About 3 years ago we had a new kitchen fitted, which involved some mods to sockets. The electrician involved (under contract to B&Q) replaced the old wire fuse for the downstairs sockets with a modern circuit breaker. Since then the switch has tripped out three times, the latest being while we were away on holiday, ruining the fridge and freezer contents. The heating was programmed off whilst we were away and the house was cold and damp from the wet weather which prevailed. Could this have caused some earth leakage? The circuit breaker has a test button which, when pressed, trips the switch. Is this what it should do, or does this indicate that there is leakage? Suggestions would be welcome.
Power sockets tripping out
- Thread starter Slaydeuk
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RCD tend to trip when earth leakage is detected, this is normally equipment or accessory related.
As you have only had the RCD trip 3 times over a 3 year period, simple investigation would probably not offer a concrete solution.
If the RCD was tripping regularly, you could narrow the fault down.
When you went on holiday was the only item plugged in the fridge freezer?
I doubt very much that the fact the central heating was off, would generate a fault in this case.
The test button on the RCD, is to prove the mechanism operates, so you will have power loss when tested.
As you have only had the RCD trip 3 times over a 3 year period, simple investigation would probably not offer a concrete solution.
If the RCD was tripping regularly, you could narrow the fault down.
When you went on holiday was the only item plugged in the fridge freezer?
I doubt very much that the fact the central heating was off, would generate a fault in this case.
The test button on the RCD, is to prove the mechanism operates, so you will have power loss when tested.
No. It's just a test button to check that the device works but, unfortunately, you knew that it does.
Is there anything outside - more likely to get wet - on the same circuit?
Is it an RCD that trips ? It will normally include '30mA' or '0.03A' on the front. These will trip out under earth fault (or leakage) conditions. It could be a faulty appliance (particularly things that involve water and/or heating) or maybe an intermittent wiring fault.
It is normal for the RCD to operate when the test button is pushed as this indicates the mechanism is functioning correctly (but not it's sensitivity)
You could try isolating individual appliances but seeing as, on average, it only trips once a year you are going to find it hard to trace. An electrician with an insulation tester might be able to point the way if a small fault exists somewhere. It could be cummulative faults.
DOH: TOO SLOW !
It is normal for the RCD to operate when the test button is pushed as this indicates the mechanism is functioning correctly (but not it's sensitivity)
You could try isolating individual appliances but seeing as, on average, it only trips once a year you are going to find it hard to trace. An electrician with an insulation tester might be able to point the way if a small fault exists somewhere. It could be cummulative faults.
DOH: TOO SLOW !
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All RCD's are not the same with some being less prone to nuance tripping than others.
The RCD is of course designed to trip when there is a fault but thunder storms and other spikes on the line can also cause them to trip.
Because of the problems with nuance tripping it is allowed to have dedicated sockets used by fridge and freezer to not be RCD protected but to do that also means special cable feeding them so although at a re-wire it can be done not really an option with simple consumer unit change.
It's all down to price and there are some really special RCD's that will auto reset but at £350 each and you need at least two not really an option for the normal home. In the main it's just a case of running down what is in fridge and freezer before going on holiday.
The RCD is of course designed to trip when there is a fault but thunder storms and other spikes on the line can also cause them to trip.
Because of the problems with nuance tripping it is allowed to have dedicated sockets used by fridge and freezer to not be RCD protected but to do that also means special cable feeding them so although at a re-wire it can be done not really an option with simple consumer unit change.
It's all down to price and there are some really special RCD's that will auto reset but at £350 each and you need at least two not really an option for the normal home. In the main it's just a case of running down what is in fridge and freezer before going on holiday.
Many thanks for the helpful replies. The items plugged in while we were away were a freezer (in the garage, which might be even damper than the rest of the house), a fridge/ freezer and a small fridge and a Microwave which were part of the kitchen upgrade which resulted in the installation of the Niglon RCD2 40/30 trip switch. Also still connected was the heating system, which was programmed off, but not actually switched off. I did it this way so as to leave the frost-stat operable, the boiler being located in the garage (dampness again?).
It rather looks as if I should leave things alone and get someone to look in regularly while we are away in future. Unless anyone has any specific suggestions in the light of the additional information above, which would be welcomed.
It rather looks as if I should leave things alone and get someone to look in regularly while we are away in future. Unless anyone has any specific suggestions in the light of the additional information above, which would be welcomed.
Given where the CU is in relation to the garage, would it be acceptable to run a cable from one to the other which was just clipped to walls, not concealed?
Not sure what you mean (I'm probably a bit thick). The CU and the meter are both in the garage. I don't know what you mean by ''one to the other''. The cables from the CU disappear into the garage roof space and then into the space above the ground floor ceiling.
Thanks for the clarification. I'll have a think about that.
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