Help r.e electrics tripping

gabyjane

Last night at 10pm our house decended into darkness..me and dd were already in bed so went to sleep and dh reset and all was ok..

Tonight just after 8pm and it does it again..the lights stayed on though (wouldnt have known this last night as had lamp on) and so i went down and tried to reset and it just kept tripping.I went round the whole house turned everything off and reset then going round turning everything on 1 by 1 to see what it was..appears to be the boiler.

Does anyone know why it is just doing it at night as everything been on ok all day and seems odd its just a night time thing.

Typical with it being a B/H weekend so avoiding calling someone out till tue..have everything back on except boiler and all fine but obviously no heat or hot water! Assuming/hoping it will come on ok again tommorow if reset?

Help?!!
Thanks

ormus

the boiler PCB maybe short circuiting?
or the pump motor?

gabyjane

Thanks..appears it is now the washing machine and not the boiler..turned boiler on and on now fine..turned washing machine on and ok but the switch was the one that tripped it?

macman

Plug your washing machine into another socket and retest. That will tell you if the fault is on the socket or the appliance. if it's the w/m, get it checked ASAP as you could have an earth leakage on it, or some other fault.
If it's tripping the lights then it appears you have an RCD fitted and it is detecting this fault and tripping.

ormus

gabyjane wrote: »

Thanks..appears it is now the washing machine and not the boiler..turned boiler on and on now fine..turned washing machine on and ok but the switch was the one that tripped it?

sorry but thats a very confusing post.

macman

Does the OP mean that they're both on the same circuit, so one tripping switched off the other?
But if the lights went off, it must be an RCD that is tripping, not a MCB?

gabyjane

Sorry Ormus i will try to explain more!

I turned everything in the house off and started going round switching things on to see what tripped it. There is a switch in our kitchen which i thought was for the boiler (its for the washing machine)..this is why i thought in the first place it was the boiler as when i turned it off it blew but when dh came in last night and i tried it again i realised the boiler was actually off so the switch was therefore for the washing machine which is whats tripping it.

Not sure that has clarified any better actually lol but it is still odd it happens at night regardless as to what it is?
Anyone know why?

Yes it is an RCD not MCB. And it is the sockets that are affected not the mains
Thanks

macman

OK, so plug the washing machine into another socket and restest to determine if it is the appliance or the socket. My guess is that you have an earth leakage on the w/m.
Don't understand your comment about the RCD affecting only the sockets-you originally said that when it tripped, the lights went out-the lights are on a different circuit to the sockets.

ormus

the WM is the prime suspect then. the sockets themselves rarely give any problems.

gabyjane

macman wrote: »

OK, so plug the washing machine into another socket and restest to determine if it is the appliance or the socket. My guess is that you have an earth leakage on the w/m.
Don't understand your comment about the RCD affecting only the sockets-you originally said that when it tripped, the lights went out-the lights are on a different circuit to the sockets.

I am not sure how the washing machine is plugged in as plumber did it all when we moved in..there isn't a socket with a switch it is one of those blank sockets with just a switch on (like oven ones) so i cannot see a plug? guessing it is somehwere or can they be wired up this way? our dishwaher is the same as far as im aware.

Lights i meant the ones round the house sorry..should have said lamps..therefore plugged into sockets not the mains lights

gabyjane

ormus wrote: »

the WM is the prime suspect then. the sockets themselves rarely give any problems.

Hmm we have had a few odd probs with this house since we moved in! New build and when things started going wrong a couple of weeks after we moved in i collared the elecrtician as still building near by and even he looked confused..despite doing it grr!! Says it all really doesn't it!!
The house is on 2 seperate circuits too so one side of the house will work and one wont! is this normal for a new house?