Our house upstairs lighting circuit has decided to start tripping it's
circuit breakers - with no obvious cause. First suspect was that a wire
had come loose in the last light fitting installed which was a tight fit
for all the connections when it was replaced. I've removed the light
fitting and the dimmer switch, but still the problem persists.

Secondly, we have an alarm system whose power is derived from this
lighting circuit and is doing some rather strange things (spurious
alarms and modes). This alarm has been installed for years and hasn't
been seen by the installer for years either and I suspect the original
installers are no more. I know alarms have a lead-acid battery that will
eventually deteriorate.

It could be a malfunction in the alarm triggering the circuit breaker,
so calling out an electrician could be a complete waste, or it could
just be the alarm is spooked by a circuit fault.

Generally, the circuit breaker can be set, but after a while shuts off,
so I guess that would indicate some form of leakage rather than a direct
contact short.

Current plan is to disconnect the alarm from the lighting circuit and
see if the breaker still has a problem.

Any other thoughts?

Paul