Strange fault

[bodders22]

Hi All,

I was called out yesterday to a customer that has been having trouble with the electric tripping on various circuits (16th edition mem2000 board)
When I got there I had a quick look and couldn't find anything obvious anyway cut a long story short did a full eicr, all circuits good.
She's phoned the dno no reported problems in the area.
Ive explained it's probably something they're using as it never trips when they're out, or maybe could be a water leak after a shower etc, but still no pattern.
I've isolated the outside lights and it still occurred last night.
The strange bit though is its the non rcd side and she's claiming the main switch tripped along with some mcb's.
I thought perhaps a faulty switch so replaced with one I had in the van but as I said it happened again ! Is this possible as I've never come across a switch that switches itself off and no its definatley not an rcd. It's 1990's house and doesn't appear to have been messed around with too much.
Confused please help!!
:rolleyes4:

 

[Guitarist]

Nope, it can not trip if it is just a main switch.
Ghosts sounds like the only explanation.

 

[44ALLAN]

If the switch is 'tripping' I would bloody run if I were you.........spooky:rolleyes4:

 

[Toonlad]

Thinking out of the box here,,, is she on her own ??

I cant see a double pole isolating switch just moving on its own, strong mechanism in there.

 

[dan86]

if she's sure the main switch is tripping, and you can't get the fault to occur whilst there, I can only see two possible things to do.
1) take her to Specsavers
2) live there for a week till t happens and see what they're doing when it does

 

[Stroppy]

If the switch has the facility, lock it on with a padlock, and see if it manages to 'trip' then. (ok don't really do this, something of a safety issue!)

 

[Tuttle]

Kids? My son loves switches.

 

[bodders22]

Hi Tuttle,

She has a daughter thats 10 but the cu is up by the ceiling I dont think she'd be able to reach even on a stool.

 

[KFH]

I can't see how the main switch has tripped by itself.

While an overload/fault will trip an MCB I have never seen odd MCBs tripping apparently randomly.

With the main switch also "tripping" I would suspect something else is going on. Is it possible some one is messing around without her knowledge?

I would ask her to take photos after a trip before resetting anything.

Please let us know what you find out.

 

[bodders22]

Thanks KFH

I'm beginning to think someone is messing her around, good idea about taking photo's i'll ask her to do that tonight.

 

[Heisenberg]

I can't see how the main switch has tripped by itself.

It can't have, there is no mechanism inside it to perform that functionality, which is what Guitarist has already said.

 

[telectrix]

Thanks KFH

I'm beginning to think someone is messing her around, good idea about taking photo's i'll ask her to do that tonight.

better still get a cctv camera set up with a HDR. maybe you'll capture a ghost image.

 

[Rampantchilli]

It would not be the first time a customer has been adamant they were right, and turned out not to be. Ignore the big red switch issue, as this is actually a big red herring.
you have 2 mcbs tripping randomly, which can't be recreated, and your EICR shows nothing wrong with circuits. I'd suggest you have fault mcbs as you can't test these, or you need to carry out EICR again but go much further in depth this time as you could be missing something, or you have mice/rats/rodents causing faults, IR won't always show up damaged cables, make sure you test IR between circuits as well as each conductor of a circuit.

 

[DPG]

2 mcbs tripping randomly at the same time and both on lighting circuits - that would be a hell of a coincidence if they were both faulty! I'm with Tel's camera idea - get a hidden CCTV camera and record exactly what's going on, as obviously the whole truth is not being told. Daz

 

[Rockingit]

Bodders - next time you're there, put a tiny blob of nail varnish on each lever/housing - that way you'll be able to see exactly which has moved and broken the seal. It can also be an idea to get the customer to keep a proper diary of what is happening on each occasion - what the time is, who is in the house, what's going on, etc. If nothing else it keeps them occupied and focused and off your back for a bit!

 

[telectrix]

could this cause the problem?