electrics keep going off plz help

[mikeyd]

ColJack is correct it could be on any circuit even if you have turned off the breaker for that circuit. It might not even be to do with coupling or borrowed neutrals.

Put simply your RCD is tripping because the amount of current through the neutral side of the RCD is different to the amount of current through the live side.

Even if the circuit your fridge is on is fine, then current returning to the consumer unit from your fridge by the neutral conductor has many paths to follow. It should all go through the RCD but if there is a neutral to earth fault on any other circuit then the current could go down the neutral wire of that circuit (even if the MCB for that circuit is off) then to earth at the point of the fault, which will trip the RCD.

To isolate the circuit which the fault is on involves disconnecting neutrals as well as turning off the MCB.

 

[ColJack]

see, this is the reason that rcbo's are great things..

they isolate both poles when switched off and narrow the fault down to the specific circuit that the fault is on..

 

[davelx]

see, this is the reason that rcbo's are great things..

they isolate both poles when switched off and narrow the fault down to the specific circuit that the fault is on..

No they don't - at least the cast majority of single module RCBO's don't. The Neutral is needed for sensing, but is not switched.

eg - the Hager AD1xx range: RCBO Electronic 1M 1P 16kA B-32A 30mA AC Class

and the MK Sentry single module range
"RCBOs
With Solid Neutral
Single Pole
TYPE B
ONE MODULE
Suitable for installation in Sentry
Consumer Units and two or four
module enclosures."

MK

 

[ColJack]

I stand corrected then, i thought that they broke the neutral too..
too many years working with 3 phase stuff and doing panels with 2 pole rcbo's..

 

[beci]

its all get to complicated for my little brain however it does seem worse in the earlie hours of the morning normaly about between 4 and 5 oclock so i guess it is mainly when its damp ....... beci

 

[AMEdinburgh]

Beci

Have you had the fault since you moved in or did it happen more recently and if so when.

If the electrics have been fine in the past was any work done in your house which involved drilling walls or floors? As ColJack asked - have you put up shelves or hung pictures or had any electrical work done.

The reason for asking is that damaging a wire within a wall or under a floor could be causing the tripping. If you've had electrical work done just before the problem, it would seem reasonable to start there in case a mistake has caused the tripping.

Assuming the problem is relatively new and no work has been done.

As a suggestion, if you're in a flat and have a friendly neighbour, ask them if you could run an extension lead from their flat to your fridge freezer which would allow you to turn off all the circuits but do warn them that it might trip their electrics but if it does you've found the fault!

The electrician that was testing with me reckoned fridge freezers are the number one culprit and he's seen lots over his 40 years in the trade.

My other suggestion would be to test your plug in appliances and if you work, your workplace should have someone (either an employee or someone who comes in) who tests the equipment there. They might be persuaded to test the items you have at modest cost without too much disruption.

(I'm a DIYer not an electrician though)