Yesterday I replaced a power socket in my home. Before hand, I plugged a light into the socket, switched it on, then flipped the relevant switch in the fuse box and verified the light was out.
When replacing the socket, two strange things happened:
1) When I wired in the ground wire to the new plug, it tripped one of the two RCD switches in the fuse box, resulting in half the sockets/lights in my home going off.
2) I left the RCD switch tripped and carried on. When screwing the new socket in, I swear I got a tingling sensation in my arm, like a very mild electric shock. I was sitting on a sofa the whole time so not really in contact with much.
Do these things sound normal? The new plug works but it's metallic and I'm now terrified to touch the thing!
Best Answer
Sounds like there is indeed some sort of insulation problem along the line, causing both problems you describe. As Jodes said, call in a professional electrician to find the source of the problem before trying to fix anything.
When you have some sort of 'leakage electricity' while connecting the ground, it will trip the rcd (that's the very reason for having the rcds).