lights tripping

[thermo]

Hi all, im after a bit of basic advice here. We had some solar panels fitted to our roof a few weeks ago and all went well. In the last few days weve expperianced some heavy rain. During that time the upstairs lights have tripped twice. The only thing is they havent actually tripped the circuit breaker, but in order to get them to work ive had to turn the circuit breaker off then back on. The upstairs is a loft conversion and some of the wiring for the lights had to run up alongside the rafters. Is it possible that a fixing from the solar panels where the brackets were screwed on to the rafters may have clipped a wire. If so would that cause the problem? Hope that makes sense, im just looking for a little advice before i speak to to the installation company

 

[hughesy]

could be a faulty mcb or loose connection in mcb if its not actually tripping.

 

[Specialist]

Does the switch on the breaker drop down but not go to the fully off position ? It is possible that the installers nicked a cable when doing the install & this is showing up due to moisture getting in. Contact the installers & tell them about it, they may send someone out to check on the problem for you, other than that i'd advise contacting a good local Electrician to check it out for you.

 

[thermo]

the installers had a good electrician, but i didnt want to call them until someone had told me i wasnt going mad! The switch isnt actually moving at all. the upstairs lights stop working all at the same time, but nothing actaully trips.

 

[trev]

Loose connection perhaps? One that makes and breaks of it's own accord and the vibration of switching the MCB causesit to make again?
Is there a singed smell around your consumer unit when it disconnects?

 

[Specialist]

Hi mate: If thats the case then you may well just have a loose connection but having said that loose connections that are'nt rectified can cause other problems. You really do need to contact an Electrician to get this looked at.

 

[thermo]

not that im aware of. its only happened in last few days during wet weather and with all the high winds, which makes me think that it might be the solar install as thats only been up for a couple of weeks and the weather has beed dry up until recently. The loft conversion was done 8 years ago and its never been a problem

 

[trev]

Get on the phone to the solar company tell them the symptoms and they should get someone to come round and take alook for you

 

[1shortcircuit]

Get on the phone to the solar company tell them the symptoms and they should get someone to come round and take alook for you

If it's only the solar work you have had done since then it could strongly point towards a fault created by this but don't jump in with two feet. I would recommend you give the installation company a call and ask if they can help with a concern that you have that has only become apparent since they had completed the work.

Have you had any other work done or hung any picture frames yourself or anything similar?

It could be a completely unrelated fault which may end up costing you more money, these things are not unfamiliar. Coincidental? Yes, Unfamiliar? Certainly not.

I would certainly request the advice of the installation company, see if they can help. If they cannot because their electrician is too busy (extremely likely) then just discuss with them that you will need to call another electrician in to investigate the fault and advise IF it has been caused by anything they may have ACCIDENTALLY done then you would like to reimbursed in full for the cost of repairs.

Let us know how you get on:thumbsup

 

[thermo]

thanks for the advice chaps, much appreciated. the company were very good and the electrician excellent.