New fuseboard in shed.

[madman41]

Afternoon Folks.

Just come back from a bike rally to find my shed had been fitted with a 3 Way C/U and a radial socket circuit, ( 3 Double sockets, ) as i had mentioned this to my parents that it needed doing months ago, to cut a long story short, its been fitted, tested apparently, but the problem lies whenever i plug anything into the sockets, it trips the 16a mcb in the house's consumer unit,but not in the Shed's mini consumer unit? Any ideas what to try ? Thanks

 

[plugwash]

Can you post a picture of the thing that is tripping? in particular are you sure it's just a MCB and not a RCBO.

 

[madman41]

I cant get a picture atm , as im not home till sunday, (girfirend ) I know a little about electrics eg ring final circuit wiring, R1+R2 testing, radials, lighting radial etc, as im currently doing a course at college. Its defianatley the MCB In the houses consumer unit, as its on the buzz bar with other non RCD connected circuits, ( split load CU )

 

[madman41]

if you could suggest what i can do to test or inspect to see where the problem lies. Thanks

 

[madman41]

exactly my first thought, although, he lives down in plymouth and not answering his phone, so we eventually gave up with him and i'd like to rectify myself. I'd just like pointer in how to rectify. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Belboz]

exactly my first thought, although, he lives down in plymouth and not answering his phone, so we eventually gave up with him and i'd like to rectify myself. I'd just like pointer in how to rectify. Thanks for your reply.

Personally, I would be making him come back or be getting another qualified sparks in to have a look and then bill the original tw*t for the cost of sorting it out.

I am sure that the professionals on here will advise you in a similar vein as knowing 'a bit' about electrics is not enough.

As the often misquoted line goes..

"A little learning is a dangerous thing..."

 

[madman41]

He's not coming back anytime soon from what my parents have told me, To be honest i'd rather rectify the problem myself, if i could be advised on what tests to carry out, inspecting etc, also why would the MCB in the house's C/U Trip and not the one in the shed, if i am plugging appliances into the sockets fed from the shed's consumer unit?

 

[AndyPRK]

3 way cu ? Out of interest is there a light in the shed and does that trip the house cu too ?

 

[madman41]

3 way cu ? Out of interest is there a light in the shed and does that trip the house cu too ?

Spaces for 3 MCB's or 1MCB and a RCD and no lights atall, just three sockets wired radial to the shed's Mini consumer unit,

Shed consumer unit consists of 16A MCB feeding the radial circuit as mentioned above, And an RCD taking the SWA feed into the shed, the SWA cable runs back a MCB in the house CU, The breaker feeding the shed's SWA trips whenever anything is plugged in and switched on in the shed, but yet does NOT trip the MCB or RCD in the SHed that feeds the radial sockets that cause the trips.

Sorry if this is confusing.

 

[AndyPRK]

Well take a pic if the outside of the house cu.

Does the house MCB thats tripping have a test button?

/ in joke I wonder what colours have been used in the swa.

 

[madman41]

Added a picture hope this helps. and no test button on trip switch in house as its an MCB

Untitled

• madman41
• 8 Aug 2014
• 1

 

[flameport]

Switch off at the house
Remove the cover of the shed CU and take pictures of what is inside.
Put the cover back on.

As for the design - the shed CU is not required, it should either have been an RCD on it's own, or change the MCB in the house to an RCBO.

 

[plugwash]

What applicances are you testing with?
Are you the type who turns off the switches on sockets when not in use? if so does turning on the switches on the sockets without plugging anything in have any impact?
What parts of the setup were already there and what parts have been modified?

Personally based on the information we have so-far i'm thinking that the most likely expanation is that the MCB in the house CU has developed a fault. are there any spare MCBs you could swap it with?

 

[madman41]

What applicances are you testing with?
Are you the type who turns off the switches on sockets when not in use? if so does turning on the switches on the sockets without plugging anything in have any impact?
What parts of the setup were already there and what parts have been modified?

Personally based on the information we have so-far i'm thinking that the most likely explanation is that the MCB in the house CU has developed a fault. are there any spare MCBs you could swap it with?

Any appliance i plug in, such a drill chargers, plug in lantern , mobile phone chargers all trip , ONLY when plugged in and then socket switch is turned on it trips.

MCB in consumer in house was spare, therefor used to feed the swa to shed, , all CU in shed and SWA is new.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I cant get a picture atm , as im not home till sunday, (girfirend )

You get yourself home and take care of your electrical problem.

We'll take care of your girlfriend - we have representatives nationwide, there will be somebody handy who can help out.