Fuse tripped

[russiandol]

Can anyone advise? Our electricity switch went off earlier - taking out most but not all of the electricity downstairs. After 4 hours I switched it back on and it is working ok. Should I call out the electrician anyway? Also I have a few fairy lights up - could that be the reason the electricity fused? The

Put each circuit back on separately and see if any trip again. The fairy lights may overload it. Are all the bulbs and appliances still working? Sometimes one going off will take it out.

check carefully for anything you have recently added

then check all chargers and things with an electric battery - especially a charger for a scooter or bike. they are a big fire risk and can also overload the circuits. Similarly laptops / tablets / anything with a rechargeable battery.

if you can't identify what made the circuit trip, you could call an electrician for a safety check.

Thanks both, I’ll do that and may get electrician out for safety. It was a bit stressful.

Please post a photograph of the thing that tripped, close enough to read the letters and numbers on it, and a wider pic of your consumer unit ("fusebox") with the lid open to show all the contents and labels.

I think I can guess what it is but a guess is not very helpful.

Do you remember what electrical appliances were on when the trip happened?

BTW it is not a fuse.

Oh wow @PigletJohn you are a mumsnet legend! Here it is - plugged in were lamps and fairy lights no kettle, toaster, hoover type activity at the time

And 2 wider pics too

For some reason I can't get the wider pics to expand so I can't read their labels

But

The thing that has tripped is an RCD, which detects earth leakages. I see you have two, each protecting a row of circuits. Almost certainly, the fault will have been on one of the circuits beside it. The leakage to earth is usually either a heating element in an oven, immersion heater or washing machine, where the sheathing has degraded over time, and allowed moisture penetration; or else water related, such as rain getting into an outdoor lamp or socket, or a kettle, boiler or iron that has an internal leak. Appliances in sheds or cellars can get damp inside.

You will get a clue from looking at the individual circuit labels, and knowing if it was raining.

Much more rarely, it can be caused by a nail or screw in a wall or floor penetrating a hidden cable, and even a cable badly laid under a tight floorboard thar rubs every time someone walks on it and wears away the insulation.

Switching off the MCBs might isolate the fault, but not necessarily, because they are not Dual Pole (cutting both L and N). Pulling out plugs will always isolate a faulty appliance. Light switches do not reliably isolate faulty lamps.

Fixed appliances such as a boiler or cooker hood will usually have an isolating switch in the wall. Some older or cheaper switches may not have DP isolation.

If it happens again, start by unplugging and switching off everything on the suspect row of circuits. The fault will probably not recur. Then plug in and switch on HALF your devices. If the fault does not recur, unplug those, and plug in the other half. When the fault recurs, you will know which half the fault lies in, and can halve them again.

It's very likely water related.

In some cases you will not be able to track down the fault, typically because there are two or more, and in those cases, you will need a qualified electrician to trace them.

That’s so helpful thank you very much. Definitely not raining….
When the RCD switched off it wouldn’t switch back on for about 3 hours. Since then it’s been fine. Any clue on why it was out for that length of time and then back on and no issues? Should I get the electrician to come out anyway or wait until the next time and follow the steps you set out?

Thank you! I really do appreciate your thoughts and advice

PS

The RCD does not trip from an overload. That would cause one of the smaller MCBs to trip. You very rarely see an overload trip in a modern UK house, unless an appliance has a severe fault or a flex is danaged. Sometimes when the gas boiler has broken and the household is running lots of electric heaters. We used to get them when light bulbs, especially spotlights, blew, but modern energy saving and LED lamps rarely cause it,

3 hour delay is odd. Might have been something wet that dried out. Have a look under the bath and sink. Leaks round boilers and heating pumps are often dried out by heat. Have you got a puppy? Have you recently cleaned the oven? Did the sun come out?