MCB 32A TRIPPING

[conny]

Bet someone says you should not use a terminal driver to check for 'live' even if it was a nean indicator type.

 

[Gees]

I turned off the main power and then I went round and tested sockets/lights on different circuits to test they were off

Rick, out of interest, how did you test that the lights and sockets were off?

I would have hacked through the DNO's cable with a petrol driven chainsaw

 

[dt2008]

**** !!! **** !!! ****!!!!

It's bloody gone again , New ****ing socket , Wires all in

The problem must be somewhere else

****KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK IT !!!

Gonna have to call in someone

**** !

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Let us know what the findings are?

 

[martinxxxxxx]

Hi

I am really sorry that the problem has re-occurred.

It is not rocket science and most people can make it work, the difficult bit is to make it work safely.

I am pleased that you are calling someone in, not because it in anyway vindicates my position on the matter, but because I want you to be safe.

Please do post what the person fixing it finds and be sure that they issue you with a cert for the job (my advice,; take it or leave it).

Hope you get it sorted with out costing you too much, look on the bright side - the further fault happened when you were awake and did not cause any major problems etc.

Thats all from me at the calling all trades advice line


Martin

 

[Hibbo]

Oh well, you had a good crack at it. What you did wasn't rocket science, but as the problem now appears to be slightly more rocket sciencey than a loose wire, it's time to get a spark in to check it out.

Good luck.

PS. Leave that circuit isolated until it is fixed!

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

sorry to hear you're still having a bit of a nightmare. I agree with what Martinxxxxxxx said above, but would like to just say that depending on what is found and what is done about it, it may not necessarily warrant a certificate for the work.

 

[dt2008]

Sorry guys , I had to have another look at it , As it was really beginning to bug me .

This time I looked a little deeper , I removed the socket again and looked at the twin and earth from the hole at the bottom of the box , As I pulled it up the live snapped off in my hand were it had become weakend by the short ? and I saw that the flex was chaffed and burnt (where the short had occured) this was a inch or so below the socket box so I wouldn't have seen it yesterday , Luckily I was able to pull about 6" of flex up thru the wall and saw the part that was damaged (will post a pic), I retrimmed the wires , Set the socket up again and the power has now been succesfully on the the last several hours .

Now just to be clear for anyone reading this , Posting this problem on this website and getting the answers really did help me and did give me some pointers as what to look for . If I had any doubt in my mind that I would have put myself in danger then i would not have investigated the problem not once not twice but three times , And eventually I believe I found the problem and I have fixed it , This does not give me any qualifications and it doesn't make me as clever as some of the people who gave me answers on here . I did make sure every circuit was dead (this time with a meter I borrowed)before I touched anything in fact the whole house was turned off . This was not about me trying to save a few quid it was about me finding a problem that was within my reach and dealing with it , It turned out for me to be a worn flex with an exposed LIVE shorting out . That had been in the wall for 10 years !!!

Once again and for the final time thank you for all of your help

And if your wondering ...Yes I have got a spark coming round tomorrow to show what I have done and just to confirm for me (spark is a friend of my neighbour)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Ha!

After you posted that it had gone wrong again, I was going to ask if you'd cut the cable back past any damage done by overheating, but when I checked this:

I undone the double socket in question and immediately noticed that one of the neutral wires had came out of the terminal on the socket , The earth wire from the back plate to the socket had also come away and indeed looked a little charred on the end . So this was the first visual things i noticed . I then checked the live with a terminal driver just to make sure . Disconnected the whole thing inspected the socket which looked fine no burning etc etc , And then wired it back up with a new earth

there was no mention of any overheating on anything except the flylead which you replaced.

So I didn't bother.

Ho hum.

 

[dt2008]

Untitled

• dt2008
• 29 Dec 2009
• 1

 

[dt2008]

Untitled

• dt2008
• 29 Dec 2009
• 1

Forgot to add , The earth wire I said previous was not from the socket , It was the piece of earth wire that was neighbour to this live piece , Which obviously broke when it shorted , Thats why it had the charred look about it , But I didn't put 2 + 2 together at that point

 

[ColJack]

well done..

now, was this a metal backbox, and did it have a gromet installed where the cable came through?
was that the cause of the chafing or was it the tiny nick the installer put in with his stanley knife?

 

[mikhailfaradayski]

maybe the back box had been installed by this guy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul1LzExmoY4

(35 seconds onward, beautiful craftmanship )

 

[dt2008]

well done..

now, was this a metal backbox, and did it have a gromet installed where the cable came through?
was that the cause of the chafing or was it the tiny nick the installer put in with his stanley knife?

There was a rubber gromet in it , The damage was just below where the gromet was at , So it must have been a nick , What amazes me is it's been like that for 10 or so years , Maybe it was the christmas dinner condensation that seeped into the nick ,, which caused the trip in the first place , D'ya think ?

 

[Gees]

Sorry guys , I had to have another look at it , As it was really beginning to bug me .

This time I looked a little deeper , I removed the socket again and looked at the twin and earth from the hole at the bottom of the box , As I pulled it up the live snapped off in my hand were it had become weakend by the short ? and I saw that the flex was chaffed and burnt (where the short had occured) this was a inch or so below the socket box so I wouldn't have seen it yesterday , Luckily I was able to pull about 6" of flex up thru the wall and saw the part that was damaged (will post a pic), I retrimmed the wires , Set the socket up again and the power has now been succesfully on the the last several hours .

Now just to be clear for anyone reading this , Posting this problem on this website and getting the answers really did help me and did give me some pointers as what to look for . If I had any doubt in my mind that I would have put myself in danger then i would not have investigated the problem not once not twice but three times , And eventually I believe I found the problem and I have fixed it , This does not give me any qualifications and it doesn't make me as clever as some of the people who gave me answers on here . I did make sure every circuit was dead (this time with a meter I borrowed)before I touched anything in fact the whole house was turned off . This was not about me trying to save a few quid it was about me finding a problem that was within my reach and dealing with it , It turned out for me to be a worn flex with an exposed LIVE shorting out . That had been in the wall for 10 years !!!

Once again and for the final time thank you for all of your help

And if your wondering ...Yes I have got a spark coming round tomorrow to show what I have done and just to confirm for me (spark is a friend of my neighbour)

Chaffed wire !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!