Excuse my lack of technical knowledge here, but I'm having problems with the ground floor ring main "tripping out". I've turned off all appliances / plugs at the wall, but when I turn the switch back on at the fuse box, it trips again after 10 minutes or so. Any ideas ?
Ground floor sockets ring main keeps blowing
- Thread starter colint
- Start date
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Sounds like an overload. Have you decorated recently and opened up any sockets? I see this kind of fault fairly frequently, where the cable insulation has been crushed in the accessory mounting box on refitting. Failing that, it is unusual for fixed wiring to develop this kind of a fault without some kind of external influence, so are you absolutely sure that all equipment on the circuit is disconnected?
Resetting the breaker and waiting for it to trip again is not a recommended method of troubleshooting. You should consider calling in an electrician to find this fault safely.
Resetting the breaker and waiting for it to trip again is not a recommended method of troubleshooting. You should consider calling in an electrician to find this fault safely.
colint said:
Not very likely. Water is not that conductive - you'd have to be passing some 50-60A to get a type B circuit breaker to trip in ten minutes. Somewhere in your circuit there is a low enough resistance path between either live and neutral or live and earth to generate that current. It's possible that this is a latent fault that has recently surfaced. It's also possible the breaker has developed a fault. Either way, without test equipment and a knowledge of how to use it you'll be hard pushed to find the fault without a fair amount of luck. And repeatedly resetting the breaker is repeatedly re-energising the fault, so please don't do this - it won't help the situation and may well make it worse.
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Although you could/should try one more time with EVERYTHING disconnected. Even stuff behind furnture. Unplug everything, not just switch off.
If you call out a spark for a fault and it turns out to be some of your equipment then you'd be wasting money.
If you call out a spark for a fault and it turns out to be some of your equipment then you'd be wasting money.
What exactly is 'tripping'. Is it an MCB or an RCD???
If it is an RCD then it could be water related but they will normally trip instantly when reset
If it is an RCD then it could be water related but they will normally trip instantly when reset
It points at an appliance, but does not rule out a wiring problem.
Now, try connecting individual appliances, one at a time, and see if you can thus identify which ones causes the fault.
Now, try connecting individual appliances, one at a time, and see if you can thus identify which ones causes the fault.
colint said:
Maybe the electrician will be able to tell you!
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