MCB upstairs sockets tripping - water related?

[Jim1982]

Hello all,
I'll be getting an electrician in to look at this but wondered if you could offer some thoughts.
I was away on holiday for a week during which time the hot water and heating was switched off.

I got back at 1am Friday morning and switched hot water and heating back on. When I got up to the 3rd floor (townhouse) I noticed an unpleasant damp smell, yet can't locate a particular source for the smell and the walls look fine.

I went out for an hour later on in the day and when I returned, noticed that the upstairs sockets had tripped on the MCB. When trying to reactivate, it trips again immediately.

As this seems to have tripped when there was nobody in the house and therefore nothing being switched on, I'm concerned this could be connected with the damp smell upstairs and that there's some water lurking somewhere.

The sockets on the tripped circuit all look OK and there's no sign of dampness within any of them.
Surely if it was water there would be some sign of it within one of the sockets?
The house is a new build Barratt, almost 2 years old.
Thanks for any advice

 

[Taylortwocities]

Was it the MCB or an RCD that had tripped?

You need to get it looked at, water and electricity makes for a tricky mix with unpredictable consequences!

Although yiou had the hot water and heating switched off there will still be power in the cables and to the sockets. help the sparky out by trying to locate where the damp smell is coming from. Water may be collecting under a floor, somewhere..

 

[Jim1982]

Thanks for the reply.
Sorry my technical knowledge is a little limited.
If you look at the circuit breaker box, its just one of the switches which is tripping, the one labelled "upstairs sockets" which accounts for all sockets on 2nd and 3rd floor.
Everything else is working normally.

Trying to get hold of the Barratt main office in Cardiff but they are apparently closed on Saturdays. The site sales office opens at 11 so I'll go over in half an hour to see if they can offer any advice, as this should still be covered by the warranty (its just under 2 years since we moved in).

If Barratt won't do it over this weekend I'm tempted to get somebody in myself to have a look, as I really can't afford to take more time off work (I've had to take time off twice already for them to sort out a roof leak, and also when the boiler failed).

 

[Jim1982]

Doesn't look like its related to the damp smell.
The electricians who had a look at it today traced the tripping to a faulty live wire in a socket.
As the socket was being unscrewed it went bang, the screw must have contacted an exposed part of the live wire.

The exposed bit has been covered with a plastic connector cover, they are coming back later in the week to do a permanent fix.

The nasty smell upstairs remains a mystery, but thats another story.