Electric Keeps Blowing

[sausagefingers]

hey guys new on here and new with electrics . I've recently moved in to a home and it has a few wiring problems . But I don't know what . At first the landing hall two way was a mess . One switch would over ride another and another would turn on both lights . Finally we got it so the landing switch did the landing light but the hall switch did both . This was an improvement . A week or two later turning off the landing light would trip the entire house electrics . I couldn't turn the elec back on unless I turned back on the landing switch or unless I turned off the upstairs light fuse . We got this problem resolved about a week ago . Yet the electrics have just tripped again . The landing light was already off BUT . . . When I tried to turn the electric back on it was the same problem . I needed to turn the landing light on to turn the elec back on . Only turning if off this time did not trip it as it did last time . . Does any one have any idea what could be causing it . Is it linked to the light switch or is this just coincidence? thanks in advance for any help . Also it is old wiring . Would say about twenty years?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

20 years is not old wiring IMHO....

it will be PVC insulated at that age and should have many years of workable life left!

I assume this is an RCD tripping the power off?

But you may not know the difference!

RCD's detect very small current leaking to earth to protect from electric shock

MCB's detect higher currents that could overload the circuit cables..

They are very different beasties..

But to the average person they may look the same sitting in a fuse box..

e.g. just a switch that trips and some power is then off!! 

you need to have 10 posts..

then you can add a photo of your fuse board which would be a big help to diagnose the problem.

opcorn

 

[ProDave]

Did YOU "fix" the landing light issue yourself or did you get an electrician to do it?

Is it an MCB or an RCD that's tripping? (If it's an RCD it will have a little test button usually just above the switch)

Are there one or 2 RCD's in your consumer unit?

Are both lighting circuits on the same bank of mcb's fed from the same rcd? or is there one lighting circuit on each bank?

If you don't know much about electrics then it's probably best to get an electrician in to fix it.

 

[Murdoch]

I think you need to find a local competent sparky!

 

[binky]

dodgy DIY is your problem. Chances are whilst fiddling you have snagged a wire in the back of the switch with one of the plate screws, hence faukt has returned duw to damaged insualtion, But to be frank it sounds like you need to re-wire that part of the circuit at least to get it working correctly. It would also be wise to have the proerty tested so ascertain what the rest of the palce is like,