Trip switch tripping, need an electrician or maybe plumber

[LouisCribben]

Hi

I let my apartment in Dublin, in Dorset Street, and moved abroad

The tenant has a problem with a circuit shorting.

When she turns on the water, it activates a pump...to pressurise the water. When she does this, it causes a short.

The short is not in the circuit controlling the pump........the short is on the circuit controlling some electrical sockets.

What might cause this.........?

The tenant mentioned that in the hot press (airing cupboard) there may be a small degree of leaking (although my brother when he called didnt see any leak, or evidence of a leak). This might explain the short, or may be a red herring.

Basically I need a spark to diagnose/fix the problem. Might need some plumbing skills if there is some residual water getting on the sockets circuit.

Any hints as to what the problem might be/ and where I can hire someone to fix the problem.

 

[JMR]

Does the pump also trip?
If so it is powered by a socket on the same circuit as the sockets which you report as tripping.
These pumps are often powered by a socket installed in the airing cupboard.
Identify which sockets are on the problem circuit and remove all appliances except the water pump. Switch pump on and if the MCB trips then you have a problem with the pump, if not one of the other appliances may be faulty.
Try removing each appliance one at a time.

If pump is faulty you need an electrician to fix or a plumber to replace

 

[Leo]

Sounds like the pump remains operational and it's circuit is unaffected. In this case, there is likely a leak on the presurised side of the pum that is resulting in water affecting a socket.

With the socket circuit switched off, you could remove the face place of all sockets to look for obvious signs of damp and short circuiting. You'll need a plumber to fix the leak, but you may also need an elecrician to repair any damage caused to the wiring by the leak/shorting.
Leo

 

[SparkRite]

Hi

I let my apartment in Dublin, in Dorset Street, and moved abroad

The tenant has a problem with a circuit shorting.

When she turns on the water, it activates a pump...to pressurise the water. When she does this, it causes a short.

The short is not in the circuit controlling the pump........the short is on the circuit controlling some electrical sockets.

What might cause this.........?

The tenant mentioned that in the hot press (airing cupboard) there may be a small degree of leaking (although my brother when he called didnt see any leak, or evidence of a leak). This might explain the short, or may be a red herring.

Basically I need a spark to diagnose/fix the problem. Might need some plumbing skills if there is some residual water getting on the sockets circuit.

Any hints as to what the problem might be/ and where I can hire someone to fix the problem.

On the limited information given I would lay odds on that the pump is to blame.

Even though I am not sure whether it is an MCB tripping as opposed to an RCB/ELCB, (different faults) we are told that as soon as the pump operates the fault occurs and on that point alone I would suspect the pump to be faulty.

 

[LouisCribben]

Does the pump also trip?
If so it is powered by a socket on the same circuit as the sockets which you report as tripping.
These pumps are often powered by a socket installed in the airing cupboard.
Identify which sockets are on the problem circuit and remove all appliances except the water pump. Switch pump on and if the MCB trips then you have a problem with the pump, if not one of the other appliances may be faulty.
Try removing each appliance one at a time.

If pump is faulty you need an electrician to fix or a plumber to replace

Thanks JMR
No the pump doesn't trip.

 

[LouisCribben]

Sounds like the pump remains operational and it's circuit is unaffected. In this case, there is likely a leak on the presurised side of the pum that is resulting in water affecting a socket.

With the socket circuit switched off, you could remove the face place of all sockets to look for obvious signs of damp and short circuiting. You'll need a plumber to fix the leak, but you may also need an elecrician to repair any damage caused to the wiring by the leak/shorting.
Leo

That sounds like a very likely possibility....

Odds are there is water somewhere leaking on the pressurised side of the pump and affecting a socket.

We will look into that

 

[JMR]

That sounds like a very likely possibility....

Odds are there is water somewhere leaking on the pressurised side of the pump and affecting a socket.

We will look into that

This sounds very dubious....
Can the socket circuit MCB / RCB be reset immediately following the trip?
Can it only be reset once the socket has "dried out"?

I would be looking at the pump rather than a water leak onto a socket.
Are you 100% sure that the pump does not trip? Water may still flow under gravity without the pump running....

 

[SparkRite]

This sounds very dubious....
Can the socket circuit MCB / RCB be reset immediately following the trip?
Can it only be reset once the socket has "dried out"?

I would be looking at the pump rather than a water leak onto a socket.
Are you 100% sure that the pump does not trip? Water may still flow under gravity without the pump running....

+1

As I said, given the extremely vague and limited information, I would still suspect the pump, if as we are told that the fault appears as soon as the pump is called for.

I have never seen water cause a short at a socket, earth faults, yes, but never a full short to cause a 20A MCB to trip.

 

[LouisCribben]

+1

As I said, given the extremely vague and limited information, I would still suspect the pump, if as we are told that the fault appears as soon as the pump is called for.

I have never seen water cause a short at a socket, earth faults, yes, but never a full short to cause a 20A MCB to trip.

The latest I have heard is that it's the earth leakage Trip Switch which Trips, so Sparkrite and others are correct, it's not a tripping MCB

...... I've been told that the pump itself keeps working........ (the pump is unaffected by the earth leakage trip switch).

This confuses me a bit, the pump is causing the trip, yet the pump itself keeps working.......what might cause this ?

The tenant who has bad english now tells me that there may be some leak in the hot press (although there is no visible signs)

As soon as the taps are turned off, the earth leakage trip switch can be reset, and everything works again straight away

 

[JMR]

All i can say to this is that you need to call an electrician rather than a plumber.

I can't understand how the pump trips the ELCB as soon as it starts but still remains running....

I would seriously doubt that this issue is being caused by a water leak, rather you have a problem with the pump

 

[SparkRite]

If indeed the pump continues running after tripping the ELCB/RCB immediately upon startup, then you have some serious wiring problems.

Any device wired correctly through a RCD, upon developing an earth fault, should have all power to it cut as soon as the RCD operates.

I would second what JMR said and get it looked at by a competent electrician.