Electric breaker keeps tripping

[DJ54]

One breaker switch started tripping tonight. Nothing different plugged in. No burnt electric smell. Breaker is for bedroom,  1 bathroom, on outside light. The wiring goes up to ceiling (above) and goes to different locations as above. How’s best way to check it? Live in village and don’t know of any experts in the area. 

 

Thanks

[worgeordie]

If the wire goes into the ceiling,it could be rats have chewed the wire,

they are tree rats and like to come in the roofs during the rainy season.

 

Or if the wire is connected to the  electric shower,thats also something

to check.  leave it switched off until you find the problem.

regards worgeordie

[Martyjustice]

Breaker do go bad and trip with no load. First step is replace breaker and see if it still trips. If not great, if still trips look for shorted wire.


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[ubonjoe]

Moved to here for better info.

[johng]

Also check that you dont have an ant nest in your breaker box,light switches and plug sockets.

[CharlieH]

Gecko's are also a possibility, they can "short" things too.

Buggers cost me an a/c unit !. If you have an a/c for that bedroom you mentioned check it.

[Daffy D]

Happened to mother-in law

11 minutes ago, johng said:

Also check that you dont have an ant nest in your breaker box,light switches and plug sockets.

Happened to mother-in-law. The Safe-T-Cut that I fitted some time ago tripped.

 

Couldn't find anything wrong till I noticed the Safe-T-Cut box was swarming with tiny ants, those little ones you can hardly see.

 

(Crossy skip the next part )

 

Didn't fancy  taking the whole thing apart so I heavily sprayed all round the box then with eyes closed and fingers crossed lightly sprayed on the box. 

 

I then flipped the switch on and off a few times till it stopped tripping, and it's been OK since.  Phew!!!!

 

As an extra precaution I got a couple of those giant commercial sized moth balls put them in one of those net bags things that they sell fruit in and hung it over the box. Seems to do the trick.

[Crossy]

Is the device that's tripping an MCB (no Test button) or an RCBO (has a Test button)?

 

If it's an MCB you have a pretty solid fault, likely (as noted earlier) Roland Rat having a chew on the wires.

 

Make sure you have disconnected / unplugged everything on that circuit and try again.

 

If you think it may be a bad MCB swap the wire over to another of the same rating.

 

PLEASE be very careful, power off at the main breaker before doing anything.

 

Do you have any test equipment (neon screwdriver, simple multimeter)?

[Crossy]

3 hours ago, Daffy D said:

(Crossy skip the next part )

 

Didn't fancy  taking the whole thing apart so I heavily sprayed all round the box then with eyes closed and fingers crossed lightly sprayed on the box. 

 

I then flipped the switch on and off a few times till it stopped tripping, and it's been OK since.  Phew!!!!

I didn't ?

 

Does it still trip on the Test button?

 

[Daffy D]

18 minutes ago, Crossy said:

I didn't ?

 

Does it still trip on the Test button?

No willpower 

 

 

Yes it still trips on the Test Button 

[Crossy]

2 minutes ago, Daffy D said:

No willpower 

None whatever!

 

[DanielParsons]

Does it trip if nothing is on, i.e. lights? If you know whats connected to the circuit try the process of elimination, if its a socket circuit then try to see what socket is causing the fault by plugging something in one socket at a time..  apart from that it will need further investigation as other members have suggested.. Good luck!

[BritManToo]

I usually swap the suspect breaker with the one next to it (assuming same rating).

Swap the live wires, or swap the module, depending on your unit.

 

Then if the swapped breaker, flips you know it's a circuit problem and not the breaker.

I had a breaker that flipped in one circuit, but both were fine when 2 were swapped.

Some breakers are more 'flippy' than others. 

Edited September 10, 2018 by BritManToo

[johnmcc6]

I once tracked down what fuse kept tripping by going one by one to each breaker switch. Narrowed down to my electric hot plates. Turns out a fried bug was laying across two wires. Another occurred much later when there was a dirt build up in a floor mounted power point. fixed with vacuum cleaner.

[nickmondo]

turn everything off.

turn the breaker to the on position

one at a time, turn stuff on and see what makes the breaker trip

then you have found the cause of the problem.

you will then need to look closely at the part of the circuit which tripped the breaker.

[NightSky]

Im no sparky although when  we had a similar problem I noticed the circuit included outside lights and fittings and it tripped when it rained so I am looking for an outside switch, wire, light that might be letting in water. What I did was to look around any sockets or light fittings for gaps and applied sealant to fill the gaps. Of course it could also be old wire or damaged wiring etc.

[bankruatsteve]

Uhm, I think the OP solved already guys.  You can save what you did one time for when the next mystery comes along.  ?

[DJ54]

Thanks to all for your input. The breaker tripped last night three times

i went around and checked any plugs etc. Should flash damage. Nothing. It not tripped today with everything the same plugged in .

 

i don’t like to fool with electric, got knocked on my ass twice when in

my 20’s

 

Told the wife we need someone that’s qualified to come take a look 

inside the house and above the ceiling. 

[Crossy]

If it is an MCB (no Test button) that's tripping I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you leave it turned off until you can get a man to look at it.

 

It's quite possible for a fried Roland Rat to sit there fizzing gently without tripping the MCB and get a nice fire going!!

 

This is not something you want.

[Cake Monster]

I would lay money down that its water getting into the outside wiring somehow.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

8 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Gecko's are also a possibility, they can "short" things too.

Buggers cost me an a/c unit !. If you have an a/c for that bedroom you mentioned check it.

Yes, a gecko set my kitchen air-con unit on fire by shorting the wires and the fire caused quite a bit of damage, requiring a difficult clean-up, particularly of the ceiling,  and complete redecoration of walls and ceiling, as well as the cost of a new air-con unit.

[VoidedEntry]

On 9/9/2018 at 12:28 PM, Martyjustice said:

Breaker do go bad and trip with no load. First step is replace breaker and see if it still trips. If not great, if still trips look for shorted wire.


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Very rarely 

[brianthainess]

Is your wiring in yellow conduit if so you could probably rule out rats.unplug everything if it still trips, then it does sound like an internal wiring problem. if your power board has an adjuster turn it up one notch. good luck.

[thailand49]

I start with your room light switch first most likely defective now or as noted ants nest.  

[xylophone]

21 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Nothing. It not tripped today with everything the same plugged in .

Could be water or ants...…….water dries out so no more problems until the next time it rains, and the ants can get fried when plentiful (forming a circuit) thereby opening up the short circuit.

 

Whatever the case it is a matter of getting a qualified person to look at it, and it will/should be a process of elimination.

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

... and it will/should be a process of elimination.

Hopefully not the elimination of the sparky in a puff of black smoke.