Dave P wrote:
I found my bedroom light bulb had failed yesterday - it's a

socket showed that it had largely melted, in fact one of the

It sounds like I was lucky not to have a house fire, wasn't I (or not?)?
Why would this happen? Why didn't the relevant MCB on my CU trip (they seem
to do so - irritatingly - every time a bulb in the house blows!)

Fire is always a risk in these cases, though usually not no fire
occurs.

MCBs trip when load current gets well above 6A. A bad resistance join
does the opposite, reduces load current, so would never trip the MCB.
Quite simply there is no protection in most installs against this. Just
make sure your kit is sound to start with.

Cue long debate about how much of a problem it is or isnt, about how
America does it differently, and about the pros and cons of RCDs and
AFCIs.


NT