Overloaded circuit - trips RCD

[fred500]

Yes I think all the sockets are on this RCD.

Well they shouldn't be and depending on the number of lighting circuits you have they should also be split across the board. Ideally F/F lights, Gd/F Sockets on same RCD and Gd/F lights, F/F sockets on the other RCD.
Then after that a logical thought process to divide the remaining loads up.
Which idiot did this rewire/CU install?

How much will it cost to reconfigure?

Would be difficult to say, without knowing if the cables need to jointed in the board of whether there is enough slack on them to move about.
You would also want to get the mixed breakers out and replace for the correct manufacturers brand.

I would be concerned over who fitted this board, did you get installation certificates and a building controls compliance notice?

It's our first house after moving from a council flat, so hired a builder to complete some renovation on this old house that we bought.
We thought the electrician knew what he was doing but apparently not.

I think what he had done, is assigned all the sockets in one RCD the one in question, and all the lights on the other RCD on the left, not a wise thing to do, I gather.

Now to remedy this, for a long term solution, is it better to replace the MCBs with RCBO and Isolater as one poster suggested, does this involve reconfiguring the consumer unit?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It's our first house after moving from a council flat, so hired a builder to complete some renovation on this old house that we bought.
We thought the electrician knew what he was doing but apparently not.

It's entirely possible that no electrician went anywhere near it. Did you get an Electrical Installation Certificate? Were Building Control notified, and did you get a completion certificate from them?

Now to remedy this, for a long term solution, is it better to replace the MCBs with RCBO and Isolater as one poster suggested,

Well, an all-RCBO installation is better, but it might not be needed to solve your problem.

does this involve reconfiguring the consumer unit?

Yes, to the extent that it wouldn't be worth it. By the time you've paid for the RCBOs, a new bus-bar, and an electrician's time to fiddle with it, it would be easier and cheaper to replace the whole thing. But your immediate problem could well be resolved by redistributing circuits between the two RCDs - you'll need to look inside the CU to see what kind of a rats nest it is to get a feel for how easy that would be.

 

[fred500]

It's our first house after moving from a council flat, so hired a builder to complete some renovation on this old house that we bought.
We thought the electrician knew what he was doing but apparently not.

It's entirely possible that no electrician went anywhere near it. Did you get an Electrical Installation Certificate? Were Building Control notified, and did you get a completion certificate from them?

Now to remedy this, for a long term solution, is it better to replace the MCBs with RCBO and Isolater as one poster suggested,

Well, an all-RCBO installation is better, but it might not be needed to solve your problem.

does this involve reconfiguring the consumer unit?

Yes, to the extent that it wouldn't be worth it. By the time you've paid for the RCBOs, a new bus-bar, and an electrician's time to fiddle with it, it would be easier and cheaper to replace the whole thing. But your immediate problem could well be resolved by redistributing circuits between the two RCDs - you'll need to look inside the CU to see what kind of a rats nest it is to get a feel for how easy that would be.

Many thanks for your reply. We did get 'electrical installation certificate' but building control were not notified, were told this was not required.

You mention it would be ..cheaper to replace the whole thing' Do you mean the whole consumer unit?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yup - the whole CU.