why always blackout

[pokmingsheng]

my house seem to have a problem with blackouts..

i'm not sure when, but it started some time back..

every few days, on one faithful night, it'll blackout..

there were even times where it blackout 3days in a row,

and wierdly, each time it happens around 1am..

changed the electric box,

technician couldnt figure out why..

still happens..

anyone can advice?

each time we call a tech to drop by to check,

he couldnt figure out why, and we still have to pay him.. =/

could it be:

power overload? (4rooms running aircon everynight)

my 2ft cube consuming too much electricity? (cant be right)

[LaW]

just your unit?

[pokmingsheng]

just your unit?

yes..

doesnt happen to others..

my mum kept saying because of high electricity consumption,

but i believe those staying in big houses/exec would have a higher consumption..

i'm staying in a 5room flat..

and the blackout occurs when most of the lights are off..

only my tank pumps are running,

air cons in the rooms are running..

and maybe sometimes the TV... =/

[LaW]

yes..

doesnt happen to others..

my mum kept saying because of high electricity consumption,

but i believe those staying in big houses/exec would have a higher consumption..

i'm staying in a 5room flat..

and the blackout occurs when most of the lights are off..

only my tank pumps are running,

air cons in the rooms are running..

and maybe sometimes the TV... =/

maybe its the aircon since it happened mostly at night. but i could be wrong. check any faulty appliance around. hope you find the source soon enough. all the best.

[jackywongto]

some suggestions:

Does the blackout happens when someone switch on the appliance or lights? or maybe when the fridge or chiller kicks in?

Could be the transient in the electrical lines.

THere is this thing that you plug into your power plug to help suppress these transients and also "clean" up spikes in your voltage line.

you might want to see if those help.

The other thing that you want to try is to see if with the blackout still occurs with one or two aircon units switch off.

Sometimes certain applicance (in my experience, a ceiling fan) is already faulty but still can use.

Everything is ok and running even though I switch it on. but after a while, it trips the circuit board.

The hardest part is that it is intermittent.

Maybe you want to try isolating some of the appliance and try to locate which one over time.

When it black out, is it the main circuit breaker on the circuit board or the sub circuit breaker (one of the smaller switch on the circuit board.)

If it is the sub, then try to identify which powerpoints are connected to that sub breaker and isolate the appliance to identify which is the culprit.

Good luck bro!

[vurbul]

If your main breaker is tripping, you may have an Earth leakage problem. I suspect the aircon to be the culprit. Happen to me at my old house. Kept tripping in the middle of the night.

I doubt its the lights. They don't use that much current.

Try not using the aircon for the time being and see if it trips again.

[teebs]

Did you check your electrical board which breaker trips? The two largest breakers are the MCB (Main Circuit Breakers) which are rated at 40A. These will only trip if the current load is more than the rated current or if there is a short circuit.

The smaller circuit breakers are rated at 32A if I remember correctly and will only trip if the current is more than that or if there is a short circuit.

The Earth Leakage Circuit breaker (ELCB) is the one with the blue switch. This will trip if any of your electric appliances has a leakage current of more than 30mA. This is the only one that will cause your whole house to trip.

If you suspect that your aircon is the culprit, then what you can do is in the daytime, switch on your aircons one by one. If any of your aircons has a leakage current, your ELCB will trip once you switch on that aircon unit.

[jackywongto]

Did you check your electrical board which breaker trips? The two largest breakers are the MCB (Main Circuit Breakers) which are rated at 40A. These will only trip if the current load is more than the rated current or if there is a short circuit.

The smaller circuit breakers are rated at 32A if I remember correctly and will only trip if the current is more than that or if there is a short circuit.

The Earth Leakage Circuit breaker (ELCB) is the one with the blue switch. This will trip if any of your electric appliances has a leakage current of more than 30mA. This is the only one that will cause your whole house to trip.

If you suspect that your aircon is the culprit, then what you can do is in the daytime, switch on your aircons one by one. If any of your aircons has a leakage current, your ELCB will trip once you switch on that aircon unit.

Kiko,

I think no need to hire electricians lah....

just buy Peter a cup of kopi and ask him to help to isolate the problem

[triggerfish]

Hi,

happened to me before and no one seemed to know why. However, when during the air-con maintenance, the men found out that the wires were exposed. hence the problem resolved since then.

suggest that you take a look around those 'hidden places'. hope it helps!

[pokmingsheng]

thanks for all the advice!

the next time it trips, i'll try to look at the switches carefully..

all the jargons that you guys are using,

i've to slowly read the posts again.. haha...

the aircon at my place is those portable kind..

one in every room..

so they're each connected to one powerpoint..

that shouldnt be a problem right?

then again,

it could be my chiller.. (2nd hand)

i've to monitor again the next time it trips..

thanks alot once again for the advice guys

[desideria]

Same here, the last time my house kept on tripping @ night was when the aircon was on. It turned out there was a electrical ciruict in my condenser unit was screwed ... so I also suspect it's your air con condenser unit that has some electrical fault because i'm sure your tank stuff is also on during the day but no blackout during the day right? Get your air con condensers checked thoroughly.

Cheers,

Desi

[LaW]

hope there wont be much moisture around the wires in the aircon to mess with.

that if its the aircon's fault.

[albinosage]

LOL it is always the air con! My office kept tripping for a few weeks, no electrician could solve it, finally the air-con serviceman found that the condensation in the compressor was shorting some loose wire.

[tian1974]

could it be the heater? mine tripped 2 weeks ago and it was the old heater's problem.

[pokmingsheng]

Did you check your electrical board which breaker trips? The two largest breakers are the MCB (Main Circuit Breakers) which are rated at 40A. These will only trip if the current load is more than the rated current or if there is a short circuit.

The smaller circuit breakers are rated at 32A if I remember correctly and will only trip if the current is more than that or if there is a short circuit.

The Earth Leakage Circuit breaker (ELCB) is the one with the blue switch. This will trip if any of your electric appliances has a leakage current of more than 30mA. This is the only one that will cause your whole house to trip.

If you suspect that your aircon is the culprit, then what you can do is in the daytime, switch on your aircons one by one. If any of your aircons has a leakage current, your ELCB will trip once you switch on that aircon unit.

whenever it trips,

its never the small circuit breakers..

its always the main circuit breakers..

sometimes, its the circuit board outside my house..

you know HDB flats, they've this meter thing that runs, there's actually a switch above..

we were told to check that if it trips..

i understand that once it trips,

you just have to switch it on, and it'll come on immediately..

but most of the time, the switch would be quite hot..

have to wait a few mins, before we can push the switch up again..

its kinda worrying... esp when no one can do anything abt it..

now that you guys mentioned,

most likely suspect is the aircon..

but it doesnt trip immediately..

the aircon would have been running for about 3-4hrs,

around 1am++ it'll trip..

and wierdly, its always around that time...

i'll wait and see..

another blackout should happen again during the week...

[jackywongto]

sounds like twilight zone... do do do do.... do do do do....

[albinosage]

most likely suspect is the aircon..

but it doesnt trip immediately..

the aircon would have been running for about 3-4hrs,

around 1am++ it'll trip..

and wierdly, its always around that time...

Switch on, run for a few hours... Condensation builds up, gathering moisture into water droplets... Boomz! Sounds like a good theory, you should check your air con.

[jackywongto]

Switch on, run for a few hours... Condensation builds up, gathering moisture into water droplets... Boomz! Sounds like a good theory, you should check your air con.

i kinda suspect that too.

[teebs]

99.99% is caused by one of your portable aircons. 0.01% act of god...