RCCB Breaker Tripping?

[Dave1UK]

Woke up this morning and tried to turn on the computer (work from home) wouldn't power on, checked lights they worked fine. Went downstairs to check the switchboard and only the RCCB breaker was tripped, all other MCBs on. I can narrow this down to it occurring between 06:30 - 07:30 this morning (based on Ring doorbell camera), not that is it of much use knowing this?

As soon as I flipped the RCCB on, it tripped immediately, flipped it on again and it stayed on. An hour later, the RCCB tripped again although this time along with the kitchen MCB. Few minute ago now flipped both on and it's on (currently).

This has never happened before, we haven't bought/plugged in any new appliances, definitely not between 06:30 - 07:30, as all asleep.

In the kitchen we only have 2 fridges plugged in/operating 24/7, microwave (standby) and that is literally it, everything else switched off at mains. I switched off the microwave at mains as well now, so only 2 fridges are plugged into the sockets.

Is there a way to narrow this down further/figure out what could be causing it prior to calling someone in?

Thanks.

 

[timhoward]

Not sure I follow the 'you can't do fault finding on a quoted price'? If you have a fixed rate per hour, regardless of what the job is, whether you're asked to fault find in 1 room or 10 rooms price should be the same?

Cross purposes I think. Both me and @littlespark meant that predicating the total number of hours to diagnose and then fix is nearly impossible. We weren't saying the hourly rate would change!

What I meant was that even if the circuit is known (kitchen) I don't know over the phone how many sockets I'll need to take apart, how many appliances I'll need to drag out to access sockets, or whether there are joint boxes above the ceiling, below the floor, or behind the units (which with today's kitchen fitters is virtually a given).

At end of day you were charged £40 extra. Did you ask him why it was more than his hourly rate? I'd certainly ask him why the spurs were disconnected.

 

[Dave1UK]

Cross purposes I think. Both me and @littlespark meant that predicating the total number of hours to diagnose and then fix is nearly impossible. We weren't saying the hourly rate would change!

What I meant was that even if the circuit is known (kitchen) I don't know over the phone how many sockets I'll need to take apart, how many appliances I'll need to drag out to access sockets, or whether there are joint boxes above the ceiling, below the floor, or behind the units (which with today's kitchen fitters is virtually a given).

At end of day you were charged £40 extra. Did you ask him why it was more than his hourly rate? I'd certainly ask him why the spurs were disconnected.

Ah ok, yeah granted, misunderstood what was meant. Fully aware diagnosing any problem if intermittent or whatnot can be as quick a 5 minutes to hours totally, makes sense that the charge could have been higher (more hours to diagnose required). No one can make such predictions.

Honestly I didn't bother, was happy the issue was resolved, we had access to the kitchen sockets now (albeit a few decommissioned). Also the cost will not be fully borne by myself as sharing the house with family members. So really just wanted him out of the house without creating an issue out of it. Also when he mentioned £190 I did doubt myself at that moment as to whether I misunderstood or made a mistake when hearing him over the phone. I am 99% sure he did say £75 and not £95. As I had a few other quotes from others who were priced higher at £80 + VAT, so at £75 with no VAT seemed much more affordable along with a recommendation from a friend. So I thought you know what I'll get my brother to call him in a few days to ask for a quote for a similar issue and see how much he says then I can be sure he did overcharge and a negative review would be warranted, seems only fair.

In terms of the spurs, I didn't even know what a ring circuit was until he mentioned it so I had a quick Google and came across 3 different types of circuits, he did mention for high load appliances such as kitchens, ring circuits are basically the default setup. Didn't know what a spur was until later that evening either after researching. I will be sending him a message to ask though, good point.

 

[littlespark]

3 types of circuits? Ring, radial and ????

Ring is a loop… cable from board, loops into each socket and returns to the same circuit breaker.
Standard 32A, using 2.5mm cable.
The load is divided across both legs back to the board.

Radial is a single cable leaving the board feeding each point until you get to the end.
Can be wired in a line, or as branches off like a tree. 16 or 20A with 2.5 cable…. 32A with 4mm cable.

Radials are also used to supply just one point, such as a cooker switch…. And how lighting is wired.

I suppose the third type could be the old “lollipop” circuit with a large sized cable feeding to a joint box, and a number of smaller cables from there out to each point.

 

[lawrence101]

Woke up this morning and tried to turn on the computer (work from home) wouldn't power on, checked lights they worked fine. Went downstairs to check the switchboard and only the RCCB breaker was tripped, all other MCBs on. I can narrow this down to it occurring between 06:30 - 07:30 this morning (based on Ring doorbell camera), not that is it of much use knowing this?

As soon as I flipped the RCCB on, it tripped immediately, flipped it on again and it stayed on. An hour later, the RCCB tripped again although this time along with the kitchen MCB. Few minute ago now flipped both on and it's on (currently).

This has never happened before, we haven't bought/plugged in any new appliances, definitely not between 06:30 - 07:30, as all asleep.

In the kitchen we only have 2 fridges plugged in/operating 24/7, microwave (standby) and that is literally it, everything else switched off at mains. I switched off the microwave at mains as well now, so only 2 fridges are plugged into the sockets.

Is there a way to narrow this down further/figure out what could be causing it prior to calling someone in?

Thanks.

It can be caused by a few things but If both fridges are plugged into the same receptacle ( i.e on the same breaker) its possible that when both compressors kick-in at the same time it overloads the breaker and it trips out. But you said this never happened before so possibly one of the compressors is on the way out and drawing excessive current. A weak or faulty breaker at the main house panel can be possible cause or a bad or arcing receptacle.
Oops... just realised how old that post is.

 

[nicebutdim]

It can be caused by a few things but If both fridges are plugged into the same receptacle ( i.e on the same breaker) its possible that when both compressors kick-in at the same time it overloads the breaker and it trips out. But you said this never happened before so possibly one of the compressors is on the way out and drawing excessive current. A weak or faulty breaker at the main house panel can be possible cause or a bad or arcing receptacle.

RCCB is an acronym of Residual Current Circuit Breaker. These devices are solely intended to detect imbalance between line and neutral. They will trip when current leakage to earth exceeds a set value, but will not trip due to overload - the devices downstream of it deal with overload.

 

[lawrence101]

RCCB is an acronym of Residual Current Circuit Breaker. These devices are solely intended to detect imbalance between line and neutral. They will trip when current leakage to earth exceeds a set value, but will not trip due to overload - the devices downstream of it deal with overload.

I see . Would that be equivalent to a GFCB ( Gound fault circuit breaker ) here in Canada ?

 

[newfutile]

I think over there you would call it a gfci which we call an (RCD) Residual Current Device or RCCB, an RCBO here is an (RCD) Residual Current Device with an mcb in one unit