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New kitchen, live earth fault!!

Discuss New kitchen, live earth fault!! in the UK Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

J

Jeff.wd

Hi.. We have just had a new kitchen fitted, a few sockets moved, led lights, new supply for the electric oven and a rcd board fitted.
They told us they had checked the supply before they started and everything was fine, we knew to meet regs the board needed replacing, during installation the kitchen fitter drilled through a cable, getting a large flash but no fuses had blown (still the old board at this point) he told us straightaway and said he would get the electrician to check it, when the electricians returned to finish the kitchen and fit the board they told us the cable was fine and they had crimped it, ( would that mean removing some of the plaster and conduit to access the cable, in order to crimp it.)
The next day when the gas/plumber was fitting the new gas hob, he was getting tingling shocks from the gas pipe, when we plugged the hob into the socket for the ignition, (with the socket switched off), it tripped a rcd on the new board, we spoke to the electrician and he was convinced we had a faulty hob, he told us to try another appliance in that socket, we tried a hairdryer and it worked fine with nothing tripping. We then plugged the hob in and all appeared okay, over the weekend my partner received several shocks from the metal sockets above the worktops, we informed the electrician and he said he would come after the weekend.
On arrival he thought it would be a short visit and easily sorted, after 4 hours of trying to diagnose the fault, we now have been told that there is 80 volts leaking via earth to the bonding, they said the kitchen is testing and okay and the downstairs/kitchen ring is okay through the hallway, once they test in the lounge they pick the fault up there? They left saying they would phone colleagues and technical teams for ideas.
They are coming back next week to try and solve the problem, they said the conclusion is either a pressure fault or possibly a badly wired plug on a appliance?
Now my thoughts, all cables from the main board in the garage run up to the ceiling cavity, I presume the feed and return for the downstairs/kitchen ring, will come down from the ceiling go under the floorboards and return else where, the cable that was drilled through, comes from the ceiling going directly down the wall (no sockets etc) then under the floorboards,I asked them what the cable that was, they said it is not part of the kitchen ring, I can't think that it can be anything else other than part of the downstairs ring? Would drilling into that cable possibly cause a surge, resulting in a fault some where on the downstairs ring?
They want to charge us for diagnosing and repairing,unless it was caused by the work in the kitchen!!
Many thanks for any help/advice or guidance.

Cheers Jeff.
 
So the upstairs sockets aren't protected by a RCD - why not? The installation doesn't comply with the regs....

Can you post a picture of the fuseboard?
Hi again, kitchen sockets should read kitchen and downstairs sockets, house sockets should read upstairs sockets!!

IMG_0369.JPG
 
Im betting there was a earth leakage fault with the upstairs sockets existing, there is absolutely no reason to segregate them away from any rcd protection otherwise... no self respecting qualified competent electrician would do what this 'electrician' has done.
 
H
Im betting there was a earth leakage fault with the upstairs sockets existing, there is absolutely no reason to segregate them away from any rcd protection otherwise... no self respecting qualified competent electrician would do what this 'electrician' has done.
They did say there was a neutral fault on the upstairs sockets, could this be the reason. Could that simply be a badly wired plug?
 
My brother had a similar thing on his kitchen a few years ago, earthing conductor was loose at pme terminal, must have been like it years and someone must have inadvertently moved it.
 
That image hardly inspires confidence, apart from the fact that the "house" sockets do not have RCD protection as previoulsy mentioned. Ii doesn't help us with your original question, but it gives us an idea of how your 'electician' spells quality!
 
PS I bet he drilled through the upstairs socket circuit hence its not on a rcd ;)

also to note, they haven't balanced the lighting across the rcd's so next time a lamp pops the whole house lighting is possibly effected.
All the cables from the main board, go directly up and into the ceiling cavity, so there will no wiring from the upstairs sockets passing through the kitchen.
 
Im sorry but a fault is a fault, if it has a neutral fault it should not be re-energised until it has been found and rectified, it may be signs of a more dangerous situation, this is not a professional approach to slap it back on and tell you, he should have hi-lighted the issue and expressed it requires correction before it can be energised, whether this was a permanent repair or a temp' to get the sockets back on while a quote was done for the full repair is 2 possible options but to energise a faulty circuit is not IMHO a responsible action from a qualified person.
 
The answer could be simply that there is a N-E fault on the upstairs circuit and this is causing the RCD to trip.

You need a spark with an earth clamp meter, a MFT and the competence to use them both....
 

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