far Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Basically got an issue with the downstairs lights tripping out the fuse in the consumer unit in a house I just bought The lights stay on for anywhere between 1 and 4 minutes and then trip the switch There was a major leak in the house about 3 months ago - just wondering if this could e related? Can anyone suggest what I should check? Or can you suggest a reliable sparky in the Crawley/Sussex area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absz Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 remove all light bulbs first then switch on power, see if it still trips you can then refit one bulb at a time to see which section of the circuit is causing the fault and go from there. can even be a faulty bulb ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjgreen3 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hi Im a sparky, Can't recommend anyone in that area but maybe call on friends or neighbours that have had any work done by one and whether they would recommend them, or search online I think there is a forum where you post your work and suitable sparkies will post a quote for the work without even seeing what the work entails! Me I would need to see the problem to identify and rectify the issue, however my 'guess' would be that this problem has only occured since the leak and therefore would have something to do with said leak. You could take out all the bulbs in that circuit ie if its downstairs lights and see if it trips with all the swiches set to the on position (ie power going to all fittings and switches but no load being drawn) to see if its faulty wiring, remember to bring a torch! If nothing trips then the wiring would 'APPEAR' (cant confirm without insulation resistance testing the wires in that affected circuit) to be ok then it would suggest a loading problem, if its on a ten amp breaker and you have downlighters everywhere on that circuit it could be overloading the breaker say with 13 amps which wont cause it to trip until the breaker overheats and trips after say 1-4 mins. So you need an electrician to advise you on uprating or splitting that circuit into two or you use more energy saving bulbs. Before this turns into a war of the worlds epic read I will basically say I'm speculating and a picture is worth a thousand words so try the removal of the bulbs and if it still trips I strongly advise you to get a QUALIFIED electrician out to check that particular circuit out, as another note since you recently bought the house shouldn't the electrics have been tested as part of this new scheme. You should request the test documentation from the estate agents/previous owners and then challenge them if it passed as obviously it had an underlying fault which they missed or purposely overlooked. They should then pay for an electrician (not the same one who tested it!) to come and fix it for you. If I was closer (Im in south yorkshire) I would come and have a look for free but you would have to be a southerner........ tut. HTH keep this thread updated with how you resolve this problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjgreen3 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Damn should have kept it shorter absz beat me to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee P Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Give Ricky49 a shout he lives in Worthing and may be able to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absz Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Damn should have kept it shorter absz beat me to it! Not very good with keyboards normally take me 5 mins to write a sentence, hence quick and short:d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjgreen3 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Haha Me I can't keep my responses short, Im signing up for a speedtyping course tomorrow , so I can get my responses in quicker. I need the glory from being correct in identifying a problem but it only works if I'm first to post it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 Hi Im a sparky, Can't recommend anyone in that area but maybe call on friends or neighbours that have had any work done by one and whether they would recommend them, or search online I think there is a forum where you post your work and suitable sparkies will post a quote for the work without even seeing what the work entails! Me I would need to see the problem to identify and rectify the issue, however my 'guess' would be that this problem has only occured since the leak and therefore would have something to do with said leak. You could take out all the bulbs in that circuit ie if its downstairs lights and see if it trips with all the swiches set to the on position (ie power going to all fittings and switches but no load being drawn) to see if its faulty wiring, remember to bring a torch! If nothing trips then the wiring would 'APPEAR' (cant confirm without insulation resistance testing the wires in that affected circuit) to be ok then it would suggest a loading problem, if its on a ten amp breaker and you have downlighters everywhere on that circuit it could be overloading the breaker say with 13 amps which wont cause it to trip until the breaker overheats and trips after say 1-4 mins. So you need an electrician to advise you on uprating or splitting that circuit into two or you use more energy saving bulbs. Before this turns into a war of the worlds epic read I will basically say I'm speculating and a picture is worth a thousand words so try the removal of the bulbs and if it still trips I strongly advise you to get a QUALIFIED electrician out to check that particular circuit out, as another note since you recently bought the house shouldn't the electrics have been tested as part of this new scheme. You should request the test documentation from the estate agents/previous owners and then challenge them if it passed as obviously it had an underlying fault which they missed or purposely overlooked. They should then pay for an electrician (not the same one who tested it!) to come and fix it for you. If I was closer (Im in south yorkshire) I would come and have a look for free but you would have to be a southerner........ tut. HTH keep this thread updated with how you resolve this problem Thanks mate and Absz - thats really useful - I did try to remove all the light bulbs and it still tripped I'm not sure if electrics are tested as part of purchasing a house? Are you referring to the new HIPS? If so this only shows info on Energy and Performance. Usually a full buildings survey would bring out any further info on electrical issues (I only got a basic Survey) LeeP - I will PM Ricky to see if he is up for the job If anyone else has any other suggestions I can DIY that would be really helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjgreen3 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Ok well as a precaution, you have an underlying wiring fault and I would recommend for safety reasons you leave that particular circuit breaker off, there is a fault and a large current is causing it to trip. A circuit breaker is designed to protect the electrical wiring not anything else and large currents can cause wires to overheat, so a possible fire risk. Even if its nothing serious repeated tripping of a breaker reduces its operating life so it will save you a fiver in replacing it if nothing else . Best leave it to a professional mate, like you said see if ricky 49 is up for the job. Also I would suggest you get a full test done on all the installed electrics ie. all the other circuits including the faulty one for peace of mind shouldn't cost more than 100-150 quid depending on how many circuits and sockets etc that you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 Ok well as a precaution, you have an underlying wiring fault and I would recommend for safety reasons you leave that particular circuit breaker off, there is a fault and a large current is causing it to trip. A circuit breaker is designed to protect the electrical wiring not anything else and large currents can cause wires to overheat, so a possible fire risk. Even if its nothing serious repeated tripping of a breaker reduces its operating life so it will save you a fiver in replacing it if nothing else . Best leave it to a professional mate, like you said see if ricky 49 is up for the job. Also I would suggest you get a full test done on all the installed electrics ie. all the other circuits including the faulty one for peace of mind shouldn't cost more than 100-150 quid depending on how many circuits and sockets etc that you have. Cheers dude - I've just been looking through some instruction manuals that were left in the house and in the manual for the boiler there was a service call registered saying 'external pump causing fuses to trip' - now this is a recent service call and I am wondering if this could be the issue. I think this refers to the central heating pump in the airing cupboard - I might try either disconnecting or replacing this and seeing if it rectifys the problem, it doesnt look like its been replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjgreen3 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 No need to do that pal unless its been wired incorrectly. That central heating pump should be on a separate circuit breaker probably marked up central heating or immersion (if you have a water heater that is) or spured off the ring main (one of your sockets circuit). You could test this by turning the heating on and turning off the faulty lighting circuit to see if the pump is on the same faulty circuit, however I very much doubt this is the case. You did say only one breaker/switch trips and not multiple ones when the fault occurs, I assume you still have power to the other circuits when that faulty one trips. It may help if you could post a picture of your fuseboard and highlight the breaker/switch that trips. Also if its labelled (eg lights, sockets etc) post that up info up or include it in a high resolution pic too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 No need to do that pal unless its been wired incorrectly. That central heating pump should be on a separate circuit breaker probably marked up central heating or immersion (if you have a water heater that is) or spured off the ring main (one of your sockets circuit). You could test this by turning the heating on and turning off the faulty lighting circuit to see if the pump is on the same faulty circuit, however I very much doubt this is the case. You did say only one breaker/switch trips and not multiple ones when the fault occurs, I assume you still have power to the other circuits when that faulty one trips. It may help if you could post a picture of your fuseboard and highlight the breaker/switch that trips. Also if its labelled (eg lights, sockets etc) post that up info up or include it in a high resolution pic too. OK - Will do these checks - thanks again, I will take some pics and post up tommorow, yes only one fuse trips not all of them - I still have power to the other lights in the house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 Any fluorescent strip type lights on that particular lighting circuit? If so i'd start by disconnecting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 I managed to find the faulty light - the previous owner had tapped into the downstairs circuit and installed an interior light in the outside shed!!! shed roof leaked and that was the light that was tripping the circuit! Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absz Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 I managed to find the faulty light - the previous owner had tapped into the downstairs circuit and installed an interior light in the outside shed!!! shed roof leaked and that was the light that was tripping the circuit! Thanks all! Are you sure it was the PREVIOUS owner ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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