RCD in consumer unit keeps popping, replaced with new one, still same issue

[Risteard]

Little update - went to bed with the shower, first floor sockets, lights and wall lights MCBs all in the down position and all plugs taken out of their respective sockets - result? Still trips the RCD.

Next step was to try and see if perhaps it is one of the MCBs to the left of the RCD: ring circuit ground and first floor. 

I noticed that when the ring circuit ground floor MCB was down and everything was unplugged, there were no issues and the RCD didn't trip. However, and not always, but sometimes when I would flick that particular MCB up (we keep our bins and recycling in the garage, which has an electric door and this operates on that circuit), the RCD would immediately trip....does that tell us anything new or useful?

You (who has randomly replaced parts with ones of unknown origin from eBay!) are not competent to be diagnosing this issue. That is what this (and everything else you have written) tells us.

Contact an Electrician. That is the ONLY answer to this. Stop messing about with it - you clearly don't know anywhere near enough (if anything) about it.

 

[AnthonyP]

You are correct, electricity is not my area of expertise, but isn't the whole point of forums is to share what thoughts and advise people who need help and who otherwise might be clueless? I know I am no good at this, and hence a steer in the right direction would be welcome. Electrician cannot come out till next week. Until that time I can try to do something about it.

 

[Andy™]

You are correct, electricity is not my area of expertise, but isn't the whole point of forums is to share what thoughts and advise people who need help and who otherwise might be clueless? I know I am no good at this, and hence a steer in the right direction would be welcome. Electrician cannot come out till next week. Until that time I can try to do something about it.

do all the tests are described in BS7671 using the correct test equipment and you will find the fault.

 

[AnthonyP]

Thank you Andy. Most helpful. 

 

[Tony S]

I do believe the courts will look at the competence of the person that carried out any electrical work in the event of an accident or fatality.

As to the purpose of our forum, it isn’t to condone or to encourage an incompetent DIYer.

 

[apprentice87]

Thank you Andy. Most helpful. 

The thing is, you have not got the correct equipment to find the fault. A multimeter will not get you anywhere. Electricians do not buy a £1000 meter if the same thing could be done with a multimeter..

Also, a multi meter is NOT suitable for testing if something is dead, besides, you would not know where to test or how.

What you are doing, is like trying to do Xrays without an xray machine..

john..

 

[Murdoch]

OP - you stated you had a sparky coming on Thursday, which I presume was today - what were there findings?

 

[Ardet R]

You have got to the end of the amount that is possible to assess without exposing yourself to risk.

If every item of current using equipment was disconnected from the ground floor ring when you were testing then it would indicate that the fault is in the circuit and not in any appliance but it would appear to confirm that the fault was on the ground floor ring and not the other circuits.

However it is very easy to miss items such as boilers on fused spurs from a ring or possibly outside lights / power wired from the socket ring, another common one is under cupboard kitchen lighting,

Because turning off the circuit breaker worked it would be a line to earth fault. Turning on the circuit breaker and the RCD tripping at once may indicate that the fault is getting worse and the initial current surge on switching on is enough to cause the fault to manifest, it is probably best not to keep energising a faulty circuit as this may cause the RCD to fail eventually and circuit breakers do also have a limited switching life.

If you can inform the electrician of what you have done then this will make their job a lot faster, though they may still need to check your findings.  I would also say that intermittent faults are sometimes hard to trace.

To be able to proceed further would need an electrician's test equipment to be able to narrow the fault down to its location.

To minimise inconvenience whilst waiting for their arrival I would suggest that you should be able to use extension leads from the first floor sockets for essential items as there appear to be two rings covering that area and so the chance of overloading is very small.

 

[Doc Hudson]

You are correct, electricity is not my area of expertise, but isn't the whole point of forums is to share what thoughts and advise people who need help and who otherwise might be clueless? I know I am no good at this, and hence a steer in the right direction would be welcome. Electrician cannot come out till next week. Until that time I can try to do something about it.

You are correct about one of the purposes of the forum. However when the answer is that you do not have the correct test equipment to resole your problem and you need the help of a competent person. And you have been told this answer. There is little point in asking the same question hoping for a different answer. Unless you are expecting something like, oh you need to balance a bag of Aldi Radishes 40cm to the left of the RCD and that will stop it tripping.  Your switching MCB's off and on test prove very little, as the neutrals and earths are still connected. You have not done any of the industry standard tests and without those everyone is guessing,. Even those on a forum.

Doc H.

 

[ProDave]

I noticed that when the ring circuit ground floor MCB was down and everything was unplugged, there were no issues and the RCD didn't trip. However, and not always, but sometimes when I would flick that particular MCB up (we keep our bins and recycling in the garage, which has an electric door and this operates on that circuit), the RCD would immediately trip....does that tell us anything new or useful?

View attachment 9456

If you leave that mcb off for several days and it doe not trip, and then with it back on it starts to trip again, then it does point to that circuit being lightly.

You mention it feeds the garage. Does that also feed to anything outside?

Don't you have an electrician coming, he will find the fault a lot quicker than trial and error.

 

[Badger]

Ha you tried unplugging the garage door and leaving it disconnected while you see if the RCS trips when ground floor sockets trip is reset 

 

[AnthonyP]

Hello all. I thought I would chime in with an update. I narrowed the issue down to MCB #8, ring circuit ground floor. Prior to the sparky visiting, I popped out all the 2 gang sockets on that ring and within about half an hour of him arriving, he pointed out that one of the sockets had a lose wire and that is most likely the issue. Once that was fixed, he changed the bus bar and I have not had any problems since. 

I guess I could have fixed this myself eventually had I known what to look for, but I didn't know at the time. Lesson learnt for next time though.

Thanks to all those who chipped in.

 

[Sharpend]

Thanks for the update, guess you’ve learned something to keep for future reference should it happen again already you’ll have a starting point