Upstairs taps causing fuse box to trip

[fleck254]

I recently had a new bathroom suite fitted and now a few weeks later when i turn any of the taps on in the bathroom the fusebox trips.the heating works fine as do the hot and cold taps in the kitchen,until i turn a tap on upstairs then the fuse trips.spoke to the plumber who fitted the suite and he was stumped,said he had never come across it before.

 

[Buzx1313]

do you have a shower pump???

did the plumber do any wiring

is it the rcd that is tripping out??

 

[Taylortwocities]

Buzx may have a clue there. If you have a new pump to provide better water pressure it may be the cause- as it switches on when there is water flow.

Otherwise...

Did the "plumber" only do "plumbing"? Did he do absolutely no electrical work when the suite was fitted.??
If he did electrical work then it should have been done tested and certified by a registered electrician. You'll need to get that electrician back to sort it out.

I wouldn't use the taps until it is fixed as the fault may be DANGEROUS...

 

[fleck254]

the shower has not been installed yet,which i think is going to be connected to the combi boiler.the plumber did a straight swap with the suite and connected pipes to the hot and cold taps in preparation for the shower to be fitted which are now protruding from the wall.as far as i am aware he did not do any electrical work.it was fine for a few weeks.when it trips all the plug sockets in the house go off tv,fridge,etc.sorry i cant be more descriptive,but im not electrically savvy.im going to try and get an eclectrician round today,thanks guys.

 

[Chri5]

So there's no electrical reason why turning a tap on would pop the rcd for the property !

Is there anything electrical below the taps ?

I'm thinking:-

leak from basin, water on to electricals (check the light fitting under the bathroom)


Has the plumber messed about with shaver socket or any electrical cables ?
Has anything been done with main or supplementary (earth cables to water pipes?) bonding cables ?

 

[bernardgreen]

Is it any tap upstairs or only the hot taps ?

Does the fuse MCB or RCB trip ? ( RCB has the test button )

Does it trip as soon as the tap is turned on or is there a delay after the water is running before it trips ?

Can the tripped device be reset immediately or do you have to wait for some time before it can be reset.

One possibility is there is a damaged cable touching a hot pipe and when the pipe expands as hot water flows there is a contact between pipe and a conductor in the cable.

 

[fleck254]

it is any tap,there is a short delay before the fusebox trips and i do have to wait a while before i can reset it.thanks

 

[ericmark]

As a completed job with combi boiler not allowed any pump to boost water pressure but that does not mean there is not one from previous system which could cause an earth fault or overload when switched on but unlikely.

Other than that it would mean there is a earth fault and your body is completing the circuit.

With that in mind it’s a do not touch until an electrician has checked it out.

Had you provided move information we may have had more of a chance.
1) Did the device that tripped have a test button.
2) Did you need to turn tap on or only touch it.

 

[ericmark]

it is any tap,there is a short delay before the fusebox trips and i do have to wait a while before i can reset it.thanks

Reading that it sounds like an overload. I will guess a pump has gone faulty in some way. Likely there is some where a means to turn it off. May look like this

or this

I would look for them and try switching off or removing fuse.

I theory a 13A fuse should blow before a trip opens but in practice trips are often faster.

 

[bernardgreen]

Did the plumber use any plastic pipe when he altered the plumbing ?.

There might now be a fault of conductor to a section of copper pipe that is no longer connected to earth by metallic circuit ( new plastic pipe either end of the section ) This fault could go un-detected as any current leakage to earth via the water in the pipework is too low to trip the RCB. But when water flows the fresh water ( chlorinated / flourinated / other lcoal minerals ) could be slightly more conductive and allow enough earth leakage current to trip the RCB.

Other than that it would mean there is a earth fault and your body is completing the circuit.

Possible but then then it would be the RCB that tripped and that would happen as soon as the tap was touched, and reset could be immediate afte the hand was removed from the tap.

With that in mind it’s a do not touch until an electrician has checked it out.

AGREE with that.

 

[ericmark]

Other than that it would mean there is a earth fault and your body is completing the circuit.

Possible but then then it would be the RCB that tripped and that would happen as soon as the tap was touched, and reset could be immediate after the hand was removed from the tap.

At the time of writing the time delay was unknown, It appeared as I posted. Hence second post saying look for fused connection unit.

But bearing in mind the guy does not seem to know exactly what he has then just in case I would still recommend he gets some one who can test it out fully.

I have in the past found FCU hidden due to cupboards being fitted and to save an electrics time hunting for where located likely a good idea.

 

[electronicsuk]

Did the plumber use any plastic pipe when he altered the plumbing ?.

There might now be a fault of conductor to a section of copper pipe that is no longer connected to earth by metallic circuit ( new plastic pipe either end of the section ) This fault could go un-detected as any current leakage to earth via the water in the pipework is too low to trip the RCB. But when water flows the fresh water ( chlorinated / flourinated / other lcoal minerals ) could be slightly more conductive and allow enough earth leakage current to trip the RCB.

Wow, nothing like going for the simple solution

The circuit trips when either of the upstairs taps are run, and it takes some time to reset. My bet is on a leaky waste pipe onto a fitting/junction box somewhere beneath it, which takes time to dry before the circuit can be powered back on.

That said, unless the OP answered the questions posed to them:

Is there anything electrical below the taps ?

...then it'll be difficult to solve this problem.

Oh, and anything electrical below the taps also counts anything underneath the floorboards. I'd be particularly suspicious if any of the waste water pipework runs under the floor rather than directly out of the wall, as it could be a leak somewhere unseen.

Go fill a bucket from the downstairs tap and chuck it down the upstairs sink. Does the RCD trip?

 

[flyingsparks]

I would be interested to hear what the outcome to this one is?!?

 

[securespark]

You and everyone else....