Hi,
I'm replacing our Fridge/Freezer and was reading about RCD tripping on freezers. Is that correct or not?
It will trip if the freezer is faulty. This applies to the new one just as much as the old.
However freezers tripping RCDs is a rare or never occurrence - consider how many times your old one has done this in the entire time you have owned it.
Consider these possibilities:
1. If the freezer itself is faulty, then it won't work, regardless of what circuit it is connected to or what protective devices are installed.
2. If some other thing trips the RCD and the freezer is also affected, people will notice rather quickly, as other stuff won't be working any more. The RCD will be reset or action taken to correct the fault. As freezers can keep the contents frozen for many hours without power, this is not a problem either.
3. If the freezer was on it's own circuit and something went wrong, it is much less likely anyone will notice until it's too late.
4. If some problem occurs while you are on holiday causing the RCD to trip, then the freezer contents will be ruined. However faults generally occur in appliances people are using such as kettles, irons and so on - not likely to occur while the place is unoccupied.
5. If some other fault in the wiring or other fixed appliance causes the RCD to trip when you are not there, you would want the RCD to trip and disconnect power. Otherwise whatever the fault was could cause a fire and destroy your entire house.