Latching or non latching RCD for Garage door opener?

[effsweet]

Hello all,
I'd be grateful for advice or opinions about this.

My underground garage has an electric door opener.
Every time power goes off it trips its RCD & I have to get out the ladder, open the door manually & reset the RCD which is on the ceiling of the garage.

Can I safely replace the nonlatching RCD with a latching RCD ?
If I can then I should just have to wait until power is restored to regain control over the door

My consumer unit is also in the garage It has an MCB protected circuit that supplies one DSSO about a metre below it which then has a fused spur wired to the waterproof RCD on the garage roof.

If it is safe to use a latching RCD then I won't have to manually open the garage & reset the door opener RCD to regain control of my garage door (which the non latching one forces me to do & is a pita)

There are no other active circuits in the garage, & nothing is plugged into the DSSO either

Thanks for your help: effsweet

 

[blup]

An automated garage door is akin to moving machinery which could cause damage or injury if it randomly came back on. If the rcd is tripping regularly it is worth checking the cause.

Blup

 

[flameport]

A garage door does not require any RCD.

 

[blup]

Maybe the MI cable has deteriorated with age, and instead of addressing the cause, an RCD was added.

Blup

 

[effsweet]

Hi guys,
thanks for the thoughts so far.
I should say I'm not too concerned about the garage door operating when the mains supply is restored. Garage door operators react to pulse commands from the remote control as I understand it. AFAIK they will only operate when commanded to by a remote control so I don't regard it as a hazard like a rotating machine or for instance a mains powered portable drill locked on,
I am concerned that the RCD trips whenever the mains supply the property is interrupted. I think that means a residual current of more than 30mA is leaking to earth? when power is restored to the supply network?

I imagine the installer correctly installed a waterproofed RCD protected outlet on the garage ceiling in case of water ingress?

If I changed to a latching RCD is their any chance that the system then becomes electrically unsafe ie can I receive a potentially lethal shock by touching the metal garage frame or door when power is restored by the latched RCD that I propose to change to?

Blup do you mean Mains Input cable by MI ?
& Are you suggesting the grids cable to the consumer unit can degrade ? How could that be proved?

In an underground garage any electrics could get wet due to water ingress hence an RCD?

flame port: I agree a garage door opener doesn't require an RCD, but our door opener has one & it trips for a reason. I'm hoping I can change the type of RCD so that it doesn't have to be reset every time the mains supply goes down You'll know rural areas with overhead supplies can have frequent brief interruptions.

Please keep up the comments guys, it's appreciated - effsweet

 

[JohnW2]

Every time power goes off it trips its RCD & I have to get out the ladder, open the door manually & reset the RCD which is on the ceiling of the garage. Can I safely replace the nonlatching RCD with a latching RCD ? If I can then I should just have to wait until power is restored to regain control over the door

The behaviour you are describing would be correct/normal for an 'active' RCD.

As blup has said, the only real reason for using an active ('non-latching') RCD rather than a 'passive' ('latching') one is if restoration of power to tools/machinery after a loss of power could present a danger. However, you've said that you don't think that is an issue for your door and, in any event, if the manufacturers of the door mechanism regarded that as a danger, they would presumably either insist on installation of something like an active RCD (or a 'NVR switch') or have something like that built into the equipment.

So, there's probably no reason why you couldn't do as you suggest/propose but, as flameport has implied, you perhaps should consider whether you actually need an RCD at all.

Kind Regards, John

 

[RF Lighting]

If the RCD is tripping purely because you have a rural mains supply which suffers frequent power cuts rather than there being a fault with your installation which is causing something to trip then all is ok.

I think a few people have misunderstood what you were saying.

The only difference between a latching and non latching RCD is that the non latching will automatically trip on loss of power and need manually resetting whereas the latching flavour will remain as it was.

Both device types offer the same level of electrical protection.

Weather resistant accessories may have been selected if the location is prone to leaks / floods or is just generally a bit of a damp atmosphere or sometimes just for a bit of additional resistance to accidental impact damage.

If you want to get rid of the RCD altogether you could fit an FCU in place of the socket.

 

[securespark]

Can I just tell my story about RCD tripping?

When I first met Mrs Secure, her parents asked me to look at a problem they had.

The history was that a spa bath on a stand-alone RCD was tripping. They called a spark and it stopped tripping.

Things seemed to be hunky dory until the dishwasher went out of service.
There had been a problem with the d/w element, and it had arced against the casing, cutting a huge hole in the base of the appliance.

After some testing, I discovered that the "spark" had solved the tripping issue by bypassing the RCD and disconnecting the earth into the property........

 

[SUNRAY]

Can I just tell my story about RCD tripping?

When I first met Mrs Secure, her parents asked me to look at a problem they had.

The history was that a spa bath on a stand-alone RCD was tripping. They called a spark and it stopped tripping.

Things seemed to be hunky dory until the dishwasher went out of service.
There had been a problem with the d/w element, and it had arced against the casing, cutting a huge hole in the base of the appliance.

After some testing, I discovered that the "spark" had solved the tripping issue by bypassing the RCD and disconnecting the earth into the property........

I wanted to click on the like button but then I thought: "No I don't like."

One of our telephone exchanges 'lost ' its earth, it turned out the copper earth mat had rusted and the brass bolts joining it all together, including connecting the cable to it were plated steel. Bearing in mind the reliance there used to be on the earth in a telecom service it was a huge panic to sort it.

 

[securespark]

I guess the rusted copper mat was plated, too?

 

[JohnW2]

If you want to get rid of the RCD altogether you could fit an FCU in place of the socket.

I'm not sure what socket you're talking about. As I understand the OP the (presumed 'active') RCD is already fed from an FCU, which sounds as if, in turn, is fed from a double socket.

Hence, if the OP just wants to get rid of the RCD (which would seem fairly reasonable), he could simply connect the door mechanism directly to the existing FCU (instead of via the current RCD), couldn't he?

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

After some testing, I discovered that the "spark" had solved the tripping issue by bypassing the RCD and disconnecting the earth into the property........

Good grief! Just bypassing the RCD is something I would not put past some "electricians", but .,.... !!

Kind Regards, John

 

[RF Lighting]

I thought the garage door opener was plugged into a weather resistant active RCD socket?

 

[JohnW2]

I thought the garage door opener was plugged into a weather resistant active RCD socket?

As you will realise, that wasn't how I read it ....

My consumer unit is also in the garage It has an MCB protected circuit that supplies one DSSO about a metre below it which then has a fused spur wired to the waterproof RCD on the garage roof.

Kind Regards, John

 

[RF Lighting]

I’m not aware of any type of non latching RCD other than an RCD socket so I ass-u-me that the “waterproof RCD on the garage roof” is a weather resistant socket which the door opener plugs into.

Perhaps some pictures would be useful here.