im in shock (excuse the pun)

[Marie-Claire]

a friend of mine asked me to have a look at her supply as it keeps tripping, after looking in the consumer unit i was surprised to discover that she has upstairs and downstairs ring on a 32A breaker, she has a big house and i counted 16 double sockets up and 2 spurs, 24 double sockets down with a spur thats powering a water feature and set of downlighters, am i right in thinking that this is too much for a 32a mcb and thats what is possibly causing the problem?

 

[Des 56]

Is it the Mcb or the Rcd tripping
Perhaps as a temporary measure,you may be able to split the possible single ring and convert to 20 amp radials,spliting the kitchen sockets onto each radial to share the load
If it is up and down seperate ring and plenty of spare ways,all looks good


oops
tel was on the ball before I was out of the blocks

 

[Marie-Claire]

I was thinking maybe new curcuits with and old

no its not one of these old things, its a new model, and its definately the one supplying the whole house, she has not long moved in and doesnt know who installed it at the mo

 

[SPARTYKUS]

I have seen a two fuse house before. "lights" & "power". But it was an old 3036 board.

 

[Marie-Claire]

no its not one of these old things, its a new model, and its definately the one supplying the whole house, she has not long moved in and doesnt know who installed it at the mo

im not a big fan of these re-wireable fuseboards

 

[Des 56]

she has not long moved in and doesnt know who installed it at the mo

Best bet is dont tell her,she will think it was someone else

 

[Marie-Claire]

You seem knowledgeable on fault finding - but you really do need to invest in a MFT.

will do

 

[Phil]

no its not one of these old things, its a new model, and its definately the one supplying the whole house, she has not long moved in and doesnt know who installed it at the mo

wow a 2 way board for a whole house. that would make rewires cheaper she really could do with a new board in as tel said with the rings splitting an extra leg in to each and making into two.

 

[Marie-Claire]

Best bet is dont tell her,she will think it was someone else

lol

 

[Spudnik]

If it twere me, id get 500 volts fired down the cables and see what you get.

Everything unplugged first of course.

 

[Ponty Massive]

My house is the same almost. One circuit for the sockets, one for the lights and one for the boiler (4-way 3036). My plan (when I get chance) is to split the ring mid way and convert to 2no RFC. There is an old 6mm T+E which has been disconnected from the board and left up in the loft (looks like it was for a shower) which I'm gonna use for a sub main and put the upstairs lighting and supply to the garden for lighting.

 

[Octopus]

Does she not have a cooker, immersion? Staggering to think that houses these days could only have 2 circuits!

Is it an old house? Can you post some pictures?

God luck with the fault finding, with only 2 circuits to investigate it shouldn't take too long.

 

[electromonkey]

What he said ^^^^^^^

It's ALWAYS what Telectrix says!!!!!

Marie-Claire, Have you tried your "kettle test" to find the problem LOL

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Marie-Claire]

Does she not have a cooker, immersion? Staggering to think that houses these days could only have 2 circuits!

Is it an old house? Can you post some pictures?

God luck with the fault finding, with only 2 circuits to investigate it shouldn't take too long.

she has no cooker or shower ect at the mo as not been there long and the property is in the process of renovation

 

[Marie-Claire]

It's ALWAYS what Telectrix says!!!!!

Marie-Claire, Have you tried your "kettle test" to find the problem LOL

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

lmao, the kettle test was the very first test i took, no fear of that, no tea - no work thats my motto

 

[telectrix]

so now's the time for you to get your quoting head on. kerrrching.