help, If my sockets blow, everything cuts.

[babypuppy]

Help.

I have noticed this problem before, when my electricity plug sockets blow it trips my whole flat, I have a faulty kettle this time and when you turn it on it doesn't trip the circuit for the sockets, it trops the whole house main switch, It has happened before on another item but I thrw the item out and thought nothing of it, now I have a faulty kettle, when I turn it on the whole flats electricity is cut, A friend has told me this is not normal, I have had a new fusebox fitted obout 6 yrs ago, what could be the problem, is it faulty wiring or is it dangerous, and before anyone asks I have thrown out the kettle.

Thank you fo rany advice

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Your friend doesn't know what he's talking about - faulty appliances, particularly those involving water, can easily generate earth faults which will cause your RCD to trip.

It's a pain to lose your entire installation when this happens but the only cure for that would be to replace all of your MCBs with RCBOs, which wouldn't be cheap.

 

[TicklyT]

In a nutshell, there are two types of protection commonly used.
RCDs to protect against electrocution, and MCBs to protect against fire. (there's quite a bit more to it , but that's the basic concept)

You may have the whole of your Consumer Unit protected by a single RCD (residual current device) that detects earth faults, and individual circuits protected by MCBs that detect overloads, a different type of fault.

In the case of a single RCD monitoring everything, the RCD would cut the power to everything if it trips.

It may not be an ideal design for a CU - most would prefer seperate RCD protection for groups of circuits, or even individual circuits, but it's not unsafe (though navigating your way to your CU to reset the RCD in total darkness may be a different matter).

 

[Chri5]

An RCBO does the job of a single breaker on a circuit AND an RCD.

An RCD covers a group of circuits, no just one. So in your flat you have 1 x RCD and the 'x' number of individual fuses / MCB's for circuits (lights, sockets, cooker, shower etc).

You could dump the RCD and replace each MCB with an RCBO, This would then mean a fault on a circuit is limited to just that circuit, that is the only way of getting away from the 'all the eggs in the same basket' situation you have at the moment.

Most RCBO's cost £30-£40 each x 5 circuits and then retest / adapting the CU / fuse board- Look at about £350-£400 for the work.