More electrical shenanigans - any thoughts?

[Reynard]

The problem with that is if the appliances are faulty then it’ll trip the power inside the rest of the house.

If you suspect it’s the socket circuit then Unplug everything in the garage and try resetting the trip. If it doesn’t hold in then it could be a wiring fault. If it holds in then plug in your appliances one at a time and see if it trips and with what appliance. If it does then try again in case it’s just nuisance tripping and holds in the next time. If it persists in tripping out then that appliance could be faulty, or maybe damp. Hard to say for sure when I can’t see it.

That's much what I planned on doing.

The house is fine, it's just the garage / utility room.

Everything seemed fine yesterday teatime when I went to the garage to get some logs. Lights turned on fine. So between then and early afternoon, something's gone awry. The only things that were physically turned on and working at that time were the fridge and freezer.

When I tried a reset of the box, I heard a klunk, and then straight after, a second clunk.

I suspect the culprit is either the fridge, the freezer or the multi socket they're connected to. It's a double power point, but the washing machine is plugged into the other side.

 

[Noodle Legs]

That's much what I planned on doing.

The house is fine, it's just the garage / utility room.

Everything seemed fine yesterday teatime when I went to the garage to get some logs. Lights turned on fine. So between then and early afternoon, something's gone awry. The only things that were physically turned on and working at that time were the fridge and freezer.

When I tried a reset of the box, I heard a klunk, and then straight after, a second clunk.

I suspect the culprit is either the fridge, the freezer or the multi socket they're connected to. It's a double power point, but the washing machine is plugged into the other side.

Sounds like you’ve got it all in hand, I’ll get the popcorn

 

[Reynard]

Sounds like you’ve got it all in hand, I’ll get the popcorn

I've got a stash of Tesco sweet & salty. Can always trebuchet a bag over. (It is horribly addictive, btw...)

I'll update as and when.

 

[Noodle Legs]

I've got a stash of Tesco sweet & salty.

Perfect- my favourite!

 

[Reynard]

Perfect- my favourite!

*incoming*

Although with this brisk nor'westerly blowing, it'll probably end up raining popcorn in Stowmarket...

 

[fossyant]

Just to say, sockets can go faulty too - but unplug the lot, maybe test the sockets with another known electrical item - e.g. lamp, then plug in and test each garage electrical item, one at a time. The dryer tripped everything recently - caused by a bit decorative chain that had gotten through the vents onto the heating element and shorted it. Took the back off and the offending item fell out.

 

[Reynard]

Yes, of course, the socket itself too... I hope not, though. Likewise, I really hope it's not the freezer.

If it is the fridge that's gone t*ts up, I can at least move stuff to the kitchen fridge, plus I have a spare diddy little one I can get going again. The fridge in question is rather long in the tooth, so it is the prime candidate.

Hey ho, I'll find out in the morning.

 

[Profpointy]

It's
probably already been suggested but my guess is you've got a bad connection in thr fusebox - one of the brass screws not done up tight. It's a while since I've connected anything up to the main board but presumably you can get at it - power off first obviously - and nip up all the screws tight. If you see an obviously scorched one that'll be it

 

[Noodle Legs]

Just to say, sockets can go faulty too - but unplug the lot, maybe test the sockets with another known electrical item

Yeah that’s a possibility, but if the socket itself is faulty you probably wouldn’t need to plug anything in as it would still trip out anyway even when everything is unplugged. Then I’d be doing a visual inspection on the sockets in that circuit to look for obvious signs of burning, cracking etc. If nothing obvious then we’re getting into the realms of maybe getting an electrician out to unscrew and check the backs of them for poor connections etc. Personally though if it’s just started happening then 9 times out of 10 it’s something obvious.

 

[Reynard]

Sorted. I think. Fingers crossed.

Turned everything off. Unplugged the fridge and freezer. Reset the box. Then only turned on the circuit for the lights, as that seemed the least likely to be the problem. And I had power.

Then I turned on the circuit for the sockets. That didn't trip anything.

Plugged my craft lamp into the socket concerned, and that was fine. So plugged the the fridge and freezer back in, and got them going again. So far, no problems, although paranoid little me will go and check again in a little while. You know how it is.

The only thing that I can think of, is that somehow, (and I'm not sure how) the plugs weren't seated properly in the multi-socket. Otherwise, it might just have been one of those random things.

 

[Noodle Legs]

Sorted. I think. Fingers crossed.

Turned everything off. Unplugged the fridge and freezer. Reset the box. Then only turned on the circuit for the lights, as that seemed the least likely to be the problem. And I had power.

Then I turned on the circuit for the sockets. That didn't trip anything.

Plugged my craft lamp into the socket concerned, and that was fine. So plugged the the fridge and freezer back in, and got them going again. So far, no problems, although paranoid little me will go and check again in a little while. You know how it is.

The only thing that I can think of, is that somehow, (and I'm not sure how) the plugs weren't seated properly in the multi-socket. Otherwise, it might just have been one of those random things.

Probably just nuisance tripping.

 

[Reynard]

Probably just nuisance tripping.

Fingers crossed it is just that.

Good job I waited till daylight to troubleshoot, as last night I couldn't see the little coloured markers below the switches.

 

[fossyant]

Glad it's sorted. Could indeed be a poorly seated plug that can cause a trip.

We found out the plug socket for the fridge/freezer was faulty - caused all sorts of random trips. Stupidly, it wasn't on the downstairs circuit. The builders had fitted it to the upstairs circuit to complicate matters. Oh and they labeled the oven and shower trips wrongly - blooming good job I checked the shower didn't come on when I was changing the unit.... why is the oven off ?

 

[Reynard]

Glad it's sorted. Could indeed be a poorly seated plug that can cause a trip.

We found out the plug socket for the fridge/freezer was faulty - caused all sorts of random trips. Stupidly, it wasn't on the downstairs circuit. The builders had fitted it to the upstairs circuit to complicate matters. Oh and they labeled the oven and shower trips wrongly - blooming good job I checked the shower didn't come on when I was changing the unit.... why is the oven off ?

Crikey, that's just bonkers!

 

[CXRAndy]

Just throw a spanner of additional test equipment. Was it the rcd that tripped? Maybe worth testing the offending circuit to see the earth leakage figure. It should be less than 20mA as they can trip out above this figure even though specified to trip at 30mA.

We had random tripping. I diagnosed excessive earth leakage due to so many pieces of equipment. I got my electrician to replace the single rcd with individual RCBO for each circuit. Since then no more random tripping