*powercut problem*

[monkfish10]

Hello,

Moved into a first floor flat house conversion september 2015. Was told by landlord that new fuse box installed 18 months ago and electrics had been tested and inspected. Have had around 6 powercuts over last few months usually around 1 month or so in between - and the latest one, which I will discuss in next paragraph, has me a bit worried. It's always the sockets that trip. Everything else (lights, smoke alarm, cooker light, doorbell) are fully operational. Assume powercuts are due to the wall wiring and that when there are more appliances running at any one time an overload occurs due to the weak electrics being unable to cope perhaps? - i'm careful to make sure that too many things aren't plugged in at once anyway.

When trying to resolve the powercuts I switch off all power sockets and unplug everything and turn off all the MCBs and the RCD and wait 1/2hr - 1hr before flicking them on again and seeing what happens. It takes several hours or longer for the socket MCB to stop tripping the box and finally stay up which gets everything back to normal.

HOWEVER, this time had a powercut where the sockets came back on like always but then the lights went off and wouldn't come back on. Strange thing is that the lights MCB switch and all the other switches are UP !? Read somewhere that a wire could have melted causing the lights circuit breaker to become defective?.

I'm pretty certain a faulty applicance isn't causing this because I use everything pretty much every day and surely a powercut would happen not long soon after? Landlord suggsted that the heating element in washing machine was causing it but had the heating element replaced and powercuts still followed suit. Can't say for sure but I think some of the powercuts have happened when I'm in the kitchen doing washing up running hot water from kitchen tap. Could be something to do with the boiler or maybe just contributes to flow of electricity causing overload?

Please can someone suggest what is causing this very annoying problem and offer any advice on how to fix it !

Thanks, Cal

 

[Darkwood]

Hi, welcome to the forum

 

[jackhammerJIM]

There could be a number of things causing the circuit to trip . Without being on site and testing the circuits i cannot offer a solution . Speak to the landlord , an electrician needs to diagnose the problem .

 

[telectrix]

first we need to know if it's a MCB tripping or an RCD. then, if, as i suspect, it's RCD, we need to know what circuits it feeds apart from sockets. if it is RCD, then it's not overload, but an earth fault, which can only be traced by an electrician with the appropriate test equipment.

 

[telectrix]

also, the fault could be on the neutral, in which case it may trip with the MCBs off.

 

[rolyberkin]

You really need to get an electrician to come and have a look at your installation with proper test equipment, if you are in rented accomodation this is down to the landlord to sort out. It could be as simple as a faulty MCB or may need further investigation or action, just because it was put in 18 months ago it doesn't mean it was put in correctly or something isn't faulty now.

 

[hightower]

I know this response really isn't helpful in regards to answering your questions, but isn't this issue the responsibility and worry of your landlord?

 

[telectrix]

You really need to get an electrician to come and have a look at your installation with proper test equipment, if you are in rented accomodation this is down to the landlord to sort out. It could be as simple as a faulty MCB or may need further investigation or action, just because it was put in 18 months ago it doesn't mean it was put in correctly or something isn't faulty now.

yep, the titanic didn't last 18 months, did it?

 

[monkfish10]

first we need to know if it's a MCB tripping or an RCD. then, if, as i suspect, it's RCD, we need to know what circuits it feeds apart from sockets. if it is RCD, then it's not overload, but an earth fault, which can only be traced by an electrician with the appropriate test equipment.

Previous powercuts the RCD would trip (everything goes off, caused by sockets)

(RCD feeds the lights, smoke alarm, cooker light, door bell)

After this particular powercut (after sockets back on), RCD switch stays on and all MCBs switched up but no lights.

 

[monkfish10]

I know this response really isn't helpful in regards to answering your questions, but isn't this issue the responsibility and worry of your landlord?

UPDATE-Spoke to Landlord and has arranged for an electrician to come and take a look tomorrow. Now looking for a bit of advice to give me a head start and what to tell electrician.

 

[telectrix]

just tell him what's tripping, and whether it occurs with any particular appliances being used. as for the lights, it's anyone's guess.

 

[monkfish10]

just tell him what's tripping, and whether it occurs with any particular appliances being used. as for the lights, it's anyone's guess.

Could it be an actual socket gone faulty instead of an appliance that caused the powercuts?

Also, if it is an appliance, what are the usual suspects?

I mentioned in first post that powercuts seem to happen when kitchen tap has been running hot water for a while/boiler operating. is there any weight to this?

UPDATED

Hello,

Moved into a first floor flat house conversion september 2015. Was told by landlord that new fuse box installed 18 months ago and electrics had been tested and inspected. Have had around 6 powercuts over last few months usually around 1 month or so in between - and the latest one, which I will discuss in next paragraph, has me a bit worried. When I flick up the socket circuit breaker switch after a powercut it ALWAYS causes the main switch to go down. Everything else (lights, smoke alarm, cooker light, doorbell) are fully operational. Assume powercuts are due to ****ty wall wiring/fault and that maybe when there are more appliances running at a time an overload occurs due to the weak electrics being unable to cope ? - i'm always careful to make sure that too many things aren't plugged in at once.

When trying to resolve the powercuts I switch off all plug sockets/unplug everything and flick down all circuit breakers and turn off the mains and wait 1/2hr - 1hr for the fuse box to calm down before flicking them on again. It takes several hours or longer for the circuit breaker that feeds the sockets to stop the main switch from tripping and finally stay up which gets everything back to normal.

HOWEVER, this time had a powercut where the sockets came back on like always but then the lights went off and wouldn't come back on again. It's been 2 days. Strange thing is that the lights circuit breaker switch and all the other switches are UP !? Read somewhere that a wire could have melted causing the lights circuit breaker to become defective? I'm worried that this is a fire risk?

I'm pretty certain a faulty applicance isn't causing the powercuts because I use everything pretty much every day and surely a powercut would happen not long soon after? Landlord suggsted that the heating element in washing machine was originally causing them but had the heating element replaced and powercuts still followed suit. Can't say for sure but I think some of the powercuts have happened when I'm in the kitchen doing washing up running hot water from kitchen tap. Could be something to do with the boiler or maybe just contributes to flow of electricity causing overload?

Please can someone suggest what is causing this very annoying problem and offer any advice on how to fix it ! I have an electrician coming round tomorrow but want a heads up so I can explain the situation in more detail.

Thanks, Cal