mcb tripping and sparking

[beans1957]

Hi
Hope somebody can help,my 5 amp lighting mcb has tripped and when i try to reset it,it sparks and trips out strait away,i havent had any work done on the lights for the last 2 years when i had low voltage lighting fitted in the bathroom and it has only tripped in the past when a bulb has blown.
Thanks for any input

 

[Taylortwocities]

That inicates that there is a fault somewhere on the lighting circuit.

The spark is when you operate the MCB lever. It will come from the contact inside the MCB, but it is only making contact briefly because of the short circuit.

Your next job will be to investigate where the fault is.

 

[securespark]

Start by turning all lights off then trying to reset. It may be a faulty fitting or shorted out lamp.

 

[beans1957]

wow thanks for the swift replys,
Ive tried turning all lights off but not sure on a couple of bathroom pull switches if they are on or off,the mcb still wont reset and i tried turning the mains off and the mcb reset but when turned back on it tripped.Looks like im gonna have to look at all the switches and lampholders,is there any
thing i should be looking for apart from the obvious loose or damaged wire?

Thanks again Pete

 

[beans1957]

Yipeeeee
started looking at all switches and lampholders and the 3rd thing i came to was the outside pir light opened it up and the box with the time delay setting and where the pir sensor goes to was fried,disconnected the light and the mcb reset no probs.any ideas why this box fried ? I fit the light myself about 3 years ago,it was a strait swap as there was already an outside light there with no pir.ive just traced the supply for the light and it looks like its a spur from a light in the shed,is this ok ?

 

[Alarm]

Overheated?
Water ingress.

Not a good idea, outside light blows you have no lights inside.
As you have noticed.

 

[kai]

It's a good idea to have a Double Pole Switch between the inside and outside parts of your lighting circuit, so if a fault appared on the outside light, you could turn off the double pole switch, to prevent disruption to you indoor lighting facility.
I wonder why was the traditional Regulation abolished, which demanded that double pole switches be provided in all exterior lighting circuits - perhaps ban-all-sheds knows the right answer???

 

[Taylortwocities]

Maybe Holmslaw could make up a regulation.

 

[RF Lighting]

559.2