If your fuseboard is tripping then there is an electrical fault within the fuseboard, electrical wiring or electrical accessories on the circuit(s) that are affected. As your local ELECTRICIAN IN BRISTOL, we are experts in electrical fault finding and repairs.
What is a fuseboard?
A fuseboard is the electrical nerve centre of an installation. It is known by many other names such as:
• Consumer unit
• Fuse Box
• Electrical Panel
• Trip Switch Box
• Electric box
• The mains box
These titles all generally refer to the same thing but through the years, many different names have been used to describe this electrical control box. The most modern name is ‘consumer unit’ which refers to a more modern box. Typically, a fuseboard or fuse box would have contained fuses or fuse wire carriers unlike the modern consumer unit and its trip switches.
What does a fuseboard do?
The fuseboard, handles the mains electrical supply, dividing it up into smaller and more usable electrical circuits. These smaller circuits are better for sending the electrical supply around the home as much smaller cables are needed than the mains supply size.
The fuseboard also takes care of many different electrical tasks such as:
• Overloading
• Disposes of serious fault currents
• Prevents electric shock
• Stops power surges
• Electrical arcing prevention
Why do switches trip?
In most cases, a switch in the consumer unit or fuseboard will trip when there is an electrical fault. It is a common misconception that switches that trip are faulty. Switches are rarely faulty when they trip, it is more likely that an electrical danger has occurred and that is causing the switch to trip off.
What causes electrical faults?
Electrical faults are caused by a variety of things. Typical causes of electrical faults can include:
• Water ingress
• Cable insulation breakdown
• Nail through wires
• Rodent damage
• Faulty appliances
• Overloading
• Loose connections
• Overheating
What electrical faults are there?
There are only a few typical electrical faults that can occur.
Short Circuit
A short circuit is a situation where the Line (or Live) cable touches the Neutral cable of a circuit. This can occur when wires come loose, when a screw or nail hits the cable and when appliances go faulty. The short circuit is often dealt with by a fuse or trip switch.
The large electrical current that is generated with a short circuit means that there is often a BANG heard as the electrical fault is safely disposed of.
Insulation Resistance Fault
Where the PVC coating around metal electrical wiring begins to fail, the insulating layer begins to allow electrical current to ‘leak’ from one wire to another. This situation results in a failing insulation resistance problem and various trip switches will begin to turn off intermittently.
Broken Circuit
Where a circuit is broken it may result in lights or sockets that fail. In some cases, such as where a ‘socket ring main’ circuit is affected by a break. The circuit breaker will not trip, the sockets will still work but a serious electrical danger is present.
Checking broken rings can only be done by a qualified electrician with sufficient knowledge and the correct specialised test equipment to check for the break.
Missing Earth
A missing earth is another electrical fault that has few symptoms. This is one of the reasons why a broken or missing earth is so dangerous. An occasional sign of a missing earth will be shocks from equipment and accessories but not always.
A missing earth can only be checked by a professional electrician with knowledge of inspection and testing along with the correct electrical test equipment to safely carry out the fault finding.
If you have a tripping fuseboard in Bristol or surrounding areas then please get in touch, there are electrical fault present and as your local ELECTRICIAN IN BRISTOL we can help.
