Fuse box keeps tripping - help!!!

Tone09 · 23-11-2008, 13:19

I have had a problem for the last week or so with the fuse box. The fuse which controls the downstairs appliances keeps tripping - about a dozen times a day, at all different times.

An electrician came out and the only thing which was wrong was a fault on one of the sockets (damaged wire). That was repaired but the problem persists. It isn't any particular appliance because I have tested them all. I have even unplugged everything before going to bed and it still trips out. The only things I haven't been able to test is the alarm and boiler.

My question is, how likely is it to be the alarm or boiler and is it possible it could still be the socket (even if it is not in use or switched on).

It is driving me mad so any help/advice would be welcome.

Tone

chuffinel · 23-11-2008, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tone09

I have had a problem for the last week or so with the fuse box. The fuse which controls the downstairs appliances keeps tripping - about a dozen times a day, at all different times.

An electrician came out and the only thing which was wrong was a fault on one of the sockets (damaged wire). That was repaired but the problem persists. It isn't any particular appliance because I have tested them all. I have even unplugged everything before going to bed and it still trips out. The only things I haven't been able to test is the alarm and boiler.

My question is, how likely is it to be the alarm or boiler and is it possible it could still be the socket (even if it is not in use or switched on).

It is driving me mad so any help/advice would be welcome.

Tone

Not sure whether you're talking about circuit breakers similar to what we have over here.
If you are then you could possibly have a bad breaker.
I've had that problem myself.

MR BENN · 23-11-2008, 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuffinel

Not sure whether you're talking about circuit breakers similar to what we have over here.
If you are then you could possibly have a bad breaker.
I've had that problem myself.

have you overloaded a socket or extention bar? mine tripped for that reason

Lorri · 23-11-2008, 15:02

Mine kept tripping when I used the washer & diswasher together, so the electrician but a bigger fuse in I think

Dizzyblonde · 23-11-2008, 15:21

mine tripped when my freezer went dodgy on me. Narrowed it down by using one of those circuit breaker plugs on my appliances. Freezer was repaired eventually which fixed problem.

chuffinel · 23-11-2008, 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR BENN

have you overloaded a socket or extention bar? mine tripped for that reason

No, I changed the breaker and everything was fine after that.

Tone09 · 23-11-2008, 15:56

Thanks for the serious replies. Get a life the rest of you.

Like I said I don't think it is an appliance problem and the electrician moved the downstairs wiring to a different breaker, so I don't think it is that. It goes at all times of day and night, so I don't think it is overload.

The only things I can think of are a faulty alarm, boiler, sockets or a serious problem with the wiring.

I just wondered if anyone had encountered any similar problems.

bazjea · 23-11-2008, 17:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tone09

Thanks for the serious replies. Get a life the rest of you.

Like I said I don't think it is an appliance problem and the electrician moved the downstairs wiring to a different breaker, so I don't think it is that. It goes at all times of day and night, so I don't think it is overload.

The only things I can think of are a faulty alarm, boiler, sockets or a serious problem with the wiring.

I just wondered if anyone had encountered any similar problems.

It may well be a problem with the boiler,or central heating system in general. it might be an overload occurs as the boiler strikes up.This would fit in with your observation that it happens at all times of the day. Pity it is so cold at the moment or you could switch the boiler off for a few hours to check
if this stops the breaker cutting out
As for the water business I cannot believe the stupidity of some people.

cgksheff · 23-11-2008, 17:49

Is there any construction or building work going on nearby?

We had a similar problem last year which was never traced (despite paying a fortune to check out my wiring), but has completely stopped occurring after all work on the new houses was completed across the road.

There was a suggestion that power tools or something was causing enough fluctuation in the local cabling to trip the fuses.

Sometimes it was sufficient to cause a computer restart without tripping fuses.

Tone09 · 23-11-2008, 17:52

Unfortunately not.

It has been tripping on average every half an hour today - not good!

melv · 23-11-2008, 18:03

A mate of mine had a similar problem. He discovered it was a leaky boiler...water was dripping on a control panel.
As bazjea was saying, I'd try & isolate the boiler for a couple or hours. If that isn't the problem, I'd isolate your domestic appliances one by one...could be your fridge or freezer tripping in on the thermostat.

duckweed · 23-11-2008, 18:24

Ours tripped when we had 2 different appliances on at the same time. It was actually the washing machine that was dodgy but it only tripped when there were some other appliance going at the same time.

jl-heating · 23-11-2008, 19:14

i would go for the boiler i have had an earth fault quite a few times on the pump that can cause the trip to go, not enough of a fault to blow a fuse but with an rcd protecting the circuit it will trip it every time.

disconnect for the downstairs circuit replace the power to the boiler with a long lead and plug it in upstairs or
take the heating circuit to its own trip on the board and alter the type of rcd ie: try an Type S for a slower trip and still keep the 30mA required trip.
bit of info here that might draw light on the subject for you.
http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=196

or you could find the fault and fix it .

puddinburner · 23-11-2008, 20:11

We had a similar problem, found out after much scratiching of head...and it was'nt nits..lol. When the kitchen extention was put in the builder has wired a socket hting rinto the ring....so we don't use that socket anymore till we can get it re-wired.

Tone09 · 23-11-2008, 20:22

Thanks to everyone who has provided help/serious responses. It is much appreciated!

iansheff · 23-11-2008, 21:00

You have not had any floor boards up or nailed anything down have you? I once went to a house where every so often the circuit would trip, the joiner had nailed into a cable putting the board down but it only tripped when someone walked on the board pushing it down that little bit extra. Also you have no flexes running under a carpet or anything? I went to a pub where their circuit kept going, they had a flex under the carpet that tripped as soon as it was walked on