Problem with crabtree starbreaker RCCB? - Electricians Forum | Electrical Forum | An electrical forum for electricians in the UK

bleward · 10-09-2007

Hello fellow sparkys new to this site and in the need of a bit of advice. I installed a Crabtree starbreaker split board about 6 months ago and once finished and tested it worked with no problems what so ever (well apart form the sockets in the kitchen tripping thanks to an MFI fitted kitchen the MFI spark had reversed the Live & Neutrals on the sockets) anway I recently had a phone call from the customer saying the RCCB was tripping on every socket in the house. On inspection this proved to be the case, it tripped on the 2 ring mains and also the single socket i installed at the fuse board.

It tripped as soon as any load was put on the circuit ( i was using an 800w drill as it was all i had at hand at the time). Now i re-checked all my connections at the fuseboard looking for the usual crossed or loose neutrals but everything seemed fine by me. I then proceeded to get another RCCB from the whole saler to confirm that it was not a faulty RCCB and low and behold that tripped as well. The customer is away for a week on holiday and i am left scratching my head. Could it be a problem with there incoming supply? The fact that it has worked for about 6 months and now this is whats baffeling me

I will add that when i take the RCCB out of the board and re-jig the m.c.b's to allow power on to the essential itmes such as fridges/ freezers etc the mcbs do not trip.

The RCCB is this one in question

Google Image Result for http://www.allaboutelectrics.co.uk/thumbPadded.php?file=4839&width=120&height=100

So anyone give me a skiffy? cheers in advance

Bleward

12-09-2007

Sounds like a neutral to earth fault maybe? Could be a nicked conductor which has finally exposed itself properly over the months. You got a problem with one of the 'ring final circuits'.

The Hiddenwire · 14-09-2007

i would agree with cirrus i have had 2 similar problems in the past 1 of which was the neutral in a ring circuit touching a metal box because the grommet had dislodged, the other a nail through cable shorting neutral and earth. split the ring into sections to find the fault.

post your findings!