Question for a Sparky.

[Trav Le Bleu]

The main switch on my fusebox tripped today. None of the individual room switches tripped, there wasn't particularly many electric devices being used in the house and we hadn't just turned anything on.

 

Flipped it back on, everything is fine now and has been for a couple of hours now.

 

Been round, turned all lights on and off, all the appliances have turned back on fine without tripping anything.

 

This happened randomly about a year ago (I think - since it never happened again I pushed it to the back of my mind), but has been fine since.

 

Any ideas and how concerned should I be?

[StanSP]

Mark Hughes when he finally realises he's useful for something

[Trav Le Bleu]

4 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Mark Hughes when he finally realises he's useful for something

So you can't help? 

[yorkie1999]

The main power switch flipped, or a circuit breaker?

[StanSP]

3 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

So you can't help? 

Sorry, no

 

[Innovindil]

Ask where everyone in the house was standing when it tripped. When my tripped out last year it was because my fat ass was stood on a loose floorboard and snared a cable. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

5 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

The main power switch flipped, or a circuit breaker?

Circuit breaker away from the rest of the other switches, with off/on next to it.

[Webbo]

We had a kettle once that would occasionally cause a trip out when it was on. 

[FoxesDeb]

@Strokes this is your field of expertise isn't it?

[yorkie1999]

15 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Circuit breaker away from the rest of the other switches, with off/on next to it.

Short circuit somewhere or you're overloading the system. Check the RCD's (the other switches) are the correct size and turn everything on at the same time. Other than that, get an electrician in and stay out of the bath. 

[Izzy]

3 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

@Strokes this is your field of expertise isn't it?

[Steven]

My cat is called Sparky. Do you want me to ask him?  

[SpacedX]

How old is the fuse box? I rented a house years ago and one of the an individual circuit breakers had failed which meant it didn't trip as it was designed to do meaning the main breaker was tripping to provide the secondary shut off. It was triggered by a dodgy appliance - a toaster as I recall, but this meant it was happening quite regularly. You say that this has only occurred twice in the space of a year? Is there a device on a particular circuit that you use infrequently? Alternatively, if the fuse box is old it can be more susceptible and sensitive to a surge in your power supply which again could activate the main breaker. 

Edited 14 October 2020 by Line-X

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 minute ago, Line-X said:

How old is the fuse box? I rented a house years ago and one of the an individual circuit breakers had failed which meant it didn't trip as it was designed to do meaning the main breaker was tripping to provide the secondary shut off. It was triggered by a dodgy appliance - a toaster as I recall, but this meant it was happening quite regularly. You say that this has only occurred twice in the space of a year? Is there a device on a particular circuit that you use infrequently? Alternatively, if the fuse box is old it can be more susceptible and sensitive to a surge in your power supply which again could activate the main breaker. 

It is quite old I think. There's a sticker on it that says 1984, which I think is possibly an installation date.

 

I was wondering if it might be a power spike.

[SpacedX]

2 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

It is quite old I think. There's a sticker on it that says 1984, which I think is possibly an installation date.

 

I was wondering if it might be a power spike.

I reckon so - hence the fact that it's not happening regularly. I'd get an electrician in to replace it with a modern consumer unit. 

[Strokes]

56 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

It is quite old I think. There's a sticker on it that says 1984, which I think is possibly an installation date.

 

I was wondering if it might be a power spike.

Most likely a spike, I wouldn’t worry unless it becomes a regular occurrence. Might be time for an electrical certification and get the once over.

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 minute ago, Strokes said:

Most likely a spike, I wouldn’t worry unless it becomes a regular occurrence. Might be time for an electrical certification and get the once over.

Cheers mate.

 

Fortunately one of my nephews is marrying a girl whose dad is an electrician at the weekend.

 

(They're getting married at the weekend - not her dad's only an electrician at the weekend.)

[String fellow]

We had a similar problem earlier this year. Came downstairs one morning and the fridge light didn't come on. Then I realised everything was off. The main circuit breaker had tripped during the night for no apparent reason. To avoid a current surge when resetting it, I first turned off all the RCDs and switched off everything in the house powered by SM power supplies. Then switched the circuit breaker back on, followed by the RCDs, one at a time. 

[fuchsntf]

3 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

The main switch on my fusebox tripped today. None of the individual room switches tripped, there wasn't particularly many electric devices being used in the house and we hadn't just turned anything on.

 

Flipped it back on, everything is fine now and has been for a couple of hours now.

 

Been round, turned all lights on and off, all the appliances have turned back on fine without tripping anything.

 

This happened randomly about a year ago (I think - since it never happened again I pushed it to the back of my mind), but has been fine since.

 

Any ideas and how concerned should I be?

I am/was a techi...

Maybe a small surge/spike....how old is your house,electrics You could get an Electric-certificate-check, if your worried. ( Not Sure Now of UK procedure)

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

Sounds very bizarre to me! Do you have any RCD's or Surge Protection Devices in your board?

[Vestan Pance]

On 14/10/2020 at 17:52, Trav Le Bleu said:

The main switch on my fusebox tripped today. None of the individual room switches tripped, there wasn't particularly many electric devices being used in the house and we hadn't just turned anything on.

 

Flipped it back on, everything is fine now and has been for a couple of hours now.

 

Been round, turned all lights on and off, all the appliances have turned back on fine without tripping anything.

 

This happened randomly about a year ago (I think - since it never happened again I pushed it to the back of my mind), but has been fine since.

 

Any ideas and how concerned should I be?

Main switches don't trip, unless someone has used an RCD as the Main Switch. If it has a test button it's an RCD.

RCDs usually trip due to faulty appliances or water ingress/spiders and shit in security lights etc. If it continues I'd contact a spark.

 

Edited 15 October 2020 by Vestan Pance

[Saxondale]

I was getting a lot of RCD tripping last year because of a dodgy heater element in my oven. Obviously I knew it was from the oven because it tripped when the oven was switched on, or when the thermostat in the oven turned the element on.

 

If, like you say, it wasn't triggered by you turning something on specifically, then it is likely related to something that turns on automatically on some sort of microswitch. It would likely from something that draws a lot of current, like an electric oven. 

[stix]

On 14/10/2020 at 18:34, Izzy said:

You’ve had your money’s worth out of that meme mate that’s for sure!!

[Izzy]

1 minute ago, stix said:

You’ve had your money’s worth out of that meme mate that’s for sure!!

I reckon there's plenty more mileage left in it yet.

 

@Strokesalways gets a mention when someone has an odd job question bless him 

[Strokes]

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

I reckon there's plenty more mileage left in it yet.

 

@Strokesalways gets a mention when someone has an odd job question bless him 

I’m a house husband really, I just talk the talk.