Tripping ELCB?

[SUNRAY]

The right hand ELCB(?) immediately next to the main switch on the right had side keeps tripping intermittently (about once a week). The last time it tripped the house was unoccupied.

I was thinking of swapping the position of the two elcb's to try to isolate whether it is an elcb fault or a circuit fault.

I've loosed all 4 bolts (2 at the top to release the tails and 2 at the bottom which I assumed would release the unit) but it doesn't budge.

Is there a clip or something else that needs to be released.

Any advice would be appreciated.

TIA

Might it have rained?

 

[SUNRAY]

Do people say that?

Errrrrrr.... yes.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Errrrrrr.... yes.

Ok. Fair enough.

 

[JohnW2]

One Kilogram is 1000 grams which is the same weight as 2.302 lb ( short for the Latin word libre )
One Kilometre is 1000 metres which is the same distance as 0.621 mile

Almost ... except that (for some bizarre reason, inconsistent with the convention for other unit multipliers!) the uppercase "K" is seemingly incorrect

 

[bernardgreen]

the uppercase "K" is seemingly incorrect

I think it is
upper case when the multiplier is greater than the unit ( Kilogram )
lower case when the multiplier is lesser than the unit ( mgram or mg )

 

[SUNRAY]

I think it is
upper case when the multiplier is greater than the unit ( Kilogram )
lower case when the multiplier is lesser than the unit ( mgram or mg )

That's what I've always 'known'

 

[SUNRAY]

That's what I've always 'known'

however there do seem to be anomolies

and this list seems to be agreed by every other google hit I've seen in 5 minutes... except the AI

 

[JohnW2]

I think it is
upper case when the multiplier is greater than the unit ( Kilogram )
lower case when the multiplier is lesser than the unit ( mgram or mg )

That is, indeed, the convention for all other unit multipliers.

However, I'm pretty sure that you will find that, for whatever reason (as I said, seemingly 'bizzare'!), "kilo" is an exception to that rule, and that the 'correct' abbreviation is (lowercase) "k"

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

But the "about once a week", is the stumbling block. I found my old RCDs would trip maybe 5 times in two weeks, then it would be two years before the next one. I had the test equipment except for the clamp-on, and failed to find the cause, I blamed a spike on the supply, maybe someone up the road welding?

My welding, stick, or mig, doesn't even trip my own RCD's.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

One Kilogram is 1000 grams which is the same weight as 2.302 lb ( short for the Latin word libre )

..and the Mille Miglia, translates to the 1,000 mile race around Italy, which starts and finishes in Brescia.

 

[ericmark]

My welding, stick, or mig, doesn't even trip my own RCD's.

My RCDs were 4 modules wide, and likely from around 1990, modern ones may be better.

 

[JohnW2]

My welding, stick, or mig, doesn't even trip my own RCD's.

Eric seems to have been very unlucky - I think I've probably suffered about as many 'unexplained' RCD trips in the 40 or so years I've been living with RCDs as eric seems to have suffered in 2 weeks!

 

[JohnW2]

.... I found my old RCDs would trip maybe 5 times in two weeks, then it would be two years before the next one. I had the test equipment except for the clamp-on, and failed to find the cause, I blamed a spike on the supply, maybe someone up the road welding?

Why did you think that a 'spike on the supply' would trip an RCD? I think you're talking about the fairly early days when RCDs did not contain any electronics, so one could not even blame that for the device tripping.

Which is why this house went with RCBOs.

RCBOs are obviously residual current devices, just as are RCCBs, so why did you think that changing to RCBOs would help? .. was it simply because there were more of them, such that any background L-E 'leakage' would be spread around amongst them?

 

[JohnD]

.... to try to isolate whether it is an elcb fault or a circuit fault....

It is a fault detection device.

When it trips, it is pretty well always because it has detected a fault.

Not because it has decided to trip of its own volition.

So put your effort into trying to track down the fault,

 

[JohnW2]

When it trips, it is pretty well always because it has detected a fault. ... Not because it has decided to trip of its own volition.

Unless one's name is eric

So put your effort into trying to track down the fault,

Indeed. Many people's first thought seems to be to blame the device, although that very rarely is the reason - even if it is one of those 'nuisance RCD trips' which some of us seem to suffer (and which, again, are very rarely due to a faulty RCD).

As I wrote very recently, that ought to be particularly true of MCB trips, since it's then difficult to see how spontaneous inappropriate tripping can occur in a properly-functioning MCB in the absence of some pretty major fault somewhere. However, in the case I was talking about, there was a one-off trip of a B32 (immediately re-settable, and not repeated in at least a week) with no equipment failures - so I suppose one then has to at least consider pointing a suspicious finger at the MCB?