Ground floor ring tripping RCD

[Jimbo]

Hi,

Arrived home last night to find electrics had gone off. Isolated the problem to the downstairs socket ring. Unplugged all appliances, still trips the ICD. Which means it's the socket connections, the wiring itself, or presumably, it could be the MCB?

Any hints on how to isolate where the problem is? I can check the socket connections myself, but not until the weekend when I've got some light. Wondered if there's another way of tracking down the problem?

If all else fails, can anyone recommend an electrician in the Frome / Shepton Mallet area?

Thanks

Jim

 

[JohnD]

Just to check, you mention the MCB? The thing that's tripping. is it the MCB or the RCD or both? How did you identify that it was the downstairs ring causing it?

If you switch off the MCB, do you still get the RCD tripping, or does that stop it?

Does the downstairs ring supply any damp areas, like a garage, outside socket, or utility room with a washing machine? Has there recently been any work such as drilling or nailing into the walls?

BTW do you have an overhread supply, or an underground one?

 

[Jimbo]

RCD is tripping, not MCB. If I switch off the MCB, the RCD does not trip. The MCB that causes the RCD to trip is the Downstairs socket ring.

The ring doesn't supply any damp areas, nor has there been any recent DIY!

Overhead supply.

Cheers for any help!

 

[Big_Spark]

Jimbo, I know you have said that you unplugged everything on the ring, but are there any Fused Connection units (Spurs)on this ring feeding some fixed equipment?

I appreciate you may not realise they share the circuit, but it is very common if the load is small.

Further, do you have a seperate ring for the kitchen or is it combined with the rest of the downstairs? This could be the source of the problem and the location of any likely spurs, if this is connected to the same ring of course.

If you cannot find anything else sharing this circuit, then I would suggest calling in an electrician. Of course any of the people in the know here could explain to you how to fault find the ring, and how to do it safely an effectively, but to be honest unless you really know what your doing it is fraut with dangers and serious frustration.

By all means ensure the connection behind the sockets are ok, but anything beyond this I do suggest someone who knows what they are doing.

I do think that you will likely find something else on the circuit that is causing the problem though.

 

[Jimbo]

There is one socket spur, but the appliances have been unplugged. There are no FCUs. The whole of downstairs is on one circuit (it's a small house!)

I got an electrician out and he has sourced the problem, but didn't have the time to fix it yesterday. He's patched it up temporarily so that the ring is now a very long spur. Now I have to take the floor up

I would still like to know how I can trace this sort of fault myself, without specialist tools!

 

[swelec]

Jimbo

What was the cause of the problem?

 

[Jimbo]

Not sure, the electrician isolated the stretch of wiring that's causing the problem, but until I get the floor up I won't know what the problem is. I suspect mice! I've been trying to get rid of them for a few weeks, but they're too wily for the humane trap these days, so it's time to bring out the spine-breakers!