Power to sockets tripping...

stellabrillante

Hello,

As we got back home last night after a few days away, we realised that the power to the sockets had tripped at some point which meant that all the contents of the fridge/freezer had to be thrown away.

We moved into the property in September and this has happened about 4-5 times. First time was when I was installing the washing machine and I assumed that I had accidently got the power socket wet.

However, it happened again a week later (the washing machine wasn't being used) and I then suspected it to be the Sky box (from unplugging each individual appliance as the switch kept tripping continuously) until I unplugged the box. But we've been using the Sky box every day since without any problems which then made me suspect the toaster...

I am mighty confused and unsure what to do next, these are the facts:
- nobody was in the house while we were away
- the washing machine wasn't in use and hadn't been used at least a good 12 hrs before we left
- the toaster wasn't even plugged into the socket
- the Sky box was on 'standby' but when I went through the recordings looking for evidence (the logic being that if a recording caused the power to trip then one of the programs would be showing as 'part recorded') but only found 'failed' recordings, with nothing looking like it had been interrupted as it started
- the fridge/freezer and the cooker are less than 2 months old and I'm reluctant to complain to the landlords.

To be honest, there have been all sorts of issues since we moved in (including us being locked out of the house for 2hrs last night as the front door lock jammed itself) and I suspect that a lot of it is the result of the previous tenants being incredibly good (???) at DIY and doing perhaps too much 'sorting out' themselves. So on one hand, I feel really uncomfortable and don't want to be seen as a a troublemaker but by the same token my rent is expensive and we live in a really good area so I'd have expected the house to have been looked after a lot better than it has - mould showing through paint / plaster above the shower (obviously just painted over by the previous tenants or something similar), lights in the kitchen not working at all, lights outside not working, cold water tap in the bathroom not working, broken front door handle... I really want to stay in good terms with my landlords but I am a landlady myself (I rent my house out) and I left my property in pristine condition and full working order for my tenants.

Any help / advice would be much appreciated!!! :-)

ormus

could be the ring main itself, although an appliance is the most likely suspect.
what was actually on/plugged in when you left the house?

Mayflower10cat

We had a similar annoying run of our downstairs sockets tripping out. Didn't seem to be any pattern to it happening, but it did happen a few times at night when most appliances are off. First thing the electricians asked when they came to fault find was; have you got mice or do you suspect you might have? (Apparently it's very common in rural areas for mice to nibble away at wiring.) No, we didn't have mice (and no evidence to susoect we might) plus we have three cats so one wouldn't have lasted very long. Finally after much testing, the fault was with the integrated undercounter fridge. The clue being that appliance causing the problems must have been on at night - the fridge thermostat clicks the motor on/off 24hrs day/night and it was this causing the problem. Only mentioning this as we'd never had suspected the fridge and it was a good make, not very old either.

SailorSam

Do you think it's worth trying to get hold of something like this before paying for an electrician to come in.
CED Plug in Socket Tester | Screwfix.com

If you're confident enough, turn off the power then check each socket in turn to see if there's a loose wire.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Sometimes the enclosed metal fixings in sockets fail.

Grab a socket tester as listed above.

macman

Is it the actual ring main it's plugged into that is tripping out on the MCB, or the wider RCD protection on the CU? If the former it's a fault on that ring main, or on an appliance plugged into it. Try connecting it to another ring main with an extension lead and see if it still trips. If it's an appliance fault, you need to disconnect everything, and reconnect until it trips,.

mikey72

I had one of these.
Originally I thought it was the washing machine, as it appeared to only be when it was plugged in.
It turned out to be a wall socket itself. The machine ran ok on a different socket.
I wouldn't have believed one could actually fail in this way until I replaced it.
Get the landlord to have the wiring checked, but it could be hard to find.

madjay

It more than likely that the MCB or the RCD that is at fault, I would contact the landlord about it so he can get the electrics check

stellabrillante

Thank you all for your responses.

I will buy the CED Plug in Socket Tester as advised and if nothing comes out of it then I will hand it over to the landlords. I don't believe there's mice in the house (we are in town and I've found no evidence of their presence). It's just that the tripping seems to be so random, that's what is confusing me. Surely, if it's a socket then that would have to be in use for the power to trip. How can that be the case if nobody is around? What I mean is that if it was the power socket being used for the Sky box that that would immediately trip the power whenever we switch it on, wouldn't it? The same for the fridge/freezer?

keystone

If its just nuisance tripping a socket tester isn't going to help you that much. The system needs a proper test by a sparky if you can't identify it by unplugging appliances.

Cheers

ormus

random shorting out can be cause by summat like a loose wire.
it may only take very small movement in the cable/wire to short out. after the flash the wire jumps back.
ready to start agin some weeks later.


i still think the fridge/freezer etc... is the most likely suspect.