Bizzare fault(s)

[RF Lighting]

Yeah I still have the toasted one (must tidy my van out )

Do you want a macro pic or the actual thing?

 

[Monkeh]

Yeah I still have the toasted one (must tidy my van out )

Do you want a macro pic or the actual thing?

The actual thing is easier than getting useful photos.

 

[djt205]

Great this should be really interesting. Apologies for the chip mis-identification.

Would love to know its role.

 

[bernardgreen]

Since the current transformer has only a half turn for the Live and Neutral its output will be very low energy and will need to be amplified. Without doubt that chip has an amplifier for the output from current transformer and it may also have a flip flop ( bistable ) to remember the last button ( ON or OFF ) that was pressed to control the switching device. If the amplifier out put indicates that the Live ~ Neutral difference was at trip level then the flip flop would be set to OFF.

 

[RF Lighting]

Rob: You are NOT alone!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with Greenbrook Powerbreaker RCD spurs.

I used to think they were the best of the bunch, but I hate them because they fail on me.

I used to think it was just the ones I bought from WF, so I bought some from other wholesalers. They failed too, so I thought it was because I bought them.

I genuinely thought they had something against me. Well, you would, wouldn't you? ALL the Powerbreaker RCD spurs I have EVER installed have gone wrong, eventually. They all ended up either:

Not tripping when the test button is pressed.

Buzzing when the test button is pressed.

Buzzing when the test button isn't pressed.

Exploding when the test button is pressed.

Exploding when the test button isn't pressed.

So I gave them up. Then I started working in my current job. And I started meeting my old friends again. And yes, they started dying again.

Now I am installing Kensington. So far they seem to be Simon-proof. Touch wood.

Send it back to Greenwood and complain most vociferously. The only way they'll do anything about this shockingly poor rate of failure is for sparks to send 'em back EVERY time.

I have sent so many back, the guy joked he'd have to start sending me a stash of pre-paid jiffy bags!

Looks like you were spot on. I pulled out another faulty one yesterday on a completely different job. Fortunately this one had just failed open circuit.

 

[flameport]

That's why you cannot megger them safely, otherwise you can fry the electronics inside them! A warning sticker is supplied with these units, which should be stuck near the main switch of the installation, warning about disconnecting the RCD sockets before meggering the installations.

They do have those warnings, however any device designed to be connected to the mains really should be capable of surviving 500V from a low current source.

If not, even a brief spike on the mains (such as those created when switching off inductive loads) is likely to damage it.

 

[chris765]

Did you measure voltage at this property? Any reports of dimming and brightness of lights?

 

[RF Lighting]

Everything is normal on the supply. It would seem that it's just a case of these RCD FCUs being a bag o's----

 

[securespark]

RF's keyboard playing up again....