gingerrubix
DIY
- Reaction score
- 4
Hey all, I'm looking for some advice to help me troubleshoot my strange issue with my consumer unit/fuse board on which my RCD keeps tripping.
Disclaimer - I'm a DIYer. I have an electrician involved and I'm 100% planning on leaving the work to the pro(s). However, He's not had time to do any real testing just yet, so I thought I'd get the ball rolling as he's said it might be a nightmare to solve.
So, I have an empty property that my recent tenants have moved out of. Near the end of their tenancy, they were reporting that the electricity was tripping throughout the night.
The consumer unit only has one RCD which protects breakers for downstairs sockets, upstairs sockets, the cooker and a single socket that sits next to the unit.
When they moved out I thought it'd be a simple process to isolate the issue (how wrong I was ha ha)
I thought it would be an appliance/device plugged in somewhere but even with EVERYTHING unplugged including the cooker, extractor fan, fridge-freezer, even the boiler, but it still trips… even if ALL the MCBs are switched to OFF.
But, it doesn't trip immediately, it doesn't trip during the day either.
This is where it gets weird…..
It seems to be tripping at the exact time each night, at 00:53 (or at least 3 out of the 4 times I've accurately timed it - the other time was close at 00:15). It doesn't make sense!
I believe that this type of tripping issue could be down to water ingress, I thought I may have found a candidate in a socket that was in a chimney breast that was always getting soaked/prone to leaking, but the electrician, removed that socket and made it safe (connecting the wires) but it still tripping and besides…..if it was water ingress, why would it trip at exactly the same time of night 3 times in a row?
One thing I haven't been able to test so far (because I'm not living at the property) is if it would continue to trip later in the evening, if I reset it. At the moment, I'm going round to the property every morning and finding it tripped.
Could it be a problem with the consumer unit itself?
This seems like a proper head-scratcher to me so hoping the combined brain of all you helpful/experienced lot may be able to point us in the right direction.
Happy to share pics if you need them.
Thanks in advance
Ginge
Extra info - that may or may not be related.
Bit of background on the things the tenant did.
During the tenancy they have had the meter changed. But based on the label from the energy company EON, this was back in January 2023 - so over a year ago.
There have been recent reports of rats being seen on the street - I did consider that could have been a cause but again…. Why is it tripping at the same time each night?
Disclaimer - I'm a DIYer. I have an electrician involved and I'm 100% planning on leaving the work to the pro(s). However, He's not had time to do any real testing just yet, so I thought I'd get the ball rolling as he's said it might be a nightmare to solve.
So, I have an empty property that my recent tenants have moved out of. Near the end of their tenancy, they were reporting that the electricity was tripping throughout the night.
The consumer unit only has one RCD which protects breakers for downstairs sockets, upstairs sockets, the cooker and a single socket that sits next to the unit.
When they moved out I thought it'd be a simple process to isolate the issue (how wrong I was ha ha)
I thought it would be an appliance/device plugged in somewhere but even with EVERYTHING unplugged including the cooker, extractor fan, fridge-freezer, even the boiler, but it still trips… even if ALL the MCBs are switched to OFF.
But, it doesn't trip immediately, it doesn't trip during the day either.
This is where it gets weird…..
It seems to be tripping at the exact time each night, at 00:53 (or at least 3 out of the 4 times I've accurately timed it - the other time was close at 00:15). It doesn't make sense!
I believe that this type of tripping issue could be down to water ingress, I thought I may have found a candidate in a socket that was in a chimney breast that was always getting soaked/prone to leaking, but the electrician, removed that socket and made it safe (connecting the wires) but it still tripping and besides…..if it was water ingress, why would it trip at exactly the same time of night 3 times in a row?
One thing I haven't been able to test so far (because I'm not living at the property) is if it would continue to trip later in the evening, if I reset it. At the moment, I'm going round to the property every morning and finding it tripped.
Could it be a problem with the consumer unit itself?
This seems like a proper head-scratcher to me so hoping the combined brain of all you helpful/experienced lot may be able to point us in the right direction.
Happy to share pics if you need them.
Thanks in advance
Ginge
Extra info - that may or may not be related.
Bit of background on the things the tenant did.
- Running cat5 around the house (meaning getting under the floorboards where electric wires run quite loosely)#
- Changing light fittings (some not fitted to the ceiling properly/safely)
- Changing light switches (swapping for touch sensors etc)
- Disconnected the alarm panel - to replace with a touchscreen system that I think controlled the heating/lights, etc. I think this would have triggered the tamper on the alarm so they pulled a fuse from the main alarm panel to disconnect.
- He was also charging his electric car by feeding a cable from inside the house through the letterbox, out onto the road.
- He has changed a double socket in the hallway - not sure why but this would be the closest socket for him to charge his car.
During the tenancy they have had the meter changed. But based on the label from the energy company EON, this was back in January 2023 - so over a year ago.
There have been recent reports of rats being seen on the street - I did consider that could have been a cause but again…. Why is it tripping at the same time each night?
