Two steamers and an electric sander = no power

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Hi there. I am doing some light renovation work in our new property. Yesterday I had two wallpaper steamers running off the same extension cord. Into that mix I added an electric sander in a different socket. After a couple of minutes the whole circuit went down.

Checked the mains box and the rcd had tripped. I Reset foolishly with everything still plugged in and seconds later it went again.

This time I was unable to reset the rcd without it tripping straight away. After unplugging all the appliances I noticed the plug socket catering for the two steamers felt pretty hot.

Does it sound feasible that I have a short circuit? Could the root of this problem be the hot plug socket. Is this something that can be rectified easily?

I have since turned off the entire mains. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
 
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Hello OJ.
Are you sure it was the RCD that tripped, not a MCB?
Ed
 
Hi Ed definitely rcd or rcb as it is called on our mains box. Funnily enough the rcd does sit back in the on position now the the mcb is set to off.
 
It could be that the combined earth leakage from the steamers is causing the RCD trip.

OOI. What power rating of the steamers ?

Ed
 
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also you should not be running two steamers off one socket. They usually take about 12A each and a socket is only rated at 13A total. Hopefully the problem is not due to damage as a result of overheating.
 
Thanks Ed. However the steamers were both working fine together for a good hour or so before the switch tripped. Sorry should have mentioned that earlier. I take it the is nothing I can do myself to rectify this problem. i.e. Replace fuse or check plug socket.

I did also try to isolate the area affected on the mains board. The switches are pretty well labelled, but still no luck in resetting the rcd. Thanks for your help so far
 
So. Just to clarify.
With everything unplugged or switched off on the effected circuit, and the MCB protecting the circuit switched off, you cannot re-set the RCD ? And if you turn the MCB on it trips the RCD ?
Ed.
 
With the mcb switched off I can reset the rcd switch. However as soon as I switch the mcb on the rcd trips off straight away
 
Double check that EVERTHING is unplugged or disconnected on the circuit ??.
Ed
 
By everything do you mean kitchen appliances also? Have popped out of the house for about an hour so will double check when I return. Thanks for your help so far
 
When Ed says 'everything' what he probably means is 'everything' :p

nipping round the house to do this would probably be quicker than typing another question and posting whether the RCD will now reset will move the problem along a bit

any chance you can tell us the wattage of the steamers? The fact that they ran ok for an hour is neither here nor there
 
Thanks for all your help folks. Unplugged everything! And managed to reset the rcd. Power has now returned although still suspect there is a short lurking somewhere in the system. Will get this fixed once the decorating is completed.
Happy days
 
Will get this fixed once the decorating is completed.

brickwallgraffitigenera.jpg
 
Hi Ollie.

As you plug/connect everything back in, do it point by point giving you a chance of detecting if you have a 'faulty' appliance.


You seem to think there is a short/fault somewhere though :eek: ?? Wouldn't it be best to resolve this before decorating ?


Plug your steamers back in, individually and see if they cause the circuit to trip ?

Ed
 
just a thought
where you stripping near the socket as in could it be possible that steam or moisture got behind the socket causing a part short!!!
 

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