Some call it a consumer unit, and others call it fuse box, both have the same function and role. Its role is simple, to protect your house’s electrical equipment from damages and prevent electrical firehouses.
However, what if your fuse box keeps tripping, and you can’t fix it?
If you are experiencing the same issue, you are not alone. Electrical issues come up all the time, and so many people are left trying to figure out what is wrong on their own. This article will help you learn about the reasons that a fuse box would keep tripping and how to fix it!
Where is my Fuse Box?
A fuse box or consumer unit is a device installed in your house and protects the electrical wiring by tripping high voltage circuits when they become overloaded. Yet, the location of your fuse box will vary, but it typically doesn’t come near any of your main living rooms or areas.
In case, you bought a new property, or your house is old there are some tricks to find your fuse box. Look for electrical connections and start from there, go to your garage, basement, outside the house and expand your search.
How does a Consumer Unit or a Fuse Box work?
A fuse box is a simple device and an important one for your family and house safety. It helps protect your home from potential electrical accidents, short circuits, ground faults, or overloads in the power system.
A fuse box is your safeguard against power overload, unbalanced loaded & short circuit. They consider some of the many reasons why your fuse box keeps tripping.
The working mechanism of a fuse box is simple: it detects any changes in the current circuit by monitoring the voltage between two points on the circuit.
The fuse box contains various fuses that can be replaced if they blow or burn out, and these are what help to protect your home from potential electrical accidents.
If the voltage in a circuit rises too high, such as during an overload on the power system or due to a short-circuit within a light fixture. The fuse will blow or burn out. This is to protect your home when your electricity keeps tripping.
How to identify if you have a circuit breaker or fuses?
Most people think that fuse boxes and circuit breakers are the same thing but, they’re not. They share the same object, which is protecting your house from overcurrents, but they are much different in their installation and mechanisms.
If you can’t tell the difference between the two, it’s easy. First, for the circuit breaker, check in your box if there are raw levels or switches. Mainly, that’s what a circuit breaker contains.
As for a fuse box, rather than having switches you will find colored knobs or small circular fuses.
Below are some of the common differences between fuse boxes and circuit breakers
- A circuit breaker is expensive, while a fuse box isn’t.
- A fuse box is easy to install, a circuit breaker isn’t.
- You can use a circuit breaker many times, but a fuse box is a one-time shot.
How do I know if my Fuse Box keeps tripping?
It’s a universal role, you can’t fix a problem if you are not aware of it. The same rule works for electrical tripping issues. As you know the fuse box is a vital device for home security, but what if you don’t know that it’s tripping.
If your fuse box keeps tripping you will notice that your lights have gone out, your sockets are not working, loss of power, loss of lights in some areas in your home. In most cases, electrical issues like the ones mentioned before indicate that your fuse has tripped.
When you experience some of these issues, check your fuse box if there is a switch-off or burn-out fuse.
Main reasons for a circuit breaker to trip
Below are some of the reasons that your fuse box keeps tripping:
- Overloaded Circuit: this occurs when you have more than one circuit running on the same fuse. To fix this, add another breaker to your panel and wire it up with a different location of the house’s circuits so that they can be powered separately.
- Short circuit: This occurs when two different wires contact, for example, the black wire touches the white wire. This sudden contact will cause an unexpected increase in electricity flow. However, if you have a bad wiring connection, detecting short circuits will get much more complicated.
- Bad Wiring Connections: This occurs when wires are not connected properly or if joints were loosened in an earthquake. To fix this, make sure the wiring connections are tight and then tighten any loose joints that may be causing an issue!
- Unbalanced Load: This occurs when one appliance is being used more heavily than other appliances in a circuit. The fuse box will trip to protect your home from potential damage or hazards. Make sure all heavy-duty appliances are on a separate circuit or use the same amperage for each appliance.
What should I do if any appliance is faulty?
First, you would need to define if there is a faulty appliance or not. Once you find one then there is one choice to make.
- If you have a new appliance that is under warranty its best to stop using it and replace it with another one or ask for a refund.
- If you identify a faulty appliance and you have an old one, maybe it’s best to hire a professional electrical inspector who is NICEIC or NAPIT qualified.
What if you can’t tell if your Fuse Box is faulty?
Well, it’s simple, look for faulty appliance signs, which are burning smells and scorch marks on your main box. If you notice that other circuits are fine while your main box is tripping, that is a sign of a fault fuse box.
If your fuse box or circuit breaker keeps tripping frequently, that is a strong sign that you are dealing with a faulty appliance.
The usual cost of replacing a new Consumer Unit 18th Edition RCD Protected is in the range of £450-£800 depending on the nature of labour involved. Sometimes it costs more depending on your wiring system and other services.
Your fuse box will trip in case of overload, unbalance load, short circuit, and faulty appliance.
Check the box and if you can't figure out from there, turn the lights of every room you have and find what room has the signs of a tripping fuse box.
If you experience frequent short tripping, it's easy to track the problem. You would need to use a multimeter device for checking voltage or simply call for an electrical inspector.
Considering the physical start of raindrops, yes it could get your fuses to trip. Because it can get into your box and cause a short.
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