was doing. The fuse box is a spaghetti mess. We spent €3000 improving the wiring of this house, but mosly it was only downstairs. Another piece of information, we live in France, but I guess that doesn't change anything.
Thanks very much for any advice. Obviously, I don't have any electricity so I'm writing this on my phone. If I don't reply straight away, it's because I have no more charge. Today is Sunday, so I can't call an electrician, and next week I'm too busy at work to be able to stay at home to get one to come. This is why I'm posting here. Hopefully someone will have some ideas!
Thanks once again.

[proptech]

Hi jimp

From what you say, the only advice can be to get an electrician round there FAST. You could be in serious danger. This must be sorted without delay.

[jimp]

Hi jimp

From what you say, the only advice can be to get an electrician round there FAST. You could be in serious danger. This must be sorted without delay.

Thanks for the reply. I looked at it again in the light of day and found something else - that even with all the fuses on, none of the electrical appliances worked then - a few seconds later - all came flickering to life. It felt like we were in some sort of horror *******. I hasten to add that we kept the electricity off during this time! Well, I was quite convinced that the problem had its source before the fusebox, so we called the EDF emergency number and they came round very quickly. They found that some connections on the cables outside the house had melted - so they replaced these. They also found another anomaly: the cable going into the house is 10mm (I think), but going into the counter it's only 6mm! Somewhere these two cables have been put together, but they don't know where. Anyway, the problem is resolved for the moment - we now have electricity and it isn't flickering - but EDF will send a technician very shortly to get to the bottom of just what has happened to the cable. It's an old house, and there are many oddities connected with it! I could write a novel on the place!
Thanks once again.