Ok not sure if anyone can answer.
The power was tripped on everything downstairs,after isolating everything,the last thing to try was the washing machine,once I unplugged it the rcb switch would stay down
I put a radio into that socket and it worked fine,and didn’t trip the switch.
Just plugged the washing machine back in to double check before I look at getting
another,and it hasn’t tripped the switch.
Last thing I want to do is get another machine if there is no need,especially as the cars MOT is this week.
Try running the machine with a load of washing, see if it trips again.
If it does, search youchoob for ‘how-to-fix’ videos - washing machines are not usually too complicated to sort, provided you can find the parts. Think the commonest fail is the control PCB > then motor bearing > motor seizure > heater element…
The machine was working ok,but it tripped the power during the night when not in use.
Just plugged it in and it didn’t trip.
I’ll leave it unplugged tonight,and plug it in tomorrow when I’m about.
We’ve had good use out of it for over a decade,which for a cheap machine seems good. Obviously don’t want it tripping the box during the night,was trying to find out if it was machine or socket.
Had similar with microwave when not in use beginning of the year. Soon as you plugged it in it would trip all downstairs even without it being turned on
…then you’ve got to start to wonder if it’s the installation rather than the the attached devices - don’t s’pose you know any tame sparkies who could wave some meters at it?
I guess you mean the MCB switch - the individual switch for the downstairs circuit. Not the RCD switch - the large one which controls most of (maybe all of) the consumer unit ?
MCBs trip when they’re asked to pass more current than the circuit (e.g. the wiring, or maybe a physical socket) can safely handle. The first thing to say is that, wherever your fault is located, it is an intermittent fault. When the washing machine is plugged in sometimes the trip happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Intermittent faults can be hard to track down since most of the time they’re not present. The quickest way of finding them can be by finding secondary evidence - e.g. burnt/damaged insulation which sometimes sparks through, or a loose live (or neutral) wire which sometimes gets shaken into contact with nearby neutral (or live) metalwork, or a puddle of water which comes and goes and sometimes bridges live to neutral. If you were comfortable doing it (just looking can be done with the power disconnected) then I’d suggest opening things up and shining a bright torch into them. But it’s a tedious business and it’s not possible to open everything (that moulded-on mains plug, for example).
Today i have been mainly resigning. 7 weeks to go, 3 days a week, 20 days left with 9 of those WFH. After 44 years service it all ends with just 4 clicks on an obline HR system, feels very strange way to end this long chapter.
I’ll open up a bit more about this later, right now there are just hurdles we need to clear in order to move on.
We were recently sat on a hillside in Yorkshire as part of a two week break when it dawned on us both that all our worries had drifted away, a sence of peace of you will. That was the moment when we knew for sure it was time to enjoy what we have and not worry or be concerned by the priorities of others.
