Consumer unit/fuse box.

[clubchamp98]

Any sparks out there.
My RCD keeps tripping checked all plugs sockets etc but can’t see ant thing obvious.

Just a heads up really it’s quite an old box how much is a new consumer unit/ fuse box for a three bed house.
Just a ball park figure for when I call a few sparks.

 

[GreiginFife]

You can pick up a CU for around £100 populated, fitting it all depends on how much work is involved (wiring condition, routing, requirement for any rewire etc).
Not a spark but my best mate is and he did ours mates rates for £250, needed a partial rewire upstairs, he would normally have charged £500 for everything involved. CU was £100 form Screwfix.

In terms of it tripping, a new CU might not solve that depending on the issue. I would disconnect everything from your sockets around the house then go around each one and plug something in with a decent current draw and see if and when it trips to narrow it down. Alternatively, you can buy a test plug and do it that way but decent ones aren't cheap.

 

[jim8flog]

If its the main trip dropping out rather than one on single ring.

Drop out all the trips and bring them back in one at a time to identify which ring has got the problem then you only need to check all the devices on that ring.

The trouble with operating the main trip with everything still plugged in is that you are causing a surge as everything gets switched back on at once.

 

[williamalex1]

Try this, switch of all circuit breakers, completely unplug All appliances, switch off All supplies to boilers water heaters , fridges, w/machines, outside lights ETC .
Then reset the RCD, if it stays on try-
Switch on circuit breakers slowly one at a time leaving a few seconds in between.
If the RCD trips when you switch on a breaker, turn it back off and leave off , then reset the RCD, and turn on the rest of the breakers.
If the Rcd then stays on, check what circuit / lights or appliances are not working .
Then switch them on one at a time to identify where the fault lies.
Could be something more complicated but try that first , and let me know

 

[Fade and Die]

Try this, switch of all circuit breakers, completely unplug All appliances, switch off All supplies to boilers water heaters , fridges, w/machines, outside lights ETC .
Then reset the RCD, if it stays on try-
Switch on circuit breakers slowly one at a time leaving a few seconds in between.
If the RCD trips when you switch on a breaker, turn it back off and leave off , then reset the RCD, and turn on the rest of the breakers.
If the Rcd then stays on, check what circuit / lights or appliances are not working .
Then switch them on one at a time to identify where the fault lies.
Could be something more complicated but try that first , and let me know

Add to what William says , turn all the lights off as well, maybe a lamp has blown. If you can post a picture of the ccu it might help as well.

Price of new ccu around £300 depends on size and where you live.

 

[clubchamp98]

Add to what William says , turn all the lights off as well, maybe a lamp has blown. If you can post a picture of the ccu it might help as well.

Price of new ccu around £300 depends on size and where you live.

It’s only the sockets going off the lights stay on .
My mates son is going to look tomorrow he’s a spark.
Thanks for the reply’s .
Will try it in the morning.

 

[Fade and Die]

It’s only the sockets going off the lights stay on .
My mates son is going to look tomorrow he’s a spark.
Thanks for the reply’s .
Will try it in the morning.

No problem mate, it should be a straightforward job for a sparks to trace the problem...Any advice you need feel free to message me. (We have replaced nearly 1000 over the last 12 months!)

 

[rulefan]

£250 - £400 depending on where you are.
Don't forget, this will need certifying to building control under Part P building regulations, either by a competent person or directly through your local building control.

 

[clubchamp98]

No problem mate, it should be a straightforward job for a sparks to trace the problem...Any advice you need feel free to message me. (We have replaced nearly 1000 over the last 12 months!)

Thanks it’s a pretty old unit so will just get him to fit me a new one I think.
He can sort the prob while he’s doing it hopefully.

 

[Fade and Die]

Thanks it’s a pretty old unit so will just get him to fit me a new one I think.
He can sort the prob while he’s doing it hopefully.

Yes makes sense...as rulefan said, once complete he should give you an Electrical Installation certificate detailing the work he did as well as a Part P certificate, as this work is notifiable to the local authority.

 

[williamalex1]

Thanks it’s a pretty old unit so will just get him to fit me a new one I think.
He can sort the prob while he’s doing it hopefully.

Hopefully it's nothing serious, usually something simple like DIY work gone wrong, like changing sockets, drilling holes, nails or screws through floorboards or walls into cables, water ingress, but faulty appliances are the usual suspects.
Pity i'm retired , a new 17th edition 2 x 63 amp RCD split load 10 way D/b from Screw-fix costs £66.66, installation time allowed for me was roughly 80 minutes.
But your present Consumer unit is doing its job , by cutting off the power to all faulty circuits.
Does it have a current building test certificate.

