ELCB / Saftey Switch problems.

Me, saint and bad are going crazy.

Our ELCB goes off randomly all the fuggin time.

We can trip it 80% of the time by turning on garage light (a dbl 40watt fluro)

A sparky came in tested all the major appliances they all passed and blamed the fridge cycling, we got the circuit to blow (by turning on the garage light) with the fridge unplugged. Which to me says ... Its not the fridge.

Infact me and saint spent about 3 or 4 hours on the problem and got every electrical device unplugged. Seems if there is any sort of load (eg. a fan and a tv) and you turn on the garage light ... BAM ... and then other times its just random BAM.

Only other thing worth mentioning is the power point in the bathroom has been pushed in. Still waiting on it to be fixed.

So ...

Anyone got ideas on how to narrow it down ?

Could it be a faulty ELCB ?
Is it a faulty smoke detector (they are wired in and battery backup) ?
Faulty Wiring ?

How do we narrow it down ?

Give us ideas and stuff....

is it ONLY the garage light that trips it ?? or are you just using this as an example as it is only 40watt and trips it ??

The garage light trips it the most.
However the fluro in the storage area can trip it also.

if it still trips with all appliances unplugged, it has to be some fixed wiring causing the troubles - smoke alarms, light fittings, dodgy connections etc

also i would be concerned if the qualified sparky you used couldn't find the fault...

last edited by rodolphe at 13:17:48 14/Feb/05

There's something seriously evil about that particular circuit...get the wiring checked out - it's likely to be shorting somewhere. Obviously the wiring to the garage light would be the first thing to check, but it could be *anywhere* on that circuit.

just had a thought... light fittings (i.e. garage light) aren't protected by safety switches. only powerpoints are.

i double checked in my fuse box thingo and the circuits protected by the safety switch are labelled,only 2 circuits are, and these are the 2 powerpoint circuits in the house. lights and hotwater heater etc are not protected. i guess your house may be wired differently though and the garage and storage area lights are wired different to my place, or have been piggy backed off a powerpoint circuit or something.

i would have a looksee in your power box and see what you find written in there.

if i were you i would TURN OFF THE MAIN POWER and then disconnect the dodge power point in the bathroom and insulate the bare wires with electrical tape then turn the main power back on and see how goes it.

last edited by rodolphe at 13:26:33 14/Feb/05

last edited by rodolphe at 13:27:32 14/Feb/05

Yeah I am kind of surprised when the sparky came to check the leakage problem and we pointed out the plug on the wall .. all he had to say was "yeah waiting on a part".. didn't disconnect it or anything.

Thats what we thought about lgihts being on a different circuit .. what I don't get is it causes the circuit to pop.

temporary solution is to remove the ELCB and join the wires in the power box... dun worry about fixing the problem, just use a work around to get the power on :p

if it is a *really* bad problem the regular CB should cut the power.

dumb question from a non sparky type ...

How hard is it to just join the wires ?

And if it is just a hyperactive ELCB how much do new ELCBs cost?

i was joking about joining wires eheh :o) but when i do dodge s*** like that i just twist the wires together and stick electrical tape around it.

to get a new ELCB installed it would be over $200 but should be under $300... very much a licenced electricians job though.

i would get a different sparky out again and tell him to fix it f***ing, the guy you had in already sounds a bit dodge

Don't have much choice with a rental : /

ahh that changes eveything... dun tough a fukn thing and hound your real estate/landlord

I'm no sparky but heres my advice
1) get a torch
2) get a new house

grab some coal or something and mark the wall in the bathroom and say the thing has been sparking :p

failing that, turn off each individual circut, Locate each circut and label it and then load up each one individually with a kettle and see if the house explodes, could be something as simple as a rat knawing through a cable thats arcing in the wall space waiting to torch your house :p

but yeah everyone should really label each circut in their house, with coloured stickers or something, makes organising power for computers sooo much easier (thats if you've got multiple power circutes... if not then you're fuxed :p)

Working as intended.

have you tried replacing the little spark cylinder in the fluro(not sure what its called).

heh shad sounds like a blizzard employee

"Working as intended" © Copyright 2000 - 2005 Mythic Entertainment

If it's a 40 globe than it is not likely to have a fluro starter it is more likely to be crap in the back of the battern holder.


Nowdays and for a while ALL power and light circuits in a house must be on an RCD if yours is not then that dosent matter becase it only applies to new installations as at last year sometime.

Normaly it is the addition of more than one fault on the system that causes it to trip. Most Electrical devices leek current to ground the rcd will trip onece it reaches 30mA.

Obes if you want me to come and have a look at it just let me know den @ qgl . org

last edited by Denominator at 18:01:24 14/Feb/05

dumb question from a non sparky type ...

How hard is it to just join the wires ?

And if it is just a hyperactive ELCB how much do new ELCBs cost?

Dont try an do anything on your own it will void the owner's insurance and you will have to pay for the house if it burns down.

or worse if you get electrocuted you could die and that would be a shoking event.

wiring.

perhaps a damaged cable, perhaps not earthing properly.... who the f*** knows get a sparky... it aint easy to diagnose a problem on a forum


also its pretty easy to join cables... but if you have to ask that question, i suggest you dont, as it is quite dangerous... and obes... being the big unit you are you will probably fall through the ceiling

why would he climb into the ceiling to access the circuit board?

