I had a wylex consumer unit fitted a month a go and since then every time you turn the cooker on (sometimes) or off (all the time) it trips the RCD. The Electrician put the cooker on the non RCD side it worked for a little while then it started tripping again even though its not on that side. I tried turning off appliances one by one to narrow down the fault but its definately the cooker. To get round using the cooker I turn it off from the wall switch. Whilst checking I watched the RCD trip and saw a spark where the live goes in to it (It is done up tight). Any ideas anyone its driving me crazy.
Cooker trips RCD
- Thread starter JonCummings
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Sounds like you've got an earth fault on the cooker, which has not come to your attention before because you did not have an RCD fitted.
When the spark swapped the circuit over, did he swap the neutral too? Or was the cooker tripping the moment you switched on the mcb?
Strange faults can occur like this: I did a board change where a floodlight was tripping the RCD despite being correctly wired on the incomer side. Turned out it was an N/E fault on a ring on the RCD side.
There are often flashes when RCD's trip. It is due to arcing as the switch disconnects under load.
I would get your guy back to check the cooker for earth leaks.
When the spark swapped the circuit over, did he swap the neutral too? Or was the cooker tripping the moment you switched on the mcb?
Strange faults can occur like this: I did a board change where a floodlight was tripping the RCD despite being correctly wired on the incomer side. Turned out it was an N/E fault on a ring on the RCD side.
There are often flashes when RCD's trip. It is due to arcing as the switch disconnects under load.
I would get your guy back to check the cooker for earth leaks.
Yes he swapped the neautrals over and I have double checked everything. When he swapped it over it didn't trip. But it started again after a week or so, seems very intermitent. Over christmas we were watching a film without the cooker on and the rcd tripped for no aparent reason. And another time I plugged my stereo into a socket in front room and it tripped (its only done this twice).
JonCummings said:
Most modern electronic equipment has a filter on the incoming mains supply and this filter can produce a few milli-amps of earth leakage due to capacitors between live and earth. If the item has a standby mode then the filter is before the switch and leakage is there even when switched off ( this includes most personal computers, 10 of which have been known to trip a 30 milli-amp RCD ).
It may be that the total filter "leakages" from all the items plugged in (but not necessarily turned on) comes to a value close to the tripping point of the RCD at which point transients from the cooker switching may be enough to trip the RCD.
Bernard
Sharnbrook
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Yes that makes sense. I have about 4 bits of audio and TV equipment plugged in to a 8 gang spiked extension and a 4 gang elsewhere around the front room and another 8 gang spiked extension upstairs with all my computer bits plugged in. All the sockets are on one ring main upstairs and down except the kitchen. Do I have to put a few double sockets in the ring main to stop the rcd tripping?
JonCummings said:
Double sockets won't help other than maybe to tidy up the wiring a bit.
Assuming the problem is the filter "leakage" from the audio / TV and computer equipment taking the total leakage close to the trip point of the RCD.....
My experience is that 10 items with filters ( such as PC power supplies ) is the maximum that can be connected on a single 30 milli-amp RCD before false tripping becomes a problem.
The solution is to reduce the number of items of filtered equipment served by the single RCD in the consumer unit (CU). Run a new radial or ring from the CU on the from the non RCD protected side to the area(s) where the computer equipment is located. Put an RCD in this radial or ring either adjacent to the CU (if less than 10 items of filtered equipment) or use an RCD protected socket for each cluster of up to 10 items.
Bernard
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yes, from what you've said I would say the cooker is not the only leaky appliance.
Ideally you need an ammeter that measures milli's. That way, you'll be able to tell what circuits are leaking.
Ideally you need an ammeter that measures milli's. That way, you'll be able to tell what circuits are leaking.
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