 

[Fade and Die]

Hopefully it's nothing serious, usually something simple like DIY work gone wrong, like changing sockets, drilling holes, nails or screws through floorboards or walls into cables, water ingress, but faulty appliances are the usual suspects.
Pity i'm retired , a new 17th edition 2 x 63 amp RCD split load 10 way D/b from Screw-fix costs £66.66, installation time allowed for me was roughly 80 minutes.
But your present Consumer unit is doing its job , by cutting off the power to all faulty circuits.
Does it have a current building test certificate.

Since you retired we have all moved onto the 18th edition I’m afraid!😂😂
SPDs are the new thing (and AFD but not rolled out in great numbers yet)

Personally would go with an RCBO board, less hassle with nuisance tripping.

 

[williamalex1]

Since you retired we have all moved onto the 18th edition I’m afraid!😂😂
SPDs are the new thing (and AFD but not rolled out in great numbers yet)

Personally would go with an RCBO board, less hassle with nuisance tripping.

I gave up when it was the 16th edition

 

[clubchamp98]

Hopefully it's nothing serious, usually something simple like DIY work gone wrong, like changing sockets, drilling holes, nails or screws through floorboards or walls into cables, water ingress, but faulty appliances are the usual suspects.
Pity i'm retired , a new 17th edition 2 x 63 amp RCD split load 10 way D/b from Screw-fix costs £66.66, installation time allowed for me was roughly 80 minutes.
But your present Consumer unit is doing its job , by cutting off the power to all faulty circuits.
Does it have a current building test certificate.

Yes it does but it was an add on RCD when we had the loft converted about 10 yrs ago.
So it’s separate from the main box.

 

[jim8flog]

I gave up when they moved from rubber covered cables to plastic covered ones

 

[williamalex1]

I gave up when they moved from rubber covered cables to plastic covered ones

Back in the 60s I worked with the old lead covered cables using metal buckle clips also TRS , VIR , 3.029, 3,036, 7.029, 7.036, right up to 19.064, cables then in the 70s they tried Octoflex for ring mains and Hartley wiring harnesses for lighting circuits. Rolls and rolls of fuse wire lol.

 

[Leftie]

Had a fuse blow a few months ago. Paper clip worked wonders. Hasn't blown since

 

[clubchamp98]

Since you retired we have all moved onto the 18th edition I’m afraid!😂😂
SPDs are the new thing (and AFD but not rolled out in great numbers yet)

Personally would go with an RCBO board, less hassle with nuisance tripping.

So if I get a new consumer unit will the separate RCB be incorporated in the one box ?
If so what’s a good fit for a three bed house with loft conversion .?
Not specific just a model I can look at.
So I know a bit about it when the sparks comes.

He didn’t turn up today by the way.....

 

[Fade and Die]

So if I get a new consumer unit will the separate RCB be incorporated in the one box ?
If so what’s a good fit for a three bed house with loft conversion .?
Not specific just a model I can look at.
So I know a bit about it when the sparks comes.

He didn’t turn up today by the way.....

Two options really...
A dual RCD board this has normal circuit breakers arranged in 2 banks with an RCD covering each bank. The pluses are its a cheaper option the negatives are if a single circuit develops an earth fault you will lose half your power.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/wylex-13...d-high-integrity-dual-rcd-consumer-unit/6226p

A better way is an RCBO board, this has what look like circuit breakers (and they are) but they are also mini RCDs, one for each circuit so you do not get nuisance tripping.

https://www.toolstation.com/metal-1...NKhuhVS4p-0TqJ9vFv83RV9Hc1p7U17saAkQ_EALw_wcB

This toolstation link is a cheaper brand (BG)

stick to a decent manufacturer, Wylex, Crabtree, Schneider etc. Although your sparks might have his own preferred brand.

 

[jim8flog]

Back in the 60s I worked with the old lead covered cables using metal buckle clips also TRS , VIR , 3.029, 3,036, 7.029, 7.036, right up to 19.064, cables then in the 70s they tried Octoflex for ring mains and Hartley wiring harnesses for lighting circuits. Rolls and rolls of fuse wire lol.

The first full rewire I did in the 70s seemed to have every type of cable going under the floorboards. The property built in the Victorian era as one property with the adjoining house when we bought it had gone through several incarnations ( bakery, shops, bedsits and semi detached house) all my predecessors had just left everything in the voids.