Hi All,

My consumer unit is doing a funny thing. One of the bulbs went in my kitchen 
and tripped the MCB on the consumer unit, so I dutifully changed the bulb 
and tried to flick the switch back to the on position. Unfortunately it 
wouldn't stay there. Presuming that there must be something else causing it 
to go (I can't see what as it only appears to control the lights to the 
kitchen and they were switched to the off position) I flicked the main 
switch off and tried again. Even this time it wouldn't stay on and the small 
coloured indicator also didn't budge.

Obviously there is something else wrong but I'm at the limit of my limited 
knowledge. Can anyone give me some advice or is it time to call an 
electrician?

Thanks.

"Fredrick Skoog"  wrote in message 
news:482ef335$1_1@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Hi All,
>
> My consumer unit is doing a funny thing. One of the bulbs went in my 
> kitchen and tripped the MCB on the consumer unit, so I dutifully changed 
> the bulb and tried to flick the switch back to the on position. 
> Unfortunately it wouldn't stay there. Presuming that there must be 
> something else causing it to go (I can't see what as it only appears to 
> control the lights to the kitchen and they were switched to the off 
> position) I flicked the main switch off and tried again. Even this time it 
> wouldn't stay on and the small coloured indicator also didn't budge.
>
> Obviously there is something else wrong but I'm at the limit of my limited 
> knowledge. Can anyone give me some advice or is it time to call an 
> electrician?
>
> Thanks.
Take the new bulb out and try the mcb again, let us know what happens.

Fredrick Skoog wrote:

> My consumer unit is doing a funny thing. One of the bulbs went in my 
> kitchen and tripped the MCB on the consumer unit, so I dutifully changed 
> the bulb and tried to flick the switch back to the on position. 
> Unfortunately it wouldn't stay there. Presuming that there must be 
> something else causing it to go (I can't see what as it only appears to 
> control the lights to the kitchen and they were switched to the off 
> position) I flicked the main switch off and tried again. Even this time 
> it wouldn't stay on and the small coloured indicator also didn't budge.
> 
> Obviously there is something else wrong but I'm at the limit of my 
> limited knowledge. Can anyone give me some advice or is it time to call 
> an electrician?

Sounds like something else is causing a short, which is still present: I 
would think the most likely cause something wrong in the bulb holder; 
failing that the ceiling rose above it.  Unscrew them and have a shufti.

David

In article <482ef335$1_1@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com>,
	"Fredrick Skoog"  writes:
> Hi All,
> 
> My consumer unit is doing a funny thing. One of the bulbs went in my kitchen 
> and tripped the MCB on the consumer unit, so I dutifully changed the bulb 
> and tried to flick the switch back to the on position. Unfortunately it 
> wouldn't stay there. Presuming that there must be something else causing it 
> to go (I can't see what as it only appears to control the lights to the 
> kitchen and they were switched to the off position) I flicked the main 
> switch off and tried again. Even this time it wouldn't stay on and the small 
> coloured indicator also didn't budge.

The MCB needs replacing if it won't stay on even when the main
switch is off. (Are you sure the main switch you switched off
does cover that MCB?)

> Obviously there is something else wrong but I'm at the limit of my limited 
> knowledge. Can anyone give me some advice or is it time to call an 
> electrician?

Replacing MCB's varies in complexity depending on the make/model
of Consumer Unit. Some simply plug in, others can require quite
a bit of disassembly of the CU.

-- 
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Fredrick Skoog wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> My consumer unit is doing a funny thing. One of the bulbs went in my 
> kitchen and tripped the MCB on the consumer unit, so I dutifully changed 
> the bulb and tried to flick the switch back to the on position. 
> Unfortunately it wouldn't stay there. Presuming that there must be 
> something else causing it to go (I can't see what as it only appears to 
> control the lights to the kitchen and they were switched to the off 
> position) 
> Obviously there is something else wrong but I'm at the limit of my 
> limited knowledge. Can anyone give me some advice or is it time to call 
> an electrician?
> 
> Thanks.

I flicked the main switch off and tried again. Even this time
 > it wouldn't stay on and the small coloured indicator also didn't budge.
 >

Either your MCB is knackered, or it may be of a type that needs a reset, 
ie push the switch down further than the normal off position and then 
back up to on. If indeed it only feeds the kitchen you must have
(at least) one other 6A MCB . AS a temporary measure pull the wire out 
of it and stick it in with another 6A feed till you get a replacment.
Obviously main switch off first!!!

Allan.

Fredrick Skoog wrote:

> My consumer unit is doing a funny thing. One of the bulbs went in my 
> kitchen and tripped the MCB on the consumer unit, so I dutifully changed 
> the bulb and tried to flick the switch back to the on position. 
> Unfortunately it wouldn't stay there. Presuming that there must be 
> something else causing it to go (I can't see what as it only appears to 
> control the lights to the kitchen and they were switched to the off 
> position) I flicked the main switch off and tried again. Even this time 
> it wouldn't stay on and the small coloured indicator also didn't budge.

If a MCB has tripped as a result of a short duration fault current (i.e. 
like the brief short circuit that can occur when a bulb blows) they 
ought to reset straight away.

Some models however can refuse to reset straight away if the cause of 
the fault was a sustained overload for several minutes. Here the trip 
mechanism is different (it relies on a bimetal strip like that used in a 
thermostat), and the device may not reset until its thermal trip 
mechanism has cooled a little. If you have a heavily loaded lighting 
circuit it is possible you are seeing a borderline thermal trip as well.

If after a cooling off period it still fails to reset - even with the 
power off at the main switch, then I would suspect that the MCB itself 
has failed.

> Obviously there is something else wrong but I'm at the limit of my 
> limited knowledge. Can anyone give me some advice or is it time to call 
> an electrician?

What make of CU is it? If you post a photo of it somewhere for us we can 
advise on what options you have.

-- 
Cheers,

John.

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|          Internode Ltd -  http://www.internode.co.uk            |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|        John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk              |
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"Fredrick Skoog"  wrote in message 
news:482ef335$1_1@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Hi All,
>
> My consumer unit is doing a funny thing. One of the bulbs went in my 
> kitchen and tripped the MCB on the consumer unit, so I dutifully changed 
> the bulb and tried to flick the switch back to the on position. 
> Unfortunately it wouldn't stay there. Presuming that there must be 
> something else causing it to go (I can't see what as it only appears to 
> control the lights to the kitchen and they were switched to the off 
> position) I flicked the main switch off and tried again. Even this time it 
> wouldn't stay on and the small coloured indicator also didn't budge.
>
> Obviously there is something else wrong but I'm at the limit of my limited 
> knowledge. Can anyone give me some advice or is it time to call an 
> electrician?
>
> Thanks.
Cheers Guys
I waited a while and tried again and it reset ok, seems like it may have 
been a thermal issue.

Thanks again though