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

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….