19 inch TV tripping out RCD

[tom1964]

Hi guys and thanks in advance.

Approx a month ago I purchased a 19 inch tv for my daughters bedroom. A week ago when switching on at the socket the RCD on the ring circuit tripped. Up to this point everything has been fine. There appears only to be one ring circuit for both upstairs and downstairs with in the region of 11 double sockets and one single on it. I tried in the kitchen and initially it also tripped the RCD but the on the second attempt stayed on until I tried again in the daughters room and once again it tripped. I have not connected any other appliances and it is only the tv that trips the RCD.

Any ideas what could be the cause of the problem.

 

[rjm2k]

The TV? Take it back as faulty or try it at a different property if you can.

 

[tom1964]

The TV? Take it back as faulty or try it at a different property if you can.

The TV was purchased second hand, seller says they never had a problem and neither did I until recently. The point is I am trying to find out why all of a sudden the TV is tripping out the RCD is it possible that the RCD is faulty or at the least it is a culmination and the TV is merely pushing it over its limit.

 

[EFLImpudence]

It could be anything that you have mentioned.

Things could be tested but you won't have the equipment.

You say it trips when you switch on the socket, was ok in the kitchen, then not.
Does the lead look worn?
Try the lead unplugged from tv.
Do you have another lead that would fit?

I don't really know what else to suggest apart from someone to test things.

 

[bernardgreen]

Does the RCD trip if the TV is switched on with the aerial disconnected ( along with any other equipment such as DVD players, games consoles )

Earth leakage via the aerial cable to the mounting brackets etc can be considerable and worse is wet weather.

 

[ericmark]

I have had RCD's trip with IT equipment and even with my training I don't really understand why. The IT equipment which last tripped the RCD was a laptop power supply feed by a figure of 8 plug on twin core cable with no earth and the output was not connected so there could not possibly be an earth leakage.

What I would guess is the capacitors and inductances within the unit have caused a momentary imbalance which caused it to trip.

I have noticed with PC power supplies it is the switching on and off which causes the problem and the same unit will trip the RCD one day and not another. I would assume it would depend on where the sine wave was at the point of switching and if I caught it at a null point then it worked OK.

With some exceptions like the X-Pole RCD most do not show you if there is leakage. So we have to just try and see the result. Clearly if it always trips then there is likely a fault with the TV but if it only trips some times it may be the charging of the capacitors in the power supply causing the problem.

So is the TV supplied with an earth or is it just twin core cable and also is the power supply built into TV or is it a block like used with a laptop.

 

[bernardgreen]

I wonder if there is a medium to high impedance fault Neutral to Earth on a circuit supplied by the RCD which diverts a small percentage of the neutral current away from the RCD sense coil. The percentage diverted would be less than 30 mA when the loading is below the maximum normal load so the RCD does not trip. But when the TV or lap top power supply is switched on there is a very high inrush current, often several times the normal maximum load, and the amount of diverted inrush current may well exceed 30 mA and thus trip the RCD.

Neutral_Earth_trip

• bernardgreen
• 16 Jan 2011
• 48

 

[tom1964]

Thanks guys for all the technological replies, I must admit a lot of which went over my head. The TV is a relatively new unit, the cable is unworn with a moulded plug. It is not connected to the wall via brackets, nor is it in dam surroundings. There is no aerial connected as it is used at the moment to view DVD's . The main point I am trying to make is that originally there was no problem, it worked fine, yet for some reason when switching on at the socket it now trips the RCD. I know they are sensitive buggers but if they cause more problems wht have them in the first place.

 

[tom1964]

Simply put it down to either the TV that has become faulty or the RCD. I have fridges, freezers, 40 inch tvs, washing machines and kettles running at he same time yet a 19 inch tv trips the RCD whichever socket I PLUG IT IN TO. RCD'S MORE TROUBLE THAN THEY ARE WORTH.

 

[JohnW2]

Simply put it down to either the TV that has become faulty or the RCD.

... or, as people have suggested, possibly something else. As was suggested right at the start, the simplest way to discover whether or not the TV is at fault would be to try it in a different property and see if it trips the RCD there.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Monkeh]

Simply put it down to either the TV that has become faulty or the RCD. I have fridges, freezers, 40 inch tvs, washing machines and kettles running at he same time yet a 19 inch tv trips the RCD whichever socket I PLUG IT IN TO. RCD'S MORE TROUBLE THAN THEY ARE WORTH.

Cheap TVs are more trouble than they are worth. The RCD might just save your life some day, what's the TV going to do for you?

 

[securespark]

Simply put it down to either the TV that has become faulty or the RCD.

... or, as people have suggested, possibly something else. As was suggested right at the start, the simplest way to discover whether or not the TV is at fault would be to try it in a different property and see if it trips the RCD there.

Kind Regards, John

Yup. It could quite possibly be another piece of equipment.

Alternatively, you could go round disassociating ALL loads from the circuit.

Then plug the TV in on its own and see what happens.

 

[crystal ball]

Cutting a long story short, called to a job, RCD staying tripped, unplugged all appliances, RCD stayed in, plugged in freezer it tripped, plugged in TV it tripped, turned out to be burnt neutral on shower causing the problem

 

[tom1964]

Cutting a long story short, called to a job, RCD staying tripped, unplugged all appliances, RCD stayed in, plugged in freezer it tripped, plugged in TV it tripped, turned out to be burnt neutral on shower causing the problem

I did replace the shower unit quite some time ago as the old one did burn out at the live and neutral inputs. The shower is on a separate RCD.

Could it be possible that I now have too many sockets on one ring as the entire upstairs and downstairs are on the same one.

I suppose though this does not explain why the television didn't trip the RCD right from the start though.