The Natural Philosopher wrote in message ...
Robert Hunt wrote:

Have looked in the FAQ but no answer to this there...

My electrical consumer unit has MCBs. In the house, each light switch
controls just one light EXCEPT in the lounge where the light switch
controls 10 lights all at once (two pendants each containing 5 bulbs).
Whenever one of the lounge lights blows, the MCB trips, but this never
happens when any of the other lights blow.


Lucky you. My MCB trips obn just about ANY bub that blows.

Candle bulbs are worst. They take out the dimmers as well.



Unfortunately the consumer unit is in the garage, only accessible from
outdoors, so when this happens in the middle of the night it's
inconvenient to say the least. Is there any particular reason why the
lights in the pendants cause the MCB to trip when other lights don't? Is
there anything I can do about it?

(The lounge light switch is a dimmer, with press-on-off action.)

Robert

robert i have fathomed this out very quickly, as your other lights in
the house are on a loop in loop out system if one light filament goes
then the current (electric) just misses this pendant out and continues
to the next tripping the Circuit breaker.With yours no doubt there is
a juction box in the ceiling taken from loop in loop out, and it is
feeding all the lights in series (ie one to the next and so on in a
line). If this is the case then one gone wrong and it all goes. pop
into your local b&q warehouse and speak to one of the electricians for
some free advice.