Totally stumped. Night Storage Heater tripping out MCB, but ok on daytime circuit.

[Steve Poulton]

Please help. I have a basic understanding of electirics, but 5 Electricians are stumped and I don't know where to go next. My mother in law heats her house by 4 Night Storage Heaters, all of which are wired to a Economy 7 supply/fuse board, with no RCD just MCB. The largest of the Night Storage Heaters began to fail and trip the MCD. To cut a long story short, she ended up having a new one fitted. Unfortunately this new one also now trips the MCB. The electricians have tried swapping the various supplies to the various heaters around in the E7 fuse board and the same heater is tripping the different MCB. It would be an obvious thing to consider that there is a fault on the circuit between the board and the night storage heater. However, they have now wired it into the day time board and it is not tripping. Has anyone got any ideas as we need to get it wired back into the E7 circuit??

 

[Octopus]

5 electricians are stumped.....

have any of them properly tested the circuit? Sounds like they haven't and its the most BASIC thing to do.............

 

[Taylortwocities]

It always make me smile how 'electricians' seem to lose the plot when faced with the scary Economy 7 supply and its attached devices

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Possibly a fault on the circuit which has now blown clear. Proper testing should locate it.

 

[Des 56]

but 5 Electricians are stumped and I don't know where to go next.

It seems to me that you are not following a good course when engaging electricians,or more precisely,people who are working on your electrical installation

What you describe should not perplex any self respecting "trained"electrician

As above regard testing
What testing was carried out and what were the results?
What condition is the earthing ?
What was said regard the load and rating of the Mcb ?
What fault was apparent that caused you to declare the first heater faulty ?

There will be many unknowns and diagnosing a fault remotely is nigh on impossible,other than to comment on the results of tests and observations
Best to engage an actual electrician.one who can demonstrate they have the test instruments and know how to use them

 

[ferg]

It's not really a very stumpy problem.

A decent electrician taking their time would be unstumped by it fairly quickly.

 

[Pete999]

Agree with all of the above

 

[telectrix]

firstly, what's the kW rating of the heater; what rating is the MCB that's tripping; what size cable is feeding the heater?

 

[Steve Poulton]

They have tested the circuit and there is no faults showing. The load rating on the MCB on the E7 fuse board is the same as the daytime fuse board its now been wired into (not sure what it is sorry). The circuit works on the daytime fuse board they have now wired it into, but trips on what ever MCB they wire it into on the E7 board. They did this to show there was no fault with new heater or the circuit. So as a lay person this shows there problem with the E7 board? To be clear it trips the MCB on what ever fuse they wire it into on the E7 board. What I cant figure is why would it trip the E7 board rather than the daytime one and why it would be what ever MCB it is put into. Short of running a test between midnight and 7am they are wondering what to do next? Grateful for positive suggestions.

 

[westward10]

Theoretically it should trip in both boards. Have they tried reinstating it back to the E7 board.

 

[Steve Poulton]

Main board has RCD, E7 doesn't' it just trips the Circuit Breaker.
They have wired back into the E7 board and its tripping, but not the normal one.

 

[buzzlightyear]

why don't you pm sparky chick, she not far from you .

 

[Wilko]

Hi Steve. Sorry to hear of your troubles, both with the heater and the folks you've had look at it. I do feel that an experienced Electrician could find that fault and fix it for you. As @buzzlightyear says, perhaps one from here will be nearby?

 

[ipf]

Deleted, as the opening post is slightly confusing,

Slightly.....but not as confusing as the fault.
Is the E7 mcb tripping immediately?

 

[Des 56]

why don't you pm sparky chick, she not far from you .

Nobody from Cardiff has ever ventured on their own to Swansea and vice versa,its just too risky

 

[buzzlightyear]

but 5 Electricians are stumped and I don't know where to go next

were they from the same firm or like Rodney only fools & sparks independent traders !

 

[Pete999]

Nobody from Cardiff has ever ventured on their own to Swansea and vice versa,its just too risky

SC would be OK I'm sure

 

[Pete999]

were they from the same firm or like Rodney from independent traders !

All on the same course may be?

 

[elsparko]

"daytime" is just the booster/convector

has anything changed before this "fault" occured?

 

[Steve Poulton]

E7 MCB appears to be tripping a few hours into night storage heater charge. it is not overheating as it does not trip RCD on main board when wired to that.