Breaker Trips After A While

[alex85]

Hello guys,

my breaker trips repeatedly, normally after 15/20 mins.

I narrowed the problem to a switch in the kitchen which supplies the fireplace ignition + 9 sockets.

The problem is that even if nothing's plugged into the sockets it still keeps breaking.

Had an electrician coming 4 times and he couldn't figure out the issue. He upgraded the breaker (63am to 80am) and fixed a chewed wire belonging to the washing machine (which was plugged into one of the culprit sockets).

No appliance seems to interefere, so far we keep that main switch off and indeed the breaker doesn't trip.

Any idea?

We do have pest issues, could it be a chewed wire inside the wall?

Thank you

I forgot to mention that I noticed that, now that we kept that switch off for long time, the breaker trips as soon as we try to turn it on again.

This I believe is a key point..

 

[Andy™]

is it an MCB or RCD thats tripping? changing 63a to 80a sounds like an RCD, however this will do absolutely nothing to sort your problem, and is not 'an upgrade'.

you have a fault, which will need a test kit to identify, along with someone who knows how to use it. did he even use a test kit for any of this fault finding?

 

[binky]

damp is a possibility, rodents always an issue either in wall cavities of under floor. Now issue is permanently present it will be much easier to trace. Upgrading MCB shows your current electrician is a numb nuts and potentially dangerous.  Get a better sparky in.

 

[ProDave]

I'll echo what others have said.  It sounds like you got a "dud" electrician. I hope you didn't pay him to reward his incompetence?  Get a different one and make it clear what the fault is first.

Did he use any sort of test meter to make any measurements?

Can you describe the thing that trips a bit better. Tell us everything it says on it. does it just have a switch, or does it have a little "test" button on it anywhere? 

At least the fault seems to have got worse, so when you get a better electrician it should be easier for him to find.

If you post your approximate location there might even be a decent electrician on the forum that can help you. All the regulars on here are sufficiently competent that they would be able to sort it out.

 

[alex85]

EDIT

I am only the tenant, no choice about the electrician but also no money paid..

Anyway he was just useless, had to give up on him and had to ask my father-in-law to come and have a look.

It turned out the issue was one the 9 sockets. They were all connected to the single switch (no test button, just a fused on/off switch with a red light on top).

He had to untangle the bundle (was a mess inside, just too many wires for a single switch) and verify 1 by 1 what was ok and what not.

It took 1 whole afternoon but it was worth.

Now I can point the idiotic one towards the issue and have him to fix the socket (wiring perhaps? my F-I-L couldn't identify the problem, the socket looked fine, he said it has to be a wire inside the wall).

 

[ProDave]

Your FIL has done what the "electrician" should have done.

If it's rented you need to contact your landlord and tell them to send an electrician, but a different one to the last one who was useless.

The wiring sounds a but "unusual" of you really have 9 sockets all fed from a single fused switch.