RCB / fuse box - desperarately seeking advice

[MANT]

Since last year our RCB / fuse box has been tripping. Despite numerous visits from British GAS, Local Heroes, qualified electricians who have all said that out appliances and sockets are fine the RCB continues to trip on a daily basis sometimes 3 times in 24 hours. We are at our wits end. We even noticed that our mains water pipe has a lot of condensation which leaks drops of water into the floor right where mains wires are so we called DYNO who refused to accept that this causes the RCB to trip and said nothing could be done. Our insurers don't want to know either and referred us to our utility suppliers which we have already investigated.
Short of seeking legal advice we do not know what to do as something as simple as this is affecting our lives . Surely there is a solution !
Any advice will be very welcomed.

RCDs are not normally affected by the external network so 99 times out of 100 it is something internal.
Is there a specific circuit that is tripping (a lot of RCDs are labelled e.g. lights up, lights down, boiler, kitchen ect)?
When you say water is dripping onto "main wires" can you explain what equipment it's dripping on?
Is there any pattern to the tripping? Or is it random?

Hi,

Many thanks for responding

It's basically all the sockets in the ground and first floor . All our appliances have been tested by 3 fully qualified electricians and we too have unplugged appliances eg fridge / fully investigated if it was our boiler ( British Gas even changed the PCB and still the fuse box trip. Its the central RCCB that trips on a daily basis. The only pattern is that it trips more frequently in good weather. We did notice that out main water pipe has a lot of condensation which is not dripping onto any appliances as it is located in the cupboard underneath the stairs. However the condensation does drip into the ground where mains wires are although these are covered in plastic. We really do not know what to do and neither do any of the utilities.
We need a super electrician to fully investigate because the others have unfortunately failed to locate any fault ! I wonder of we should change the entire fuse box ..a very costly decision but we are desperate !

Do you know when it was installed? Are you using an appliances more in the good weather?
It may be that your RCD is too sensitive, it may be that one of the appliances is developing a fault.
The water dripping may be a red herring. A problem with the main supply cable will normally result in a total power cut and none of the trips will be activated.
Have the sockets in the affected areas been tested?

Just a side not, I'm sure you're fully aware, the RCD is the homeowner's responsbility so your DNO and your utilities supplier cannot work on it, unless you have Homecare or something similar with your supplier.
As it's only affecting one part of the house and socket specific it's not an issue with the meters/incoming supply.

The RCD was installed 9 years ago as we had a loft conversion and it was a requirement. We thought it was our fridge freezer , boiler, washing machine all tested by electricians and unplugged and RCCB still trips. It tends to trip more often in the night when we are not using much other than the TV and computer..again tested as being free from faults but they are quite old 6-10 years old but in perfect working condition. However the RCCB has tripped even at 3-6am in the morning when no electrical appliance is on ..we eliminated the boiler very early on and its def not that either.

We are insured to the hilt ..still no joy and we are willing to pay ..it's just that no one seems to be able to locate the fault ...my only option is to change the actual fuse box RCD but I remembered one electrician saying that the box had no faults either so really at a loss.

Have the actual sockets themselves been tested at all do you know?
Do you know if anyone has checked the earthing systems? The main earth if connected to the main fuse (the box the cable from the street goes into) belongs to the DNO but there is another type fitted by electricians. Do you know if any internal earthing has been checked. This is sometimes called supplementary earthing or cross bonding
I'm sorry you're going through all of this.
I'm not an electrician but do work for a DNO so am used to talking to people who have exhausted all avenues and don't really know what else to do.

You said it started last year - did it coincide with getting any plumbing work done? We had a new bathroom fitted in our first house and suddenly the RCD was tripping all the time. Turns out that the toilet, sink and bath hadn’t been earthed and bonded - took months to work out.

Do you have any outside motion lights or outside sockets?

Oh cross posted re earthing and bonding due to slow typing!

