Curious fault after recent move

[Stuart27]

Hi All

Let me start by saying I have my 2365 level 3 but never worked in the industry so my knowledge is limited.

My partner and I recently purchased and moved in to our first home

Since moving in we've had a strange electrical issue and I'd appreciate some advice about what could be causing it, or things I could check. I'd love to be in a position to just get somebody out to figure it out but I've recently been made redundant so can't really afford to do that right now.

So the issue is this.. every now and then, maybe once or twice a week, the main breaker will trip on the cu, either whilst the shower is being used or soon afterwards

The curious part about this is that when it happens, the main breaker doesn't want to come back on. I have to turn off each mcb, then put the main breaker on, then each circuit in turn. Everything comes back on fine (even the shower) except the ring supplying the kitchen and upstairs bedroom, which causes the main breaker to trip again. I have to leave the ring off for 30 minutes to an hour before it'll come back on without tripping the main breaker.

The bathroom is directly over the kitchen so my thinking is it's probably water ingres on the ring and it won't come back on until it's dried out, but I can't find any evidence of it and most of the time we can use the shower without issue, its only occasionally this will happen but at 5am when I'm trying to shower and get ready for work and the whole house trips out, setting off the house alarm aswell, it's more than a little frustrating.

Also there is no rcd protection at the board, is this a big issue? I know they're recommended and I intend to replace the board when I can but how urgent is it to get them in?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, apologies if its missed out any relevant information

 

[brianmoooore]

What is the point of the minimum character limit?

 

[pc1966]

What is the point of the minimum character limit?

Too high!

 

[James]

I asked for the minimum word count in case people wanted to call me a w4nk3r,

now they still can, but they have to explain themselves a little more to inconvenience themselves!!

 

[Stuart27]

Kudos to you guys knowing it was an RCD without even looking I feel foolish not realising rcds were built in to the main isolator on boards like this.
In my defense the board is at the bottom of a tight cupboard and the writing on it is very small

So to clarify, it's the rcd tripping occasionally when the shower is/has been running.

Turning off the ring supplying the kitchen/bedroom will allow the rcd to come back on but that ring has to stay off for a good 30mins to an hour before it'll come back on without the rcd tripping again

The mcbs aren't labelled properly since the ring supplying the kitchen/bedroom is actually the one labelled 'spare' and the 32a mcb 4th from the right is the spare, which suggests they've been swapped over at some point right? Probably due to this fault?

 

[pc1966]

Kudos to you guys knowing it was an RCD without even looking I feel foolish not realising rcds were built in to the main isolator on boards like this.
In my defense the board is at the bottom of a tight cupboard and the writing on it is very small

So to clarify, it's the rcd tripping occasionally when the shower is/has been running.

If it is always shower-related then the above advice to look for water leaks is an important starting point to be checked/fixed before anything else.

Turning off the ring supplying the kitchen/bedroom will allow the rcd to come back on but that ring has to stay off for a good 30mins to an hour before it'll come back on without the rcd tripping again

That strongly suggests it is a socket or junction box related to that circuit that is getting wet.

The mcbs aren't labelled properly since the ring supplying the kitchen/bedroom is actually the one labelled 'spare' and the 32a mcb 4th from the right is the spare, which suggests they've been swapped over at some point right? Probably due to this fault?

More likely that the kitchen had some work done an an additional circuit put in, etc.

That is a very old board! Good to see the RCD is still working though, but at some point you ought to consider replacing it, maybe as part of a supervised assessment as your training progresses?

Again, if I were you I would be looking to determine exactly what circuits are in use and check everything out. Did you get an EICR as part of the documents for your new home?

 

[Stuart27]

Again, if I were you I would be looking to determine exactly what circuits are in use and check everything out. Did you get an EICR as part of the documents for your new home?

No we didn't, the previous owner had the property around 8 years and stated in the documents no electrical work had been carried out during their time there.

By the look of the shower isolator in the landing cupboard it was installed as a DIY job

 

[brianmoooore]

By the look of the shower isolator in the landing cupboard it was installed as a DIY job

Could be that he just forgot to bring the large T&E cable clips that day.
At least you have a decent quality isolator that's up to the job, rather than one of those totally inadequate pull cord efforts.

 

[UNG]

Could be that he just forgot to bring the large T&E cable clips that day.

Or a piece of trunking that would have also covered the large hole in the back box