Help!!!! RCD Tripping

[pablo321]

My rcd has been tripping randomly for months. Have traced issue to the tumble dryer in the utility room. With the dryer in the off position switching the power on and off a few times at the power socket tripped the rcd. I left the dryer unplugged for a fortnight and the rcd was fine. Plugged the dryer in to a different socket in the kitchen again in the off position and the rcd tripped instantly.
Had to be a faulty dryer so replaced it with a new one today. Plugged in the new dryer and rcd tripped again after swiching on and off at he socket a few times. As with the old dryer when it is on and running everything is ok.
Have tried other appliances on the socket and no matter how many times I flick the switch the rcd won't trip. But as soon as I plug in either dryer it trips afer a few switches or sometimes even just by plugging it in even with the socket and the dryer both in the off position. Surley I can't have 2 faulty dryers.
Any ideas much appreciated.

 

[deadshort]

Hi,

You really best get an electricain to test the RCD as it may be faulty. What you describe could also be an earth neutral fault.

either way it requires test kit which a competent electrician will have.

Regards,

DS

 

[ericmark]

Likely the old story of the earth neutral fault. The toaster is favourite a bit of damp toast stuck in it and when any heavy load is switched on so the neutral voltage raises compared with earth the RCD will trip. Often kettle blamed in error.

It could be RCD and it could be installation of course but an insulation tester and a RCD tester are both expensive so not really a DIY job.

 

[JohnW2]

Likely the old story of the earth neutral fault. The toaster is favourite a bit of damp toast stuck in it and when any heavy load is switched on so the neutral voltage raises compared with earth the RCD will trip. Often kettle blamed in error.

I would agree with that being a very probable explanation were it not for the fact that, if I understand correctly, it appears that the problem only arises when one of two dryers are plugged in and the socket switches turned on/off, even when the dryer itself is actually 'off'. If I'm understanding correctly, that makes it much more mysterious. If it only happened when a large load (like a switched-on dryer) was applied to any socket on the same RCD, in the presence of a N-E fault (anywhere on a circuit protected by the RCD) the observed behaviour would make total sense - but for the trips to happen with the dryer switched off is (at least for me!) far more difficult to explain/understand.

Kind Regards, John

 

[pablo321]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll uplug the toaster and the kettle as they are on the same rcd and see what happens. But won't get a chance to do it now till this evening. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again

 

[pablo321]

Tried unplugging the kettle and toaster but unfortunately made no difference. I've now called an electrician who's going to take a look next week.