Sockets tripped

[Joe Shmoe]

Late last night I heard a breaker trip for my house sockets. I reset the breaker and all is fine, but why did this happen?

As everyone was in bed, only a couple of appliances were being used (fridge, freezer, cctv, nuair) and all are still working?

What caused this and do I need to investigate further on just one trip?

 

[mindthatwhatouch]

Not after one trip...... wait and see what happens.

 

[Geoff_S]

Check for any leaking pipes, damp on the wall above & below sockets & switches.

This has happened to me twice. One wasn't so bad, a small leak on a pipe which ran down the wall behind a curtain into a socket causing the fuse to trip but only occasionally.

The second was a broken pipe in a concrete floor that over time (8 years?) had created nearly 3ft of rising damp behind the kitchen units. This then started to cause the occasional drip into sockets behind the units tripping the fuse. Complete kitchen rip out!

 

[owen]

If it keeps happening, unplug everything and plug it all back in one at a time. It's likely something that's plugged in that's at fault rather than your house electrics, assuming they're not donkeys years old.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Late last night I heard a breaker trip for my house sockets. I reset the breaker and all is fine, but why did this happen?

As everyone was in bed, only a couple of appliances were being used (fridge, freezer, cctv, nuair) and all are still working?

What caused this and do I need to investigate further on just one trip?

It's impossible to say what caused this, based on the info you've given, but it's probably nothing too serious, however it is well worth getting a spark to check that circuit (including the 'breaker' itself - they do fail) when we're all back to normal.

When you say 'breaker' do you mean an MCB or RCD or something more clever like an RCBO?

Have you got any new/different appliances (a lot of people seem to have bought a new freezer lately) or patterns of usage recently? Or anything else that's physically different?

 

[Racers]

My last triping fault was caused by a leaking central heating valve soaking the paper insulation behind the microswtich.
My neighbour called me round a couple of days ago with a triping fault and it was her kettle causing it.

Pete

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Sometimes an light bulb failure can cause a trip too.

 

[Deejay]

Morning Joe

If it is an appliance that's causing it I'd go for anything with a motor in it.

If it happens again, you could try running these appliances one by one on an extension lead plugged into a socket on a different breaker, to see if the fault moves.

In the mean time, I'd get into the habit of opening the fridge and freezer in the morning to make sure they didn't get disconnected overnight.

Cheers

Dave

 

[RogerS]

Last time this happened to us (RCD) it was a mouse nibbling through the cable.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Sometimes an light bulb failure can cause a trip too.

e.g. halogen security light bulb?

 

[owen]

Any bulb.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Almost every time the power trips coincides with a bulb blowing. Perhaps it's because I initially (a few years ago) bought LED bulbs in volume based on price not quality - they blow regularly - one every few months.