please help! Circuit breaker keeps tripping.

[useless84]

Hi all

Last nite my partner was using her sunbed when the power tripped off for the upstairs ring. I tried just flicking it back over but it popped and tripped again. I unplugged everything on it and then flicked the trip switch again ALL OK!. Or so i thought it now trips every time something is plugged in and turned on other than a tv and sky.

Before i fork out for a sparky is there anything i can check or test to find the problem.

Thanks

 

[JACKC]

As it is not down to a specific piece of equipment you are plugging in then I can only recommend that you call in a professional who will have lots of expensive test equipment. Could be worth switching off the supply to the sockets and taking the faceplates off to see if you have any loose wires etc. before you do so.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Last nite my partner was using her sunbed when the power tripped off for the upstairs ring.

Oh well - every cloud etc - at least that will delay the time when she develops skin cancer.

 

[electronicsuk]

Sounds like a neutral-earth fault, if that's the case then your electrician should be able to find it. Could have been caused by heavy load on the circuit, I hear some of these sunbeds run off two 13A plugs.

 

[kkynaston]

I hear some of these sunbeds run off two 13A plugs.

Just like the tumble drier and washing machine in the same double outlet.
Except I imagine that a sunbed would be drawing full load constantly

 

[Steve]

I hear some of these sunbeds run off two 13A plugs.

FFS so thats a total of potentially 6kw of UV light hitting your skin. Why the hell would anyone need so much? The guidance is that you only expose your skin so much at a time anyway, so why so much power???

Neighbours daughter is bloody orange! She must be forever on the beds, I dont know why they take it so far.

ANYWAY, the fact that the OP unplugged everything then the breaker reset tells me that the sunbed is at fault. That was in use when it tripped, wouldnt reset under load, would reset once disconnected.

Though this would change depending on whether it was an RCD or an MCB or an RCBO.

 

[kevin1234]

Sounds like a neutral-earth fault, if that's the case then your electrician should be able to find it. Could have been caused by heavy load on the circuit, I hear some of these sunbeds run off two 13A plugs.

how do you reckon its a neutral to earth fault???

 

[ColJack]

an NE fault causes tripping on an RCD when a load is applied.. there is a threashold though depending on where it is and what the resistance back to earth is..

we worked it all out in a previous post somewhere.. lots of complicated maths..

though this is of course assuming that it's an RCD or RCBO rather than just a plain MCB...

 

[kevin1234]

ah right i see and what other types of faults does a RCD detect?? and the Mcb??

and is the neutral to earth fault e,g when neutral is touching somewhere in the circuit is it or??

 

[ColJack]

sarchasm or genuine question?

 

[kevin1234]

ye genune question???

 

[kevin1234]

anyone??

 

[securespark]

You've asked this before. MCB's will not detect NE faults.

 

[Adam_151]

Kevin, an RCD detects an inbalance in the currents in live conductors, so basically current flowing to anything that is not meant to carry it.... the protective conductor, the physical mass of the earth... a neutral of a different circuit (not on same RCD), etc, because neutral and earth are supposed to be at the same potential then a short between the two might not trip the rcd in certain circumstances... it depends on the actual potential between the two at the time in question

A MCB is an overcurrent device, it has two parts an electro-magnetic part that trips very fast in resposnse to fault currents (short circuits, low impedance earth faults), and a thermal part that deals with sustained overloads

An RCBO is basically both in one package

Simples!