Mains Meter tripped twice

[kofi2003uk]

hi All,

need a bit of advice.
moved into this house 6 weeks ago and so far so good.

there is a conservatory with an Aircon/heater. we have used this on weekends since we moved in.

however yesterday we had visitors and had the Aircon/heater on most of the day. At around 20.00 hrs, the downstairs electric plug sockets suddenly went off. i went to check the mains meter and the RCD had tripped to 'off'
i turned it back on, the plugs came on momentarily and tripped again. the Aircon/heater was still in the 'on' position, so i turned it off and went to the mains again.

i turned the mains on (with heater switched off) and no more 'tripping'.
I turned the heater on for a while to see if it will trip the RCD again but this time it worked ok.

Its since been fine although i haven't used the electric heater today at all-(mainly used during weekends)

please see pictures attache.

this whole incident has left me confused, since i can only think of the electric heater/aircon as the cause. there was nothing else being used that is high capacity in electricity, except the heater. also we have been using this heater for the past month with no issues, although it was on for a bit longer yesterday, as we had visitors.

can anyone please advise why this may have happened and do i need to be worried? should i get an electrician in?

many thanks in advance.

 

[Taylortwocities]

RCDs do not trip due to high currents. They trip if there is a leak of electricity to earth (it shouldn't go there).

This can be caused by moisture, condensation, or a fault.

I suggest you give the unit another good thrashing and see if the fault re-occurs. If it does, then get a competent functionary in to evaluate the problem.

 

[kofi2003uk]

thank you for the reply Taylortwocities.

i found out i have an electric plug on the outside wall in the garden and have a scalewatcher kit plugged in. the cover wasnt on properly so i have closed tight now.
why the previous owner had the scalewatcher which is installed under the kitchen sink plugged into a plug outside, i dont know!
am not sure its the cause but it was raining yesterday so possible condensation could have gotten in. am not entirely sure.

i will take your advise and have the heater in the conservatory on all day again next weekend and see what happens...
thank you

 

[flameport]

why the previous owner had the scalewatcher which is installed under the kitchen sink plugged into a plug outside, i dont know!

Why they even had it at all is also a mystery. Those devices only have one purpose, which is to waste electricity.

 

[kofi2003uk]

thanks Flameport. i was thinking the same lol

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Those devices only have one purpose, which is to waste electricity.

Nonsense.

That's not even a minor purpose. What they are designed and made for is to generate large profits for the makers and commission payments for the people who sell them.

 

[securespark]

I suggest you give the unit another good thrashing

Basil Fawlty comes to mind.....

 

[JohnW2]

Basil Fawlty comes to mind.....

Probably best to pay a visit to Specsavers first!

 

[ericmark]

Basil Fawlty comes to mind.....

Seem to remember that was Clockwise same actor but different film? He was a school headmaster in that one.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Seem to remember that was Clockwise

No - it was Fawlty Towers

 

[JohnW2]

No - it was Fawlty Towers ....

That's the original. I was think of its subsequent adaptation as a Specsavers advert ... (click here)

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That's the original.

Yes, but I was replying to Eric who said he thought it was from Clockwise.

 

[kofi2003uk]

by the way , i tried to replicate what happened today but no more tripping. had the heater on, all the lights in garden, basically same set up as last week but no more tripping. even more confused now. has left me wondering why it tripped last week and not today. anyway am illiterate with electrics lol.
i guess its a good thing its not tripping any longer. am going to ignore it for now and see if it does it again in future.fingers crossed... thanks all

 

[securespark]

The thing that (to my mind very cleverly) linked Fawlty Towers and Clockwise was the car, albeit the Clockwise car was a hatch and the FT car was an estate.