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[Diamond Black Geezer]

Trip went last night, during heavy rain. Just the living room circuit. Would not reset, unplugged everything, switched every socket off, still wouldn't. Rented accommodation, landlord got someone out asap, the came a short while ago, apparently its not the sockets, or the trip itself. Apparently major wiring issue, which will necessitate floorboards up, the works.

Not doubting him. But if I lost front braking and the mechanic advised completely replacing them, I'd ask on here before taking the plunge. Anyone add their twopenneth? 

[dave the builder]

I assume an RCD tripped rather than the MCB just for the lounge
possibly a combined "leakage" over multiple circuits
odd to have a dedicated circuit just for the lounge  is it a 20 amp radial ?

[STEMO]

What difference does it make if your landlord is paying?

[dave the builder]

What difference does it make if your landlord is paying?

Inconvenience if it requires a complete rewire due to poor I.R readings
makes a mess doing wires 

[biggriffin]

What difference does it make if your landlord is paying?

This ^^^^^^^^

Stop overthinking it, let the landlord deal with it, not your problem.

[STEMO]

What difference does it make if your landlord is paying?

Inconvenience if it requires a complete rewire due to poor I.R readings
makes a mess doing wires 

Yep, inconvenience is what you get when you need a rewire. Stops the inconvenience of your property burning down though. 

[dave the builder]

What difference does it make if your landlord is paying?

Inconvenience if it requires a complete rewire due to poor I.R readings
makes a mess doing wires 

Yep, inconvenience is what you get when you need a rewire. Stops the inconvenience of your property burning down though. 

just pour water on the wires that catch fire 

[STEMO]

What difference does it make if your landlord is paying?

Inconvenience if it requires a complete rewire due to poor I.R readings
makes a mess doing wires 

Yep, inconvenience is what you get when you need a rewire. Stops the inconvenience of your property burning down though. 

just pour water on the wires that catch fire 

Pissing on them could be more exciting. 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Haha. Right, it was the circuit breaker box under the stairs, though the place is clearly slightly bizarrely wired as I think one of the downstairs circuits also covers a room upstairs, from memory.

Correct, landlord paying, no issue etc, however the real reason is upheaval with a few weeks left of my Masters Degree, I ideally didn't want literally the house being turned upside-down when I'm aiming to concentrate on not failing the course!!   

However, as said above yes I will be very happy not dying in an electrical fire 

[Kevin Wood]

Anyone with an idea how to diagnose faults would have broken the ring at each socket and determined what section had the fault before ripping the house apart.

Did the sparky used to be a technician for a main dealer?

[Diamond Black Geezer]

See that's the kind of logic I was hoping for /expecting.  I'm getting this as hearsay from Miss DBG, so when I'm back from work ill get all the details bit sounds like what I've said, he's said its not the sockets. so serious fault 'somewhere'  So lets rip floorboards up. Errmm!!

Obviously I'm not going to start poking and prodding with things which don't concern me, I know its not my responsibility, but I am interested, is all.

[Diamond Black Geezer]

PS

Did the sparky used to be a technician for a main dealer?

Hahahahahaha 

[Lizzie Zoom]

See that's the kind of logic I was hoping for /expecting.  I'm getting this as hearsay from Miss DBG, so when I'm back from work ill get all the details bit sounds like what I've said, he's said its not the sockets. so serious fault 'somewhere'  So lets rip floorboards up. Errmm!!

Obviously I'm not going to start poking and prodding with things which don't concern me, I know its not my responsibility, but I am interested, is all.

Like Dave has stated, it is odd that your lounge is on it's own circuit. If it is a radial circuit, I would wonder about the rest of the wiring circuits. That kind of circuit in a house belongs to the 1950's, early 1960's! ???

After saying that the wires under the floorboards, if they are where the short is, could be down to rodent attack. If the wires had been partially stripped of their insulation, when you had the heavy rain water could have caused them to short, hence the tripping.  Just a thought as we once had trouble with mice under our floorboards getting to the wires

[dave the builder]

is there an outside light or sockets in a shed etc ?
that someone may have wired/plugged into the downstairs RFC (sockets) 
that may explain why heavy rain and tripping coincided 
I've seen capping nails hammered through cable,plastered over for years, that tripped the RCD when it rained and made the wall damp 

[redelitev6]

Obviously more money for the sparky for a full rewire than just finding the faulty section ?

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Yes the wiring setup isn't one I've come across. Living room on one, kitchen on another, upstairs on another, however as above the back bedroom is on the same circuit as kitchen something like that.

He swapped breakers, to confirm it wasn't a faulty breaker, which apparently 'blew' the replacement. So now we have two breakers that are tripped, that second tripped one appears to cover the under stairs cupboard only. (I thought breakers couldn't blow, that's the point of them, vs. Fuses?)

There's (theoretically) no other lights elsewhere which may have water damage, as you say, however never say never. Rodent issues does sound plausible.

Id certainly like him to 'check the ring' at each socket before dismantling the property around us, as you say, Mr Wood. I know its not my money etc, but they're a brilliant landlord and irrespective of that I don't want to see anyone paying more money out for a job than they need to.

Oh, I also learned the sparky who came out is the boss's son/apprentice. So is having a conflab with colleagues re what to do next. 

[dave the builder]

Hopefully the boss will send someone out who knows how to use a meter  and do proper continuity and insulation resistance tests etc .
Are there gas and electricity safety certificates being a rented property 
NIC IEC periodic inspection report   

I don't understand why a MCB would not reset
RCBOs and RCDs you need to click to off before trying to flip back on
maybe it's HRC fuse carriers that look like breakers  which he should have spares on the van 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Yes to safety certificates, all present and correct.

As for the second paragraph, all I can answer is 'dunno' I might upload a pick of the (what I'm calling) breakers when I'm back from work.

As you say, hopefully another bloke will come round next time.

You know how there's a hundred threads on here with stories like "my omega wasn't starting right, my mechanic has gone "hmmm" squirted easystart into the plenum, which didn't do much, so he's gone away to think" it feels like one of them dos...

[dave the builder]

 
a picture speaks a 1000 words .......

[tigers_gonads]

If it happened after heavy rain and the suspected fault is under the floor, i'd suspect that the ring main has a junction box or two under the floor and these have been left to dangle down onto the ground and got wet due to the water table rising.
Let the so called sparky pop a few floorboards and sort out the problem.
You or your lass tell him to make sure they are clipped up onto the joists / out of the water and you will probably be okay once things dry out

[dave the builder]

If it happened after heavy rain and the suspected fault is under the floor, i'd suspect that the ring main has a junction box or two under the floor and these have been left to dangle down onto the ground and got wet due to the water table rising.
Let the so called sparky pop a few floorboards and sort out the problem.
You or your lass tell him to make sure they are clipped up onto the joists / out of the water and you will probably be okay once things dry out

you can test and confirm the issue without removing any floor just by using a meter
(at the sockets and distribution board )
we don't know what type of property it is , could be a wet inner wall (cables under the floor fine)
could be an appliance or spur not unplugged (cordless kettles,washer/dryer,outside light etc etc)
though I suspect many Deviations from BS7671 being an old installation

[Rods2]

Anyone with an idea how to diagnose faults would have broken the ring at each socket and determined what section had the fault before ripping the house apart.

Did the sparky used to be a technician for a main dealer?

If he is ex-Sh*tfit fitter it should be interesting watching him do the rewire with an air impact driver & length of scaffold pole.