My Fusebox seems to trip out just too many times!! It appears to be too sensitive? anything i can do about it.

Question

The house was built to a pretty high standard apx 10 years ago!!

Answer 1

I am a handyman & come across this quite often.

Breakers do fail & they may weaken so they trip easier.

But most times they trip out because too much juice is being called for.

Things that you plug in can age & draw to much juice also.

A cord can be damaged & may seem to be OK but if it is moved the wiring may short out.

Is it when you use a hair dryer, a toaster, or something else.

They sell hair dryers that draw 18 Amps & it may be in a 15 amp circuit. You can be using it for a while as it takes a while for the circuit breaker to get hot enough to trip.

Check for all of the outlets that go out at any time.

It may be as simple as plugging some thing in to another circuit.

You may want to check as much of this as you can before you call an electrician, as you will be paying him to check all of these things.

Answer 2

It's difficult to give a helpful answer without more info.

If it's the whole board tripping then it does sound like you have an RCD at the main switch. Is the house out of town?

It's tripping for a reason and doing what it was designed to do. As it seems to have been working OK for the past 10 years and no new circuits added since, then their may be a faulty appliance/ light fitting / immersion heater.

As Amos suggested - note down what's on next time, it can help to trace the problem.

If you can't find the problem I suggest you call in a local electrician.

You can find one here:
http://www.niceic.org.uk/common/contractor_search.html

He will let you know if an rcd on the main switch is necessary in the first place.

Is the board a split board with a 30ma rcd protecting the sockets? If so and the rcd at the main switch is tripping then the fault is on one of the circuits not protected by the 30ma rcd.

Answer 3

When I had the same problem (twice) many years ago The first was caused by a faulty designed 150 amp circuit breaker box (caused a fire in 1973) and the second time was caused by an air condition compressor starting to show wear and caused the circuit to blow on restating but not every time in 2000. Every time I had this checked, the compressor worked OK. Took a year to prove the cause.

Answer 4

I'm presuming from your description that you have an RCD main switch (100mA rated), and a 30mA switch covering the MCBs (Fuses) which cover your sockets.

You can (with the right equipment) assess the tripping current (in mA) for the board. They can (&do) become over-sensitive, and can be replaced fairly cheaply. Not a DIY job though, and your electrician will need to have a rather expensive tester to assess the problem.

Cheap lightbulbs are notorious for tripping out RCDs when they fail. Try changing over to fluorescents where you can, as that will also help.

Answer 5

When the electrical load in a particular circut exceeds the amperage allowed by the breaker/fuse the breaker trips, fuse blows . Look at each thing you have plugged into that circut and add up the listed amperage for each item and see if the total amperage exceeds the breaker limit . If it does then unplug several of the things you have on that circuit and plug them into a different circuit .(for safety reasons do not use a breaker/fuse larger that what is called for) . some times a breaker that has tripped several times gets weak, the other possibility is to have someone put in a new breaker and split that circuit to reduce the electrical load . AN EXCESSIVE OVERLOAD WILL CAUSE A FIRE . if the breaker fails to work properly . again change the breaker with a new one, split the circuit with a new breaker,
unplug several things you have plugged into that circuit . never never never use a larger breaker or fuse.

Answer 6

I don't think the fuse box is the problem. Commercially-rated fuses and breakers meet careful calibration standards as to what current they can carry without tripping and how fast they trip on an overload or short circuit.

I think your problem is that your circuits are overloaded by too many lamps or appliances plugged in on each circuit. If you have a pump or fan or fridge with something else motorized on the same circuit there can be an inrush of current that could act as an overload. Look carefully at what is on each circuit and at what the nameplates say their current draw is. Make a total for each branch circuit from those numbers. I think that paperwork exercise will show you what your problem is.

Answer 7

Maybe your fuses are shot. If they have been tripped too many times, they might become sensitive. Your best bet is to play it safe and consult a licenesed electrician. Play it safe with electric, bro.

Answer 8

Mine is the same. Trips every time a bulb goes. (And don't they go often these days!) The electrician just said, that's how modern fuse boxes are. I shall "watch this space" to see what answers are given.

Answer 9

sounds like you have may have an RCD as your MAIN SWITCH which is a common occurance I find in my day to day work. have you changed any thing lately? bought a new appliance? if not you could have a minor fault on your circuits or something could be getting damp. notre down what is "on " next time or if something has just come "on" and narrow down your fault. Otherwise you you need to get a higher rating MAIN SWITCH, ie if you have a 60 A switch go up to an 80 or 100 A switch. Or you could switch to a SPLIT BOARD where only some circuits use the rcd.

Answer 10

Try changing your MCBs to type C which can handle a higher inrush current but ONLY if you are sure that it is just an over sensitive MCB causing the problem