My consumer unit has two sections lighting to the left, power to the
right. There are 3 or 4 lighting circuits and as you guessed 6 - 10
power circuits. To the right of the power circuits is a switch which
disables all the power circuits in one go.

It is that switch which trips and not the individual circuit breaker.
Consequently I loose power all over the house.

The lighting is not affected though.

The problem with this problem is that it is not repeatable at will.
Having reset the power we can resume ironing and the problem does not
recur maybe for days or weeks. But there is definately a problem
somewhere, and it always occurs when the iron is in use.

Our's have always done that, on different circuits with different
irons. Nothing else does it, at any time. As I can't find a fault on
the wiring I've put it down to water and electric in an iron not been
a good idea.
It is also worth pointing out that it isn't exactly a quality CU thats
been fitted, (it was here when we moved in), GE or Vynckier, never
liked those things.
Some of the higher quality RCD's have anti nuisance tripping
characteristics and can make a difference.
Obviously it would wise to check the wiring first to eliminate any
other causes.

As a side issue the utility room contains a Washing Machine and Tumble
Drier, and in the past the conbination of these two in operation at
the same time has caused the power to be lost - but NOT house wide.
When they trip out it is only the circuit that goes ie one of the 6-10
little switches on the consumer unit.

Check the rating of the MCB that trips in this event, it sounds as
though it is under-rated. Ideally You want a 32A circuit to the WM &
TD, if yours is on a 16A or 20A you may need to have a new circuit
installed, or use the appliances seperately!


SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.