Lighting help

[P123456]

Hi there.
We installed power to our garage (lights and sockets)
SWA runs from a 40Amp breaker in the the board out to a mini board in garage.
Sockets are wired to 32amp which work fine BUT light wired into 6Amp keep tripping the main board in the house.
They're 2 strip lights.

Any reasons why the lights keep tripping ?

Thanks

 

[Phil L]

Can you post a pic of the wiring at the light and switch?

 

[Strima]

What trips? MCB or RCD?

 

[P123456]

Can you post a pic of the wiring at the light and switch?

I'm out at the moment mate, but from the board it goes to the com in the switch and then L1 out to the first light and then LNE connected over to the second

 

[P123456]

Can you post a pic of the wiring at the light and switch?

What trips? MCB or RCD?

Its the RCD that trips in the house, the garage MCB in the main fuse board stays on

 

[timhoward]

It sounds as though you have worked out that turning off the 6A breaker in the garage prevents the problem occurring. Does it trip if the breaker is left on and the lights are not used?
Is there an outside light too?

 

[P123456]

It sounds as though you have worked out that turning off the 6A breaker in the garage prevents the problem occurring. Does it trip if the breaker is left on and the lights are not used?
Is there an outside light too?

If the light in the garage isn't turned on/connected then no trip occurs, the sockets work perfectly.
It only trips once lighting it turned on.
Once tripped the light goes into a flickering mode
And nope there's no outside light.

 

[timhoward]

You could try removing the bulb(s) from each light in turn and seeing if it still trips.
The ballasts in fluorescent lights do tend to leak and a faulty light is certainly possible, especially if they are older units.
(If you have got a faulty light, it's possible to convert then to use LED tubes and this would be a quick and cheap fix.)

 

[Phil L]

Have you tried one light at a time?

 

[P123456]

You could try removing the bulb(s) from each light in turn and seeing if it still trips.
The ballasts in fluorescent lights do tend to leak and a faulty light is certainly possible, especially if they are older units.
(If you have got a faulty light, it's possible to convert then to use LED tubes and this would be a quick and cheap fix.)

Cheers mate I will give that a go.
If the problem continues, I'm assuming I can go from a socket to a fused spur and possibly run the lights that way and have it all on the sockets?

 

[Avo Mk8]

Cheers mate I will give that a go.
If the problem continues, I'm assuming I can go from a socket to a fused spur and possibly run the lights that way and have it all on the sockets?

If you do that surely the RCD in the house will continue to trip as before. You need to find the leakage that is causing the problem!

 

[timhoward]

Cheers mate I will give that a go.
If the problem continues, I'm assuming I can go from a socket to a fused spur and possibly run the lights that way and have it all on the sockets?

As @Avo Mk8 said it unfortunately won't achieve much.

If you feel you can do it safely and confidently, turning the power off, disconnecting the first light, and safely terminating the supply in choc block or 3 wago connectors, then turning on again and checking it doesn't trip with the light switch in the on position would be a good start to proving that it's the light's themselves.

(A sparks could prove it without doubt in about 10 minutes by doing an insulation resistance test on the lighting circuit wiring. )
Once proven that the cabling is fine up until the light fittings, you can then either convert the lights to LED (which involves removing the ballasts) or simply put different fittings up.

 

[P123456]

As @Avo Mk8 said it unfortunately won't achieve much.

If you feel you can do it safely and confidently, turning the power off, disconnecting the first light, and safely terminating the supply in choc block or 3 wago connectors, then turning on again and checking it doesn't trip with the light switch in the on position would be a good start to proving that it's the light's themselves.

(A sparks could prove it without doubt in about 10 minutes by doing an insulation resistance test on the lighting circuit wiring. )
Once proven that the cabling is fine up until the light fittings, you can then either convert the lights to LED (which involves removing the ballasts) or simply put different fittings up.

@timhoward that makes sence, so I've recently found out that the guy who installed the SWA didn't have enough cable and instead of connecting in a resin joint he used a connector block and taped it up which I've now found.
Would this play a part? As I've terminated both end with a proper gland kit and earthing nut, so because there not connected properly at the join would that potentially cause the tripping ? Maybe a long shot, but I'll be changing it to a resin joint regardless.
Cheers for the help

 

[littlespark]

If youre certain the fault is on the lights, repairing the SWA isnt going to fix the tripping, but it does need looked at.

I think its been mentioned how to fault find without the proper test equipment, but eventually, your rcd is going to trip one too many times and damage itself.

check the lighting circuit for moisture, especially outside fittings, or damage to cables.... rodents,
trapped wires between switch and back box?

 

[Avo Mk8]

Perry
From what you've said, it seems that some leakage on the switched side of the lighting circuit is causing the RCD in the house to trip.

Can I clarify - are the two "strip lights" you've fitted fluorescent or LED?
Are they new?
If fluorescent and they have externally accessible starters, have you tried taking those out to see if the tripping stops?
Don't mean to be rude, but are you sure they are wired correctly?

And finally in post #7, you said "Once tripped the light goes into a flickering mode". Presumably you don't mean the light is flickering after the RCD trips and the power is still off?

We'd like to help, but ultimately there is only so much one can do by trial and error. A multifunction tester or IR tester would help get to the bottom of it pretty quickly. Do you know a friendly electrician!?