Changed a light now sockets wont work

ih8smellies

Hi,

I changed a lightbulb in the house and as soon as i did that all the sockets in the house went off. There is a blue switch with E.L.C.B under it that has tripped. I have unplugged everything and tried to push the switch back up. It continues to trip back down.

Anyone got any ideas why this is happening ?

Thanks

triggermortis

Take out the lightbulb you replaced, and leave it out and see if the circuit breaker will reset now. Might be a problem with the light socket, loose wiring, damp or damaged insulation. Only look at this with the breaker open!!

ih8smellies

triggermortis wrote: »

Take out the lightbulb you replaced, and leave it out and see if the circuit breaker will reset now. Might be a problem with the light socket, loose wiring, damp or damaged insulation. Only look at this with the breaker open!!

Ok tried that. E.L.C.B is still tripping. This lightbulb was working until a day or 2 ago. Anything else i could do ?

foxy farmer

If you have a modern type fuseboard try the following.
Flick down all the MCBs to the off position. Leave the ELCB in On position.
Put the bulb back in.
Push up MCBs one by one until ELCB trips. This will identify circuit causing trouble. Leave this MCB down.
Push up the rest of the MCBs.
Sometimes a bit of persistence resetting ELCB sorts the problem.

ih8smellies

The ELCB won't actually stay up. I have even turned off the main fuse and tried to push the ELCB up still won't stay.

triggermortis

sounds like the ELCB itself is the problem

ih8smellies

Thanks for the advice, looks like i have to get an electrician in the morning so.

solargain

Neutral to earth fault

2011

triggermortis wrote: »

sounds like the ELCB itself is the problem

+1

If the ELCB will not stay on when the main switch is off the ELCB itself is faulty.

2011

Time to get an electrician.

BTW nowadays ELCBs are referred to as "RCDs".

Bruthal

2011 wrote: »

+1

If the ELCB will not stay on when the main switch is off the ELCB itself is faulty.

Likely alright, but not absolutely certain.

Had one case I remember, replaced fuse board with mcb board. Rcd tripping. Even with main switch off.

If rcd won't reset when it's disconnected from the db, then it is faulty.

foxy farmer

OP are you in an urban or rural area? If rural I've had 2 incidents where the same complaint was caused by a badly maintained neighbouring electric fence .

AnnaStezia

Fascinating. How did the fences cause the problem ?

ih8smellies

foxy farmer wrote: »

OP are you in an urban or rural area? If rural I've had 2 incidents where the same complaint was caused by a badly maintained neighbouring electric fence .

I live in a city centre so can't be a fence related problem. Landlord can pay for the call out fee on a Saturday.

foxy farmer

AnnaStezia wrote: »

Fascinating. How did the fences cause the problem ?

Electric fence earthing by being buried in vegetation. While testing for fault my meter readings were pulsing and i could actually hear it tick through the meter.

Risteard81

Neutral/Earth fault by the sounds of it. Contact a competent Electrician (REC).

Bruthal

Interesting that a house light tripped rcd all the same, although maybe it didn't.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Has the rcd tripped and you just need to reset it? Push it down first then all the way back up.

CJ Haughey

Bruthal wrote: »

Interesting that a house light tripped rcd all the same, although maybe it didn't.

Maybe the lighting is going through the the rcd/elcb?

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

The Cunning Linguist wrote: »

Has the rcd tripped and you just need to reset it? Push it down first then all the way back up.

Just to clarify, when it's down push it down again, then up.

Bruthal

CJ Haughey wrote: »

Maybe the lighting is going through the the rcd/elcb?

Of course, just not usual for internal lights besides bathroom ones. Also probably unusual for a light bulb to have an earth fault.

If a neutral/earth fault at light fitting which is through rcd, it would normally clear when circuit affected is switched off, or has no load on.

Although in my earlier mentioned one where rcd was tripping even with main switch off, it was neutral connected to earth at a socket causing it.

Bruthal

The Cunning Linguist wrote: »

Just to clarify, when it's down push it down again, then up.

Yes op could try that.

CJ Haughey

Bruthal wrote: »

Of course, just not usual for internal lights besides bathroom ones. Also probably unusual for a light bulb to have an earth fault.

If a neutral/earth fault at light fitting which is through rcd, it would normally clear when circuit affected is switched off.

Although in my earlier mentioned one where rcd was tripping even with main switch off, it was neutral connected to earth at a socket causing it.

That is one confusing post, using the words probably and unusual does not make definite your point. Can you make definite your points?

Bruthal

CJ Haughey wrote: »

That is one confusing post, using the words probably and unusual does not make definite your point. Can you make definite your points?

Lights inside a house are not normally fed through an rcd. And even when they are, such as bathroom ones, they are not fed through the sockets rcd.

Is this a light connected to a socket in the original post?

And not everything is definite when on a forum talking about a problem. So I say "probably"

solargain

If you only replaced a lamp it is unlikely the rcd is faulty , more likely there is still a neutral to earth fault in the installation.


I suggest you get a registered contractor to take a look.

ih8smellies

Ok OP back again. Just to clarify. A bulb in the hall went a few days ago. Another bulb went yesterday. We replaced the bulb in the hall today. It somehow blew the ELCB as marked on the board.

The ELCB remains down even though the main fuse is off. Everything has been unplugged and main fuse tripped and put back on.

Even when the main fuse is off, the ELCB "again as marked" won't stay up.

This is not a simple fix for a simple man.
Thanks for the advice and help. I need a pro on a Saturday.

Bruthal

ih8smellies wrote: »

I need a pro on a Saturday.

At the risk of upsetting train wreck Charlie, that's probably a good idea.

With rcd disconnected from it's 4 wires, if it still won't reset, it's faulty. If it does reset, then the neutral to earth fault is possible. In certain circumstances, that can trip rcd even with main switch off.

Getting the electrician in to check it like you said, is a good plan.

Gordon

Deary me, good luck with it, OP - hope it gets fixed!

Hope this thread will be troll-free now, probably will.

Quazzie

I had this problem before and it was caused by an outside socket that occasionally got damp when the weather conditions were very wet and very windy. This lead to water ingress where normally there was none.

Much like the conditions now actually.

Bruthal

Quazzie wrote: »

I had this problem before and it was caused by an outside socket that occasionally got damp when the weather conditions were very wet and very windy. This lead to water ingress where normally there was none.

Much like the conditions now actually.

A possibility alright. But would need power on to trip from water ingress.

But still could have caused initial trip, or contributed, and now the rcd could be gone faulty.

Stoner

can we keep this to the op's issue. Reported post noted thank you.
Please move on with it and be nice. No more taking this off topic please from anyone.