Electricians

[chriscoates81]

Hi guys, anybody know any electricians that will travel to the beverley area at all?

Cheers

Guys

[tim-hessle]

i know 1 and he's spot on what is it you need doing???

[chriscoates81]

Well the lights downstairs have been flickering for about a month or 2 and last night the circuit breaker tripped, so i flicked it back on then it went again after 10 mins or so and now it wont stay on. So i'm not sure if the cicuit breaker is knackered and needs replacing or if its something a bit more serious. I hope that makes sense how i've explained it .

[TJ]

Have you made sure all the lights are turned off....if so does the breaker stay on ?

It may just be a faulty light fitting/bulb.

[chriscoates81]

yea i tried it already:(. Im going to try and flick the mains off and see if the cb has any loose wires in the consumer unit.

[chriscoates81]

I took the front panel off the consumer unit and i cudnt see anything glaring wrong, so does this guy work saturdays?

[GarethG]

Yeah as mentioned it is most probably a loose wire somewhere in the lighting circuit, possibly leaking to earth. Done any nails in walls about 2 month ago by any chance?


Also tim-hessle, do you know the guy well and do you know if he would be willing to take an apprentice on?

[chriscoates81]

the only thing ive done recently is change all the sockets in my garage but thats on a ringmain from the house and is on a seperate cb.

[moggers]

if ALL the downstairs lights are flickering it is probably the MCB, most MCB's in household distribution boards are cheap and nasty and can easily go faulty.
a new one will roughly be about £8-£10, if you are careful and make sure you turn off the main switch, they are extremely easy to change.
if you decide to do it yourself the best wholesaler is Newey & Eyre as they can usually get you any make that they don't have on stock on next day delivery.
(Be cheeky and ask for discount if it seems to expensive)
the only things they will normally want to know is the make, rating (eg. 6 Amp) and type,
if the board is fairly new it will be a type B, if it is over 10 years old it will probably be a type 2 in which case just ask for a type B as you can't fit or buy type 2 MCB's any more.
if it is a Merlin Gerin(the best you can buy), or a MK I have some that will fit that you can have, they will also fit other boards but I don't recommend it unless they can be fitted without modification of the board

[lubuntu]

I had a similar problem and it was a dodgy light bulb kept tripping it - I also had a problem with a filter that I had plugged into a socket that kept tripping the switch.

[chriscoates81]

if ALL the downstairs lights are flickering it is probably the MCB, most MCB's in household distribution boards are cheap and nasty and can easily go faulty.
a new one will roughly be about £8-£10, if you are careful and make sure you turn off the main switch, they are extremely easy to change.
if you decide to do it yourself the best wholesaler is Newey & Eyre as they can usually get you any make that they don't have on stock on next day delivery.
(Be cheeky and ask for discount if it seems to expensive)
the only things they will normally want to know is the make, rating (eg. 6 Amp) and type,
if the board is fairly new it will be a type B, if it is over 10 years old it will probably be a type 2 in which case just ask for a type B as you can't fit or buy type 2 MCB's any more.
if it is a Merlin Gerin(the best you can buy), or a MK I have some that will fit that you can have, they will also fit other boards but I don't recommend it unless they can be fitted without modification of the board

Thanks for the response guys, I think were it outside the consumer unit and i had a problem i would have a go but i think i'm going to get someone in to check just so i'm not chasing red herrings. I'm leaning towards the bad mcb problem as even with the mains off it won't flick on.