UK Kitchen socket trip switch keeps triggering RCD even when nothing is plugged in.

[Zhelevn]

Hello & Merry Christmas,

Last week when waking up the lights and sockets in the bedrooms upstairs were off, along with the ground floor kitchen sockets. Flipping the RCD, and the trip switch for the kichen sockets and upstairs lights seemed to work fine - we have no new appliance installed or heavy current drawing cows plugged in.

This morning same happened, except the trip switch for the kitchen sockets will not stay ON, it trips the RCD unit it's on. Everything else works fine.
All appliances in the kitchen (in fact weunplugged the whole house) are off and unplugged. Washing mashine, fridge, everything there is unplugged.
I tried changing the two brown cables to the empty trip switch next to it.
Also tried changing to the second RCD unit on the right.
CU is new, installed in 2019. House was renovated before we moved in.

Any advice? I've attached photos of the CU if it helps.

 

[Bob Geldoff1234]

You need to employ the services of an electrician in order to find your fault.The action that you have unplugged everything in the kitchen usually means there's a fault on the wiring.Make sure you have switched off all spurs that might feed the boiler and/or outside lights.The action that leaving the breaker for the kitchen sockets in the off position indicates that you have a live to earth fault but only an electrician with test equipment will be able to find it for you.Finally you need to have turned off the red main switch before removing the cover for safety's sake.

 

[ipf]

I would say it needs looking into by someone qualified and experienced. There is a fault....but it needs tracing and repairing. Good chance of a bad connection somewhere, but.....who knows without access to all.

 

[MJPD29]

CU installed this year? Is there certificates for that? It looks absolutely horrendous. With regards to your fault are there any outside lights or anything at your back door that may be wired off the sockets that could have water in them? If it is not something plugged in or a light you'll find it very hard to find without proper testing gear.

 

[Anthony S]

You ain't gonna sort this out for Free by the sounds of your problem.

 

[Pete999]

First off, sorry to hear of your problems, secondly swapping or changing things is a pointless exercise.
What you need to do is employ an Electrician (probably going to get be told off for saying this, but it is the only sane and safe option)
Where are you based? a member may offer to help, I would if it isn't to far from Northampton, FOC except travel costs, so no excuse to accuse me of garnering trade.

 

[Baddegg]

Southampton @Pete999, bit far for you mate on a freebie I’d imagine.....very generous offer though it has to be said ??

 

[Pete999]

Southampton @Pete999, bit far for you mate on a freebie I’d imagine.....very generous offer though it has to be said ??

Thanks Mate I do mean it, but Southampton? bit to far

 

[Wilko]

Hi - you’ve tried the sensible removal of anything plugged in and it’s not fixed it. Have you flipped off the boiler, dishwasher etc at their switches? Like others have said, it will likely take test equipment and experience to find where the fault is, as per @Pete999.

 

[Zhelevn]

First off, sorry to hear of your problems, secondly swapping or changing things is a pointless exercise.
What you need to do is employ an Electrician (probably going to get be told off for saying this, but it is the only sane and safe option)
Where are you based? a member may offer to help, I would if it isn't to far from Northampton, FOC except travel costs, so no excuse to accuse me of garnering trade.

Thanks. I did so from reading lots of other threads where it helped the issue (in their case the RCD was old and worn and more sensitive, or the the circuit was just overloaded and putting it on the second RCD balanced the power draw)

Funnily enough, going to Northampton in a couple of days to see family. We're at Southampton sadly.

When I say I switched off everything, I mean it. Boiler, every socket in the house. No outside lights. Only.. smoke alarms could be on. Well they run on different trip switch (so the cover says) which I kept off when testing.

I'll post in out neighbourhood Nextdoor page and see if any electricians are local.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Appreciate it.
[automerge]1576951147[/automerge]

CU installed this year? Is there certificates for that? It looks absolutely horrendous. With regards to your fault are there any outside lights or anything at your back door that may be wired off the sockets that could have water in them? If it is not something plugged in or a light you'll find it very hard to find without proper testing gear.

I'll check. Must be. We bought the house. Why does it look horrendous, cable management?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

the trip switch for the kitchen sockets will not stay ON

If the MCB itself is tripping, rather than just the RCD tripping when you switch the MCB on, then the problem is most likely a damaged cable that has an intermittent short-circuit. Do not reset the MCB again as there could be heavy arcing at the site of the fault. An electrician should be able to narrow the fault down to one run of cable; pot luck as to whether fixing it will cause damage to your decor. As it is a recent installation, the damage may have been there from new but has only just started to manifest as an electrical fault. A kitchen cabinet screw through a cable in the wall is quite a common cause.

 

[James]

Thanks. I did so from reading lots of other threads where it helped the issue (in their case the RCD was old and worn and more sensitive, or the the circuit was just overloaded and putting it on the second RCD balanced the power draw)

Funnily enough, going to Northampton in a couple of days to see family. We're at Southampton sadly.

When I say I switched off everything, I mean it. Boiler, every socket in the house. No outside lights. Only.. smoke alarms could be on. Well they run on different trip switch (so the cover says) which I kept off when testing.

I'll post in out neighbourhood Nextdoor page and see if any electricians are local.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Appreciate it.
[automerge]1576951147[/automerge]


I'll check. Must be. We bought the house. Why does it look horrendous, cable management?

I think horrendous is pushing it a bit far
I have seen neater looking jobs and far worse looking too.
I can’t see anything that is of a concern inside that board, just a bit untidy.
There are some red cables I see, this means that’s if it was renovated last year, they didn’t change all the cables.

Not necessarily a cause for any concern, but it means that although there is a new board and possibly sockets and fittings etc.
It has not had a complete re wire

 

[Midwest]

Is that rust marks/stains on the inside of the CU at the bottom? Unusual to see that, if the case. Not suggesting its the cause, more why its there.

 

[Zhelevn]

Is that rust marks/stains on the inside of the CU at the bottom? Unusual to see that, if the case. Not suggesting its the cause, more why its there.

It's dust drill residue from the brick wall it's secured onto.

Could anybody recommend somebody to contact in Southampton (we're in Inner Avenue area)?

 

[Midwest]

It's dust drill residue from the brick wall it's secured onto.

Could anybody recommend somebody to contact in Southampton (we're in Inner Avenue area)

Argh, someone never thought to clean that out then!

As a starting point, you could try this web site;

Competent Persons Register | Home

Competent person schemes (CPS) were introduced by the Government to allow individuals and enterprises to self-certify that their work complies with the Building Regulations.

www.competentperson.co.uk

Doesn't mean they are good, but at least they will have insurance etc.

 

[phil 01]

Just a thought does the time you lose power coincide with the boiler trying to fire up, switching off appliances may not be be enough because not all sockets are double poled( switching off both live and neutral) unplugging will be necessary if trying to trace a fault, another possibility is the fridge freezer, they are notorious for faults