My consumer unit keeps tripping, is this connected to the smart meter?

That is a circuit trip then rather than the whole feed. Is there something (heater, immersion etc) that switches at that time. 
As Blastoise mentions, a sensitive RCBO is most likely at fault (unless a faulty appliance). They are difficult for many electricians to diagnose as it is a specialised test to find the problem. 

​@Blastoise186 ​@BPLightlog 

Thank you for the reply.

The heating is a combi boiler and it doesn't switch on at that time. The fridge freezer is on but nothing else.

If it was the fridge  wouldn't it retrip when I put the power back on?

Because it only goes in the early hours, I thought it might be to do with something updating like the smart meter or the WiFi.

The electrician who came out thinks the wiring of the RCD switch has been affected when our new smart meter was wired up.  When he checked the CU he recommended installing a new one as ours is very old and he thinks there might be a “mismatch” between it and the new smart meter.  He has given us a temporary solution which so far has worked, but will come back in New Year to install a new CU.  Thanks to everyone for their advice , hoping this will be an end to our problems.  Happy Christmas

That sounds like good advice, even though it’s a significant expense you probably weren’t expecting just now. It will be money well spent.

In the meantime, could you tell us whether your current CU enclosure (the box with the hinged lid) is made of plastic or metal? Older ones were often plastic, newer ones often metal. The current rules only say that it has to be fire-resistant, so the right sort of plastic wouldn’t be a problem in that respect. However, plastic wouldn’t shield the RCD from electro-magnetic fields, while steel would. There’s some evidence that the tiny bit of radiation from the smart meter’s communications hub may be enough to trip a less-than-optimal RCD.

It would be interesting to know what that solution was. Did he perhaps install a different (better) RCD? With a higher threshold, for example (e.g. 100mA instead of the normal 30mA)? 

I’m pleased to hear you have a solution (if only temporarily over the festive period) & they can get this sorted in the new year. Have a great Christmas ​@Sine 😊

Further to my previous post. I have had an electrician in and he has checked consumer unit, replaced rcd and switched so that only sockets are on the rcd.

I have systematically unplugged each socket I use overnight, including fridge/freezer and it still trips.

The appliances are not at fault, what else could it be, if nothing is in the sockets.

Depends on what is tripping. If it's the main incoming RCD then you need to switch off any remaining circuits to see which one is faulty. That could be difficult / potentially dangerous if you have to isolate a fridge/freezer and the internal temperature goes too high although you are likely to have more leeway at this time of year.

Assuming you have identified which circuit is faulty then you need to go round and unplug EVERYTHING on that circuit and then systematically plug things back in beginning with the fridge/freezer (if it's on that circuit) and others. Examine the equipment you are plugging back in to see that there is no obvious damage or damp. Be carefull!

If it still trips with absolutely nothing plugged to that ring final (used to be called ring main) then there is sufficient leakage in the wiring to trip and then you MUST get a qualified electrician in to examine the wiring. It could be degraded insulation or damp. He will break the ring final into segments and have a meter to measure the insulation value as he is doing that. That is not a job for an unqualified person because the reason for the degradation/ damp has to be found.

I hope that helps. If I've missed the point (entirely possible) let me know what I've missed or otherwise let us know how you got on. Feedback is always greatly appreciated because it helps us refine our advice.

Peter

If it is still tripping with nothing whatsoever pluged in then it is either:

1. Something that is hard wired in, such as some electric cookers, or storage heaters, or immersion heaters.
   Or:
2. There is a fault somewhere on the wiring of the circuit itself.

If it is always tripping at exactly the same time every night the the suspicion has to be something like a faulty storage or immersion heater that is on a timer.

But I believe that you have done all that you can yourself and are at the stage where you need to get a quilified electrician in, with the right tools to trace and rectify whatever the cause is.

It’s worth a quick note on what you mentioned 

An RCD/RCBO works by monitoring the total current flowing to earth (ie. Leaking) and so while an individual appliance may not be at fault, a combination might cause the trip. 
It is a difficult area to both test and determine cause and as has been mentioned, there could be an issue with the wiring itself. 
To fully determine the issue, some sort of monitoring might be required although I seem to remember you saying that the tripping happens in the early hours, therefore as I mentioned before, it could indicate any device that is directly wired (not necessarily via a plug and socket) and probably switched via a timer or other trigger. 

Thank you for your replies.

I have had the electrician in twice now. He tells me the only things that are now on the side of the board that is covered by the rcd are the sockets.

There is nothing on a timer to switch on at night.

He will be coming again, so will ask him to check the hard wired stuff like the computer.

All the lights etc work when it's tripped, it's only the sockets that don't. 

Is there anything else I should get the electrician to check.

Thank you for your suggestions.

???? Why would a computer ever be hard wired in ???

Even servers and mainframes have a plug of some sort.

Did you unplug everything?
Including your computer, your router/hub, and anything else that you normally leave on 24/7? (not just the fridge).

