Dead RCD switch?

[SteveM1]

Hi

I'm fairly experienced with general DIY, but know very little about home electrics. This morning when I unplugged my iron from an extension lead there was a 'pop' and I could smell a slight burning smell coming from the socket on the extension lead. I then discovered that it had tripped all the sockets in the house, but when I went to the fusebox the switch wouldn't turn back on. When I flicked it up I felt the resistance of the 'click', but then it popped back down again and wouldn't stay up. I pressed the trip switch thinking it may try and reset something, but now when I try flick the switch back up, there's no resistance at all, it just flicks straight back down with the weight of the spring, there's nothing trying to make it stay up.

I've had a couple searches on the internet about this and some have said to try and reset the whole fusebox, some have said that the switch itself may be broken and I need a new one, and so on. i discovered all this when after I had left the house for work.

Any thoughts? Is this likely to be a DIY job if it's just replacing the switch?

Cheers

Steve


The offending switch is below:

 

[ricicle]

Did you try reseting the RCD with all the MCBs off or even with the main switch off ?

 

[SteveM1]

Not yet, I was running late for work and didn't think of it at the time, will be the first thing I do when I get home later. I just wanted to have a fallback plan in case that doesn't work when I get home. I wanted to have it fixed tonight, so wasn't sure if I should try and call an electrician now to meet me later, but i'll feel a bit of a muppet (not to mention waste a call-out fee) if it's fixed just by turning off the main switch.

Assuming turning off the main switch doesn't work, what would be my next steps to test?

Cheers

 

[bernardgreen]

Did you un-plug the extension lead from the socket on the wall before trying to reset the RCBO

I could smell a slight burning smell coming from the socket on the extension lead.

which suggests the extension lead is the problem. It may have been damaged by over heating where the iron was plugged in.

 

[SteveM1]

I unplugged the extension lead, however that lead (with only the iron plugged in) was plugged into another 4-way, which is still attached to the wall . I know it's wrong to do extensions off extensions, however there is only one thing plugged into the 4-way, which is a water fountain for my cats drinking water (don't ask, it was the girlfriend who bought it), which is a tiny little motor.

It is possible that the extension blew (now unplugged), which also blew the fuse of the 4-way (still plugged in), which is stopping the RCBO being reset?

I'll unplug everything from that wall socket when I get home and see if that helps.

 

[dannyboi2003]

I hate to break the bad news but i think you will also need an electrician to fix another issue you have, look closely at the trip for 'smoke alarms' a bit of the front is missing exposing the live internal workings. This needs replacing asap and could be dangerous.

 

[RF Lighting]

Well spotted