Nagel Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 As the title says, my household circuit breakers keep tripping. It's a modern box fitted just last year and contains around 20 mini circuit breakers (MCB) and 2 residual current circuit breakers (RCBO). This happened all last week from 19th to 25th March sometimes repeatedly on switching on a kettle or some other device, but the past two days it hasn't happened. The night it first happened there was a loud pop from my laptop power supply which never worked again and all the lights downstairs went out. Then there would be random tripping of one of the RCBOs, always the same one. My question... Could this be caused by fluctuations in the power supply or do I need to get an electrician to look at it, who will probably find nothing if the problem has now stopped. I noticed there was a thread on power fluctuations the first night it happened when my laptop charger went kaput. Here - http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=746644 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavegirl Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 It sounds like a short has developed somewhere along the circuit that is tripping one of the the RCD's. I'd ask on the recommended tradesman's part of the forum for someone to pop round and test your circuits. You could isolate the problem by working out which circuit is tripping and leaving that off for now. DON't open the box if you don't know what you're doing, just switch the MCB's on one at a time and see which one causes the RCD to trip- then leave this off. DKelectrical gets lots of good reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 It sounds like a short has developed somewhere along the circuit that is tripping one of the the RCD's. I'd ask on the recommended tradesman's part of the forum for someone to pop round and test your circuits. You could isolate the problem by working out which circuit is tripping and leaving that off for now. DON't open the box if you don't know what you're doing, just switch the MCB's on one at a time and see which one causes the RCD to trip- then leave this off. DKelectrical gets lots of good reviews. Thanks for the advice. I've tried the test of switching the MCBs on one at a time and that doesn't narrow it down as the fault never replicates itself. So is a problem with the incoming power supply not a possibility? It seems a coincidence that my problems started the same day everyone else was reporting problems with power brown-outs. The work is under guarantee still so the original builders should fix it if anyone, but it would be a pain to have to get them round and wait in for them if they're not needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahame Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 It sounds like a short has developed somewhere along the circuit that is tripping one of the the RCD's. I'd ask on the recommended tradesman's part of the forum for someone to pop round and test your circuits. You could isolate the problem by working out which circuit is tripping and leaving that off for now. DON't open the box if you don't know what you're doing, just switch the MCB's on one at a time and see which one causes the RCD to trip- then leave this off. DKelectrical gets lots of good reviews. If it is one circuit breaker then I would suspect a fault on that circuit, perhaps an overload or a faulty appliance, if it is all or many at random then the only thing that is common to all circuits is the mains. I'm not sure if a faulty earth connection at the box could cause it? You could check to make sure the screws are tight on the earths. Pretty much as Cavegirl says really. Added. I have just seen your birth date, are you really 100 years old? Congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavegirl Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks for the advice. I've tried the test of switching the MCBs on one at a time and that doesn't narrow it down as the fault never replicates itself. So is a problem with the incoming power supply not a possibility? It seems a coincidence that my problems started the same day everyone else was reporting problems with power brown-outs. The work is under guarantee still so the original builders should fix it if anyone, but it would be a pain to have to get them round and wait in for them if they're not needed. It's possible that a past power surge has led to an issue of arcing somewhere along a circuit and this is intermittently now causing you problems. An insulation test will pick this up and it's part of the standard testing procedures so I'm sure a qualified domestic electrician will be able to find your fault and fix it for you without too much disruption. Just make sure you choose someone who is Part P qualified. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 Added. I have just seen your birth date, are you really 100 years old? Congratulations. Actually I'm much older and sleep in a soil filled coffin Thanks for all the advice. I'll see how it goes for a few days more then call the electricians who originally fitted the breaker box if the problems return Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carltoncdx Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 May seem a strange question but do your lights go bright then dim then bright then dim.etc?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 May seem a strange question but do your lights go bright then dim then bright then dim.etc?? Not regularly. There's occasional brightenings and dimmings, but that's normal in all places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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