Plug socket lost power.

tony3619

Hello, 

I noticed the light wasn't working in my fridge so tested the plug socket with a Different appliance and that didn't work either. 

Nothin tripped so I reset the switch board and it's come back to life? 

Any Reason this could happen? 

macman

Did other sockets on the same circuit also fail? As it's not clear if that socket alone is at fault.
If the MCB/RCD hadn't tripped, how could you have 'reset it'?
If it's that socket alone, then the most likely cause is an intermittent loose connection at the socket, or a faulty socket.

tony3619

macman said:

Did other sockets on the same circuit also fail? As it's not clear if that socket alone is at fault.
If the MCB/RCD hadn't tripped, how could you have 'reset it'?
If it's that socket alone, then the most likely cause is an intermittent loose connection at the socket, or a faulty socket.

As far as I'm aware the other sockets worked. I definitely know two of the other plug socket did as I tested the fridge on them with success. Stupidly I didn't test them all. 

The socket for the fridge is controlled by this main wall socket (photo attached) which I tried changing the fuse for but didn't help. 

As far as I'm aware it was just this one socket and it didn't trip at the fuse box. I randomly turned turned the ring off and on again on the circuit board and it just came back to life.

Jonboy_1984

Is the trip switch very old (or tripped regularly in the past).

Or does it touch any cover over it( i.e it’s a later fitting and sticks out more than the original design switches such as an RCBO in a consumer unit full of MCB’s) ?

I have experienced trip switches that cut the current, but don’t move physically the switch in both situations.

tony3619

Jonboy_1984 said:

Is the trip switch very old (or tripped regularly in the past).

Or does it touch any cover over it( i.e it’s a later fitting and sticks out more than the original design switches such as an RCBO in a consumer unit full of MCB’s) ?

I have experienced trip switches that cut the current, but don’t move physically the switch in both situations.

The trip switch is about 4 years old. I've looked at the cover and it doesn't seem to impede it. Also the trip switch would trip all outlets even if the switch didn't move?

I have kept the plug running for a few  hours to  see if anything trips or the socket cuts off again and it's still going. No idea what caused it. 

No sign of burning or strange smells etc 

macman

What you are referring to as a 'fuse board' is a 4 gang FCU.
If nothing else is affected then the fault is an intermittent one on that spur.

grumbler

Can anybody explain why spurs are fused here? Was it just to use thinner cables?

Mutton_Geoff

grumbler said:

Can anybody explain why spurs are fused here? Was it just to use thinner cables?

It used to be a requirement that appliances had to have accessible fuses and very often an ugly row of switched fused spurs were mounted along the splashbacks in kitchens. This was a neater way to route all the cables then the appliance end can be hard wired into a jb or box without the need for it to have a 13A plug top and socket hidden behind units. It's quite common to still run the fused output to a 13A socket behind the appliance to make it easy to remove it for repair/service.

What you wouldn't want is a washing machine to fault and go live or overheat without being able to access some form of isolation quickly.

grumbler

Mutton_Geoff said:

grumbler said:

Can anybody explain why spurs are fused here? Was it just to use thinner cables?

... It's quite common to still run the fused output to a 13A socket behind the appliance to make it easy to remove it for repair/service.

What's the point in a fused spur in this case?

What you wouldn't want is a washing machine to fault and go live or overheat without being able to access some form of isolation quickly.

That's what accessible switches are for.

tony3619

macman said:

Did other sockets on the same circuit also fail? As it's not clear if that socket alone is at fault.
If the MCB/RCD hadn't tripped, how could you have 'reset it'?
If it's that socket alone, then the most likely cause is an intermittent loose connection at the socket, or a faulty socket.

Only that socket as I test others.

tony3619

macman said:

What you are referring to a a 'fuse board' is a 4 gang FCU.
If nothing else is affected then the fault is an intermittent one on that spur.

Stupidly I didn't test every socket when I noticed the fault but I did test a couple and they seemed fine. 

What my partner has also just told me is a week or so ago a pan boiled over on the hob and tripped all of downstairs. Possibility the RCD. Once it dried out everything went back to normal. Not sure if this could be a cause or not. 

I find it baffling that turning the trip switch on and off would make it work again even though it didn't trip in the first place.