Breaket blowing after fitting new ring main

[breezer]

i bet its a short to a screw, but i agree with the others, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, also remember this, electricty has no prejudices, it kills any one.

get alec, you know it make sence

 

[dunny]

FWL_Engineer why be so rude?? I dont mind you stating that I dont have the equipment and techical knowledge but I take offence at you adding in your comments about common sense thats just plain insulting. You have no idea what my background is, just because I am not a qualified electrician doesnt mean I have any less common sense than anyone else. The circuit is blowing for a reason but it is NOT the connections, it could be an issue with a cable, I will check tomorrow but I think most likely a problem with an accessory.

 

[keyplayer]

even if it does cost me in breakers!!!

Get yourself a cheap multimeter and you should save on breakers! I get the impression that you didn't hook up to the consumer unit, so disconnect from where YOUR new wiring starts and check for continuity between all conductors. If you are not sure what this entails, but are determined to diy, repost, it isn't that difficult.

 

[delmel]

Dunny did you turn on prior to screwing faceplates onto boxes. My guess is no, and that when doing so you have screwed one of the faceplate screws trapping, piercing and shorting out the circuit. Try undoing all the faceplates on the circuit of the new part.

 

[keyplayer]

also remember this, electricty has no prejudices, it kills any one.

Move over Alistair Campbell!

 

[mapj1]

You should be able to save some time by breaking the ring into sections to isolate the faulty section. A bang with nothing plugged in must be a connection between L and E or L and N (either a real connection, or the chafed cable kind). If you have a cheap meter with an ohms range, or even a battery and test lamp, you should be able to track down the section with an unexpected connection betwen reda nd black or red and green.... Though given that the installation has been powered up with a short - it is as well to get it checked over preofessionally even so.

 

[dunny]

thanks to those who helped, i have sorted the problem now and surprisingly enough it was a split cable (inside the main sheath). It was in the existing cable coming from the fuseboard (the loop that the spark left me when he did the main wiring), the live cable was split and was touching the earth. I found it by disconnecting it from the fuse board and then circuit testing the 3 cores (after first spending 2 hours testing the extended ring main that I installed). I also tested all the accessories and they where fine. I replaced the cable connected everything back up and its all working fine.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

get an electrician in to check your work

you obviously have no idea what you are doing and so should not have carried out this in the first place

Dunny, you state you have connected everything correctly, yet the breaker blows anyway..this should tell you something, and that something is..

YOU HAVE COCKED UP.

The circuuit needs to be tested and with all due respect, you lack the equipment, technical knowledge and common sense to undertake such tests so I would point you in the direction of the advice above.. GET IN AN ELECTRICIAN as it will be cheaper and safer in the long run.

get alec, you know it make sence

The main electrics where installed by an electrician.

thanks to those who helped, i have sorted the problem now and surprisingly enough it was a split cable (inside the main sheath). It was in the existing cable coming from the fuseboard (the loop that the spark left me when he did the main wiring), the live cable was split and was touching the earth

and its bad DIYers who make part P a good idea

What a curious conclusion to reach...

 

[keyplayer]

FLOL

 

[dunny]

alls well that ends well I suppose. I must say this is an extremely active forum probably the best I have come across !!!

 

[swelec]

dunny

Congratulations on repairing the fault

You obviously have a basic understanding of electrical circuits and through using logic, found the error

What threw me in your previous posts was your comment about joining all the wires togethet to fault find

I read this to mean l n & cpc which would have produced a very interesting result

Now I understand you simply wanted to bypass the sockets to take them out of the equation

 

[swelec]

The problem we sparks have is that we have been trained to design instal TEST then apply power

You have a basic understanding of the design requirements probably did an adequate instal then applied the power and wondered why it didn't work

The TEST stage is the critical one often left out by DIY'ers

Assuming all had worked, would you be happy to continue using the circuits

How do you know that the earth continuity is to the required level?

I can understand the "competent" DIY'er wants to save as much money as possible with all kinds of jobs

I would encourage people to do the donkey work - who really enjoys chasing walls and making good after

But please get your wiring tested by a proper SPARK for your own safety

 

[Damocles]

So just how many people go down to the CU and test the circuit after replacing a light switch?

And if you had to remove the cables from the breaker to test them, do you then check for continuity of the reconnected cables? Do you check all the connections in the CU in case any have come loose while you have been poking about? Do you check your screwdriver each time you use it to see if the end has chipped and is damaging screws? Do you check the oil in the van every day in case it has all leaked away and you will not make it in time to that life-threatening emergency call?

Yes, test things. But do keep a sense of proportion about how you do it.

 

[securespark]

Not trying to be rude, but it is not difficult to disconnect your work and leave the ring as it was before you added the new stuff. Does it still trip?

THINK LOGICALLY.

That is all I will say.

 

[andy]

Not trying to be rude, but it is not difficult to disconnect your work and leave the ring as it was before you added the new stuff. Does it still trip?

THINK LOGICALLY.

That is all I will say.

either that, or insulation test new coils of cable before using them.... has saved a bit if time fault finding for me in the past