One socket trips mcb

[Paul W]

Hello,

New to this forum. I hope someone can shed some light on this problem.

There is an odd wiring arrangement in the house where one ring has a mixture of upstairs and downstairs sockets, another ring has the remaining downstairs sockets and there is one radial circuit to one upstairs socket. It is this radial socket which is causing the problem.

Very intermittent fault, probably happens about 2 or 3 times a week, when something is plugged into the socket the mcb trips. This will happen for anything that is plugged in, so it is not the fault of the appliance. The socket has been changed and the cable where it enters the box and at the other end where it enters the fuse box has been checked for damage. A socket tester has been plugged in and shows no earth, neutral or live faults.

Any ideas most appreciated.

 

[zupos40]

Maybe it would be easier to call out an electrician. There seems to be plenty around who have time to answer this forum question

Paul W

Yes Paul W time are hard and in my case I recovering from my second major operation in 2 years and can only work part-time, been told it could be another year before I can return to work, must try to provide helpful advice, because we wish to share our experiences.

 

[Mac]

Maybe it would be easier to call out an electrician. There seems to be plenty around who have time to answer this forum question
Maybe it would mate.Call one out and see what he/she quote's to sort the problem.

 

[Paul W]

Hello all,

Could be a loose connection in a J/B under the floor

Another good idea. Alot of these old electrics have plenty of junction boxes scattered all over the place.

I have decided to rewire the troublesome socket. It's only a short run so won't take long.

I appreciate all the very useful ideas that people have taken the time to send in, alot of ideas I didn't even consider. It's amazing how many possibilities for faults there are in one cable run to one socket !

I hope my comment about plenty of people having the time to answer this question was taken as the joke for which it was intended.

Many thanks

Paul W

 

[zupos40]

Hello all,


I hope my comment about plenty of people having the time to answer this question was taken as the joke for which it was intended.

Many thanks

Paul W

Next time put a smile wink or better still no comment, I know very skilled electrician who have had large periods of unemployment, due to lack of work, jobs being cancelled or put back, only on Sunday chatting to my mate did he tell me he got 2 week left on his present job, then he out of work, his boss has no new contacts, that about a dozen sparks looking for new starts, his boss has tried his best to keep the bussiness going, but he got to the stage were he working for nothing.

How this a builder informed him that if he wanted the next job he had to reduce his cost by 20% , 10% on labour and same on material, since his last contract with these builder material cost have risen by 40%.

 

[Paul W]

Next time put a smile wink or better still no comment, I know very skilled electrician who have had large periods of unemployment, due to lack of work, jobs being cancelled or put back, only on Sunday chatting to my mate did he tell me he got 2 week left on his present job, then he out of work, his boss has no new contacts, that about a dozen sparks looking for new starts, his boss has tried his best to keep the bussiness going, but he got to the stage were he working for nothing.

How this a builder informed him that if he wanted the next job he had to reduce his cost by 20% , 10% on labour and same on material, since his last contract with these builder material cost have risen by 40%.

There was a smile like this

I have family members who are skilled builders who are now taking on jobs for less than £50/day just to get jobs in the present economic climate. I am also a trained engineer with many years experience and have taken factory jobs to make ends meet.

So please Zupos, don't try and preach to people. Your spending too much time dwelling on things that people say too much and taking it out of context.

 

[peteludman]

Hi mrloy99,

Good advice. Had a similar problem at my last house where the electrics stopped tripping once I moved a neutral to another bar in the consumer unit. In this case, the rcd would trip whenever I turned on the lights (all the mains and lighting circuits went through the one rcd). No idea why this would happen. Two neutral bars connected by a short length of cable and one RCD....

Thanks,

Paul W[/quote






wouldnt it trip all the time when you plug into other sockets ?

i would try changing the socket incace its faulty if it still trips then disconect socket from down stairs ring if i never trips again then i would point to the cable.
just saying disconect cable to see i rcd is up the shoot.

i would be better if you had the testers though.

 

[Paul W]

i would try changing the socket incace its faulty if it still trips then disconect socket from down stairs ring if i never trips again then i would point to the cable.
just saying disconect cable to see i rcd is up the shoot.

i would be better if you had the testers though.[/quote]

Hello,

Yes it would be good to isolate the fault to see whether it is the rcd or not (seeing as they ain't cheap).

The dodgy socket is on a radial circuit connected via a 16A fuse in the consumer unit. The circuit only has this one socket so unfortunately cannot be isolated as you could do with a few sockets on a ring main.

I reckon a nail has probably just penetrated the cable somewhere along the line. Like you say it would be good to have access to a tester.

Cheers

 

[peteludman]

sorry thaught you ment that the radial was from a ring circuit on ground floor

 

[Paul W]

sorry thaught you ment that the radial was from a ring circuit on ground floor

It 's probably me not explaining things too well. I'm not an electricain, just a DIYer who's rewired two of his own houses (when it was legal to do so).

Cheers Pete