I am a 4th year apprentice so I am weeks away from being a sparkie.

RCD's will not trip if it is a faulty cable it will only trip if there is leakage from active or nutural to earth of 30mA or more simple.

to check the cable from the garage light

DO NOT connect the elcb wires together, you'll burn your house down.

If you turn all the lights and/or other loads on the lighting grid off, and the elcb still trips, it's not the lights. (derr)
Do the same with the appliance grid off, and lights on, and see if it trips.
Other wise call a reliable electrician and get him to fix it. Don't let him go home until he has.

I'm not a licensed sparky, but am in training.

Sounds like a faulty appliance that's leaking to earth. unplug all appliances with three pins on the plug.


EDIT: just ask ^Denominator^, he's higher than me.
Also Denominator, neutrals don't leak to earth, only the active. And it is around 15-20mA


last edited by Lynx at 18:23:10 14/Feb/05

Den, can you add me to your msn, im a 2nd week pre-voc sparkie, i have acouple of questions.

" mywhitewolf_@_gmail_._com "

edit is for losers (so is spelling)

Whats very disturbing is that We have 2 sparky's in Training here and one cant spell neutral and the other is correcting the higher trained sparky on his mistakes.

Only ever happens to the best of us =D

worlds most dangerous professions

1. astronaut
2. race car driver
3. pilot
4. anyone in the electrical industry

Rubber is such a life saver. <3

If you turn all the lights and/or other loads on the lighting grid off, and the elcb still trips, it's not the lights. (derr)

It trips while we're all asleep and no lights are on. It just seems weird how the fluro's downstairs trip the power socket grid. When the thing trips, the lights stay on. As Obes said, we've unplugged all appliances and tried different combinations .. as long as there's some current being drawn, the power has a chance of tripping. This to me indicates that it isn't an appliance we have, unless they're all faulty.

1. astronaut
2. race car driver
3. pilot
4. anyone in the electrical industry

your wrong.

simply because number one is farming.

more likely to kill yourself as a farmer than anything else.

sparkie is the most dangerious trade though.

Skitza I fail to see how a condom will help in this situation.

your wrong.

simply because number one is farming.

more likely to kill yourself as a farmer than anything else.

sparkie is the most dangerious trade though.

you gonna back that statement up with reference ?

Saves in more ways than 1 :)

you gonna back that statement up with reference ?

im just going of what i heard on australian tv.

This proves you wrong, but proves me wrong too. its also an american list. so its also irelevent.

This However shows that everycountry has diffrent dangers

so i'll continue on with what i saw on tv

i think bads desk is clearly to blame here.

ants eating your wires. we had the little f***ers chewing our power sockets. Tried to turn on a light or power socket switch and it just fell inside the wall because the mo'fuggin ants had eaten it. An entire swarm of the bastards then flowed out of the wall like a river of black death.... ok I hyped that up just a tad but check for ants or roaches eating your stuff. Once turned on a swith and heard all the ants frying, it was a glorious sound. The sound of revenge.

edit: nothing wrong with being a sparky, I've been hit by 240volts heaps of times, I'm still alive.

last edited by whoop at 20:03:01 14/Feb/05

There you go acetame, your proof.

You must be very lucky cause if 30mA+ crossed your heart, you be on your way to heaven. Standard socket puts out max 10A or 10000mA.
Unless cpr?

Also to who ever started the thread, just call an electrition. I'm only a pre-vo, that pre first (of 4) years training.

last edited by Lynx at 23:45:17 14/Feb/05

i think bads desk is clearly to blame here.

I whole heartedly agree!

It is a big desk ... anything is possible

Id be calling a differant "sparky" and not relying on what people from here say.Go with a professional.

is nf over there trying to make coffee?

Give my mate a ring 0418481765.......he's been an apprentice electrician for 4 days now.....i'm sure he could help lol = D

I am a professional I get paid to do this sort of crap.

Is there like a powerboard or something we can by to trip instead so we can test appliances ourselves ?

Bad, if it is a rental, ring the landlord/real estate place.

You don't have to f*** around with that junk.

Yeah I rang em today and apparently the sparky is coming out again to look at it. This time I am gonna say oi f*** c*** i hate your guts, f*** you yo and f*** yo mumma, p.s. fix our power.

he probably just go home if u do that or even worse he could say that the power point that is caved in needs to be fixed before you can have your power back on. Then you will have no power.

Is there like a powerboard or something we can by to trip instead so we can test appliances ourselves ?

Yeah you can buy them they are pritty dear from memory bout $110

Well he checked everything out more thorough this time, and still couldn't find anything wrong. He replaced the switch that trips in case it's dodgy, and fixed the power point upstairs. So far no powerouts, but they mainly happen at night/in the morning, so we'll see what happens.

So they mostly happen at night.... mostly.

oi, lynx, what tafe are you doing your prevo at?

South bank, you?