Why did it NOT trip the switches?

[Pierre Bishop]

Not sure if I am posting in the right place but I am in need of some help.

This morning I noticed that the all sockets in the kitchen and the lights in 3 rooms of the house were not working. I had previously used the kettle with no problems & the microwave has a clock & this had been on for ages. It was only when I went to make another cuppa that I noticed the kettle wasn't working. I replaced the fuse but still nothing. Then I noticed that the fridge wasn't working. I realised that all the sockets in the kitchen are dead except for the main socket for the cooker (which is on a different trip).

My query I guess is why all the sockets in the kitchen are gone & the lights in the kitchen, dining room & lounge are gone... but no switches on the board actually tripped?

Initially I thought the storm we had last night had done it but then I realised that we have used some of these items since last night without issue. All the appliances have worked when I plugged them into the sole working socket with the cooker switch.

I must add that I am neither an electrician nor a DIY bodger! I just don't know what has happened & our housing assoc won't come out till Monday! I contacted the housing assoc who asked if I could unplug ALL appliances in the house to see if anything tripped & nothing happened. I also manually tripped the switches for the sockets & the lights & put them back on & nothing.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions.

 

[Risteard]

Because an earth fault has caused a Residual Current Device (RCD) to operate. Therefore none of your circuit breakers would have operated. So nothing unusual happened.

 

[Pierre Bishop]

So does this mean that there ISN'T a fault on the fuse board & the wiring is safe?

 

[Pierre Bishop]

Actually... just noticed that one of the RCD's has tripped BUT there are still things on that circuit that are working.

 

[OwainDIYer]

Could you post a photo of your consumer unit clearly showing the circuit breakers and circuit designation labels please.

 

[Pierre Bishop]

give me 5.

 

[Pierre Bishop]

This is the offending RCD. The only things I know for sure that are working on here are the heaters & the smoke alarms. Not sure about the garden pump as it is for the cess pit & cannot check that.

 

[Pierre Bishop]

This is the other circuit. This one is not causing any problems & everything on this circuit is working.

 

[ericmark]

It is common for a RCD to trip where there is no apparent fault. Spikes caused by thunder storms can trip them. I have had RCD's on all circuits for 25 years and have found from time to time I will get a batch of tripping then it will not trip for a year with nothing changed. I have also found resetting one trip can cause other one to trip clearly resetting is causing a spike. So over the years I have learnt to open all breakers before trying the reset the RCD then switching the breakers back on one by one. This way if there is a fault you will realise which circuit is at fault.

Having said that I have started resetting breakers in one direction and it has tripped the RCD and from other direction the RCD holds. What one should do is turn off and unplug everything first but I never bother hence why it some times trips due to spikes when switching back on.

Over 25 years I have got use to it. At first I would get the meters out and do all the tests but I soon realised it was just a spike on the line 75% of the time and my son playing amateur radio for the other 25%.

 

[AndyPRK]

Turn rcd back on and see what is working.e.g the lights?

Smoke alarms have batteries too.

 

[riveralt]

Turn rcd back on and see what is working.e.g the lights?
Smoke alarms have batteries too.

And if that doesn't work, turn all the MCB's that are protected by that RCD off.
Turn the RCD on and if that holds then bring your circuits on one at a time to see if they all hold.
If, adopting this approach, the RCD holds then there could be any number of reasons for the trip.
The most to difficult to determine is when a slow build up of earth leakage occurs and something is turned on that sends the RCD over its limit.
One of your bulbs could have blown - so check the lighting circuit for a blown bulb.
I think I would also check the wiring on the outdoor garden pump.

 

[Pierre Bishop]

Thanks guys. opened the breakers & flipped the RCD. Flipped each breaker in turn & it is the garden pump (which we cannot get access to as it is for the cess pit) caused it to trip every singe time I put it on!

Problem solved!

 

[Taylortwocities]

If you are lucky, there will be an islation switch out near the pump. By using this you can determine if it is the pump itself, or the cabling.

Good luck, sounds like a smelly job for someone.

 

[Pierre Bishop]

Good luck, sounds like a smelly job for someone.

Which is why I'm going to let the Housing Association deal with that one!