Yes I have tried everything plugged in, not all at once. The WiFi router and plug, open reach plug for the fibre. TV and lamps every nite. Bedroom lamps. And lastly the fridge/freezer.

Maybe I should try everything at once?

Yes. You need to unplug everything all at the same time including any extension sockets and multi way adapters leaving bare wall sockets and making sure you have got every single one of them.

If you have unplugged everything and it still trips then it has to be the wiring. Another possibility though is a faulty RCD but that is quite rare. In either of those cases an electrician needs to be called to test the wiring and RCD.

Peter

Thanks Peter,

I will try that tonight. The electrician changed the RCD already.

Hi ​@Jan71 very frustrating for you.  Additionally to all the good discussion above, it’s worth remembering that nowadays with all our LED lights, TVs, washing machines, ‘fridge/freezers, tumblers, microwaves, laptops etc. there is, totalled over different circuits, quite a lot of individually small leakages possibly adding up to a cumulatively largish leakage as ​@Peter E suggests above (…“sufficient leakage in the wiring…”), even when there is no specific one item causing a problem. Hard to track down!  But why such a circumstance should only be manifesting itself first thing in the morning with seemingly no one item causing it is a bit of a mystery.  And as ​@BPLightlog says, there’s nothing that you’re in the habit of charging up specifically overnight, for example? Or possibly some kind of errant security light?

The thing to be pleased about, of course, is that your RCD, even when it seems annoyingly sensitive, is doing what it’s paid to do, protect you.  I hope you get the conundrum sorted very soon, please do continue to let us know what happens, you won’t be the only one experiencing anomalous RCD behaviour! I’m particularly interested as I’m feeling a bit guilty about having a bunch of type AC RCDs still in situ, living in parallel with my two type B RCDs, which I’ve been meaning for a while now to upgrade to a mix of RCBOs and RCDs type A, more suitable nowadays for much modern equipment.

So as an aside and not necessarily contributing towards a solution of your current problem, it might still be worth your while checking with your electrician while they’re busy going about things whether they’ve installed a type A or AC (or maybe type B, but that possibly might have been mentioned as they’re quite a bit more  expensive): they will be aware that as long as type A (or type B) is upstream of any type AC, then it’s preferable to go with Type A.  But wholesalers in the UK are still flogging type AC RCDs, as they’re fine for a lot of purely resistive fixed equipment (roughly speaking, stuff without electronic components) like cookers (though not induction hobs), showers, immersion heaters and the like.

All the best….

Thank you waltyboy for your suggestions.

I unplugged everything last night and it still tripped in the early hours.

My electrician has only left the sockets on the rcd to try and narrow it down.

I read on the EV forum a similar problem and they put baking foil round top of smart meter, which blocked the RF. I will try that tonight. The electrician is coming out again.

I will post, if I get to the bottom of it.

Thanks

DO NOT DO THAT UNLESS YOU WANT TO CAUSE A HOUSE FIRE

You’re dealing with 240V here - messing with baking foil near an electricity meter may significantly shorten your life expectancy…

For alternative options, please see this thread below:

If that’s not enough to convince you as to why wrapping the meter is a bad idea, this probably will.

Please don’t take that risk...

Oh!

In that case I won't do that.

I will leave it for the electrician. 

Thank you.

Thanks for understanding. Meter wrapping has a 0% chance of fixing anything - it’s a misconception/misinformation issue and at most has a placebo effect. Even the Anti-Smart Meter Brigade has admitted that meter wrapping doesn’t work and tells their followers not to try it!!!

After all, if a Smart Meter could cause trips, so could literally anything else that uses wireless communications! It’s also one of the reasons you shouldn’t just blindly do what Some Guy On The Internet tells you to do without thinking about it.

Thank you. I have contacted the electrician and he will be round in the morning.

Thank you again for the warning.

One thought that occurs to me: Has any part of your house had flooding or is noticeable damp where it could have got into the ring final wiring? The flooding or damp could have happened some time ago and it could be external to the building. I know that the wiring in older buildings can be prone to developing leakage currents even when rewired with modern plastic covered cable and the older wiring materials are very prone to developing low insulation values. Some properties still have the old rubber covered wires and the rubber has gone brittle and just crumbles away 😱

Peter

Thanks Peter,

The bungalow is 26 years old. I did have a chimney leak some time ago and had to have the flashing done. 

Would it be the same time every morning? That's why I thought it was the smart meter transmitting.

But I will mention it to the electrician when he comes tomorrow.

Will post when I find out.

Thanks for your thoughts. 

Smart Meters transmit pretty much 24/7/365 in one way or another. Unless your RCD is tripping with the same frequency, it’s probably not the meter

It's a mystery, whatever it is.

Thank you.

The timing is a head scratcher for sure. I think we are all intrigued as to what is causing that. You have us beat!

Peter