[Question] Tripping Breakers

[MelissaRandles]

good day,
we have had an electrical fault on the property we live in for the past 8 months
we have gone through 4 electricians and counting

does anyone have any idea

facts
the property has a main house, granny flat and garage
the electricity was previously fed from the house to the granny flat and then to the garage

the electricity trips (mains) outside for both the granny flat and the house simultaneously but only in the early morning and in the evening

we have suggested dew but the electrician and owner are adament that is not the fault

any ideas??????

[GCE]

It sounds like there could be a general overload situation and the best person to advise would be the electrician that has been to the property and had a look .
Have all 4 electricians come up with the same fault analysis ?

[SeanM]

Morning

When you say that the breaker outside is tripping, does this breaker belong to your service provider? if so then the grading of your protection devices need to be corrected. The outside breaker should only trip in the event of there being a cable fault from this breaker to your main DB.

I agree with GCE that this could be a result of overloading especially due to the morning and evening tripping.

So plan going forward:

Ensure your protection is graded correctly (this will also assist in narrowing the fault to a specific area)
If you believe dew is the cause get your cables tested, dew/water will only start causing trouble if there are unsealed joins, connections or a breaker in your cable

What area are you situated?

I am based in Cape Town and can assist if you do to.

[ians]

The only way to sort this out is to find an electrician ...not a wire puller or pipe installer.

The electrician will do a load profile and max demand.

A full assessment of the property wiring and connected loads.

Looking for things like how many geysers are connected...stoves...pool pump...aircons...etc etc

Sizing of the incoming cabling ...looking at things like a curve 1 / D curve breaker for the main supply.

load splitting devices which will isolate the stove when the geyser is on etc ...etc.

The bottom line ...you need someone who knows what they are doing but more important ...be prepared to pay his worth...you know the saying you pay peanuts .........................

Please dont tell me it is an earth fault and the earth leakage is tripping which feeds everything.

[MelissaRandles]

The only way to sort this out is to find an electrician ...not a wire puller or pipe installer.

The electrician will do a load profile and max demand.

A full assessment of the property wiring and connected loads.

Looking for things like how many geysers are connected...stoves...pool pump...aircons...etc etc

Sizing of the incoming cabling ...looking at things like a curve 1 / D curve breaker for the main supply.

load splitting devices which will isolate the stove when the geyser is on etc ...etc.

The bottom line ...you need someone who knows what they are doing but more important ...be prepared to pay his worth...you know the saying you pay peanuts .........................

Please dont tell me it is an earth fault and the earth leakage is tripping which feeds everything.

good day, its the mains feed that supplies the property which is tripping. they have tested and a new "curve breaker" was put in. it still happens. the load is also not an issue as they have tested. we have on both propertys gone down to minimal usage with it still tripping. my stove is gas their geyser is on a timer. no pool pump. they want to get the municipality to come and test the feed from the main box in the road to the mains but getting them out is apparently not as easy as it sounds

[Derlyn]

Hi Melissa

Something that's puzzling. You say that the granny flat and garage were previously fed from the house. Has this changed ? IE has a new supply cable been installed from the street for the granny flat and garage ?

Derek

[ians]

good day, its the mains feed that supplies the property which is tripping. they have tested and a new "curve breaker" was put in. it still happens. the load is also not an issue as they have tested. we have on both propertys gone down to minimal usage with it still tripping. my stove is gas their geyser is on a timer. no pool pump. they want to get the municipality to come and test the feed from the main box in the road to the mains but getting them out is apparently not as easy as it sounds

Trust me it is not easy to get them to visit a site...i did a load profile for a company and we found that the voltage was dropping below 170 volts...causing major issues with servers and the like...the municipal electrician arrives one day with a duspol tester and tells me there is nothing wrong the power is on...good luck with that.

I assume the electricians have done a loop impedance tests at the main DB and sub DB and Garage?

How old house and wiring ...overhead line or under ground cable ?

do the lights flicker every now and again...at random times.?

Has anyone left a meter to record at least min /max readings or some type of profile recording?

[AmithS]

good day, its the mains feed that supplies the property which is tripping. they have tested and a new "curve breaker" was put in. it still happens. the load is also not an issue as they have tested. we have on both propertys gone down to minimal usage with it still tripping. my stove is gas their geyser is on a timer. no pool pump. they want to get the municipality to come and test the feed from the main box in the road to the mains but getting them out is apparently not as easy as it sounds

Is the municipal breaker tripping or the main house DB breaker i.e. breaker in the house?