Electrics tripping out.

blue_haddock

Some time ago my electrics started playing up, at first i thought it was the electric oven at fault as it would trip the main circuit breaker when the oven had been on for a while. You could turn all the switched off on the circuit breaker, flick the circuit breaker on and then turn the others back on and everything would be fine. Now the moment you turn the oven on it trips.

After a while the electrics started to intermitantly trip any time day or night, i thought it may be down to the old fridge freezer playing up so one night i experimented and turned it off before going to bed. The electrics still tripped that night.

It is intermitant and at the moment it seems fine (apart from the fact i cant use the oven) but the other day i shut the front door quite hard and that tripped the electrics again (door is next to the circuit breaker board.)

The unit is a memera 21 if that makes any difference. Any ideas on what it may be and what it may cost to put right?

macman

What is actually tripping-is it the main RCD, or is it just an MCB covering one ring main? The cooker would normally be on a separate circuit. You need to determine which circuit(s) are affected.
But if the vibration of slamming a door trips it, then I would suspect either a faulty MCB or a loose connection at or near the CU causing the trip.
Easy job to change an MCB as long as you know what you are doing with electricity. If not, get a qualified electrician in.

timbo58

I agree with macman.
sounds like mcb or rcd itself, whichever it is there is a reason why we have mcbs etc: to stop electrocution and fires caused by faults elsewhere.
Get an electrician in asap.

Yolina

Get it checked - this kind of stuff was happening at my mum's house in France, turned out a mice had decided it would be clever to chew wires (and fry itself in the process)...

ormus

ive had problems with an rcd in the past. very tempramental.

blue_haddock

It's what is call the master switch that turns all the electric off

muckybutt

It sounds like in your case you have a Main Switch that is an RCD.

RCD's dont trip on fault current so you dont have a short between live and earth so you wont get electrocuted, what it sounds like you have is a neutral to earth fault which can be a pain in the bum to find, it could be a number of things from a faulty RCD ( do you regularly test it by pushing the TRIP TEST button ?) to a faulty appliance or a fault with your wiring.

I would suggest you consult an approved electrician for a full inspection of your wiring.

blue_haddock

That is the unit in question. The main switch is the thing that trips, the cooker is the small switch on the right and has been turned off for ages and yet the main switch still occasionally trips. Which is why i no longer think the cooker is at fault.

I will be getting a sparky in soon but just wanted to know if you lot had any ideas what it could be and how much it may cost to fix. Any idea how much a new mains unit would be?

macman

You've already been advised what the possible problem may be based on the info given. Why do you think you would need a new CU if it's just a faulty RCD or a loose connection?

muckybutt

Simply turning off the cooker switch as you have found out will not cure the problem !.

Neutrals are permanently connected in the consumer unit therefore if the probem is still there it will continue tripping the main rcd out, have you tried using the test button as advised ? if that trips the rcd then rcd is probably ok and you wont need a new consumer unit.

It is possible the fault lies elsewhere in the wiring and is not necessasarily bound to be on the cooker circuit, one way to rule out the cooker would be to disconnect the neutral wire on the inside of the consumer unit....with the unit turned off and only if you are competant, otherwise leave it to the sparky to sort out.

If the rcd turns out to be faulty then a new consumer unit would be required as mem do not make those units any more and if you could get parts they would easily be half the price of a new cu.

Looking at the photo I cant see a supply earth wire ? zoom out and post another photo

blue_haddock

macman wrote: »

You've already been advised what the possible problem may be based on the info given. Why do you think you would need a new CU if it's just a faulty RCD or a loose connection?

i'm not an electrician and i know very little about the subject. I thought that posting a picture of the unit may help people identify what i was on about.