Yes all the sockets have been tested. I would have thought that the earthling systems would have been too as collectively electricians spent hours checking . Infact the earthling wires are damp from condensation but not soaking wet !
I will have to re-call electricians but TBH I am sure they checked this as the cross bonding issue you mentioned sounds familiar but I will ask them to re-check this time thoroughly ( although they seemed pretty thorough last time.

We have a pod for our electric car which was professionally installed and again our electricians said it has noting to do with this . We have an external motion light too front and back . Will get these checked .

Do you know which earthing wires are wet? Is it the ones where the power comes in or the ones on a pipe (the ones on the pipe will normally be cross bonding).
Sorry of this seems like a lot of questions.
I feel as thiugh if the RCD has been tested and is not faulting then replacing it may just be putting a plastic over the issue rather than solving it.

Do you know whether the external lights are affected by the trip?

Many thanks for your help ..I refer to the ones on a pipe the mains water pipe under the stairs. When I touch the pipe it is definitely wet abd drips because of water condensation.

Don't know because they are switch off we ony use the back garden external light in summer and the front garden motion light no longer works ( bulb prob )

Sometimes the wires to outside lights get worn or chewed by rodents and they still work but trip the system. I guess they’ve checked under the floorboards etc to see if any of the wiring has been chewed.

Also you’ve probably done it but make sure when your appliances are in place none of the cables are twisted or squashed. Also if you’ve got a decent toaster make sure you completely empty it out as they can be super sensitive and safety trip out when another appliance is used, even when not in use.

I hope you get it sorted soon.

The cross bonding in a property can be connected to a socket so fault current can flow without anyone being shocked. From what I remember it can be connected to a boiler/immersion heater. Do you know if the socket they go to is being affected?
It might be worth asking the elec to check the outside light because if there is a fault this can cause a trip.
I'm thinking that this could be caused by the light heating up in the sun and metal expanding and contracting in the night when it's cooler and affecting the connection causing the trip

Have all the appliances in the house been checked? Something may be wired into the wrong circuit so although you wouldn't expect it to be the problem it could be.

The water condensation pipe on my boiler was dripping at a pipe joint over a socket and kept tripping then RCD. A plumber eventually found the issue - was quite a slow drip..

This what I think is the reason as all other avenues have been looked into. Last night the actual pipe was so wet it left a wet patch on the concrete floor this also runs into where the wires are so the concrete floor where the electrical mains wires are. Although not dripping into any socket there are wires embedded ito the mosit ground whcih is definitely wet as a result of the condensation and this is not acceptable. DNO says there is nothing one can do to resolve condensation something I find DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT.

please post photos of the wet patches, and also of the consumer unit, with the lid open.

Are you constantly hanging wet washing inside your house with the windows closed? Or having frequent steamy showers without using an extractor fan? If not, I don't believe it's condensation. It's a leak.

Dear PigletJohn ,

Huge thanks. I have attached photos as requested (rest assured the rest of our home is in good condition and these pipes are leaky to me although there is NOT a constant drip BUT does SEEP and form drops as you can see on the concrete. We do not want to cover it up until the tripping stops. This is the pipe attached to the mains water pipe under the stairs and we most certainly don't dry clothes in there. The DNO guy said it was condensation but we think its more. BTW Thames water have been doing work in the area for the past few years changing sewage pipes and installing meters and we saw a couple of staff in the area and asked them to come in a take a look and even they admitted is wasn't condensation yet when we enquired with Thames water told us to get this inspected privately using a plumber so we did with DNO ..THE SAME PLUMBER THAT INSISTED IT WAS CONDENSATION DESPITE HAVING A SOAKING WET HAND AFTER TOUCHING THE PIPE.
We are at a loss any suggestions or guidance much appreciated.

More pics

what is the curved white thing coming out of the duct?

have you got a water meter? Has it got a glass window facing upwards?

I am sure you know but it's the thinner copper pipe which is the water pipe and the tap in what I assume is called the STOPCOCK