parents house was built in the early '90's, has 3 x 6 amp circuits before
the RCD for the lights,

Every yime a light bulb blows, it trips the relevent mcb, which is a pain
for my mum to re-set as the breaker box is just below celing height over the
back end of a kitchen worktop, much fuddeling with a broom handle gets them
re-set, fun when the kitchen light breaker is the one that's tripped tho.

they have compact fluorexcents in most of the light fixtures nowadays, but
certian fittings need to use the old tugsten bulbs (multiple light fixtures
on dimmers etc)

i've read that lighting circuits should really have type C breakers, as
these are better able to handle the surge/arc you get when a tugsten
filament bulb blows,

But reading on here it seems type C breakers are used on different
protection systems, all this TT stuff about earthing arangements i dont
understand just yet,

Could i just get 3 type C 6 amp breakers and put them in place of the type B
ones that are in the box already and stop the damn things being triped every
time a bulb blows? or is there more to it than that?

gazz wrote:

Every yime a light bulb blows, it trips the relevent mcb, which is a
pain for my mum to re-set as the breaker box is just below celing height
over the back end of a kitchen worktop, much fuddeling with a broom
handle gets them re-set, fun when the kitchen light breaker is the one
that's tripped tho.

I would suggest fitting an non maintained emergency light near the CU
(about £14 from TLC). That will ensure there is always light available
to reset a MCB etc.

i've read that lighting circuits should really have type C breakers, as
these are better able to handle the surge/arc you get when a tugsten
filament bulb blows,

A type C takes a bigger surge current to trip, and so is less likely to
trip when a bulb blows. Having said that, GZ10 mains halogen spotlights
can still take out even those.

I routinely use type C breakers on lighting circuits.

But reading on here it seems type C breakers are used on different
protection systems, all this TT stuff about earthing arangements i dont
understand just yet,

Could i just get 3 type C 6 amp breakers and put them in place of the
type B ones that are in the box already and stop the damn things being
triped every time a bulb blows? or is there more to it than that?

You can try, and it will probably help (but there are other factors that
will affect how high the surge current from a bulb blowing will be, so
not everyone will get a satisfactory solution). Type C and an emergency
light is probably the best all round solution. You can also get HRC fuse
carriers shaped like a MCB, again these are less likely to trip, but
they are harder to reset when it does happen.


--
Cheers,

John.

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| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
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John Rumm wrote:
gazz wrote:

Every yime a light bulb blows, it trips the relevent mcb, which is a
pain for my mum to re-set as the breaker box is just below celing
height over the back end of a kitchen worktop, much fuddeling with a
broom handle gets them re-set, fun when the kitchen light breaker is
the one that's tripped tho.

I would suggest fitting an non maintained emergency light near the CU
(about £14 from TLC). That will ensure there is always light available
to reset a MCB etc.

i've read that lighting circuits should really have type C breakers,
as these are better able to handle the surge/arc you get when a
tugsten filament bulb blows,

A type C takes a bigger surge current to trip, and so is less likely to
trip when a bulb blows. Having said that, GZ10 mains halogen spotlights
can still take out even those.

I routinely use type C breakers on lighting circuits.

But reading on here it seems type C breakers are used on different
protection systems, all this TT stuff about earthing arangements i
dont understand just yet,

Could i just get 3 type C 6 amp breakers and put them in place of the
type B ones that are in the box already and stop the damn things being
triped every time a bulb blows? or is there more to it than that?

You can try, and it will probably help (but there are other factors that
will affect how high the surge current from a bulb blowing will be, so
not everyone will get a satisfactory solution). Type C and an emergency
light is probably the best all round solution. You can also get HRC fuse
carriers shaped like a MCB, again these are less likely to trip, but
they are harder to reset when it does happen.


You mentioned TT, could you take a picture of the mains meter and the
box that connects it to the big cable?
Thanks