using a plug in RCD

[rhinosaw]

My mother tends to spill a lot of liquids in her microwave oven (she is 95) so I purchased a plug in RCD that goes into any 13amp socket.

I went round yesterday and it had tripped out. From memory she had spilt water in there the day before, is it just a question of letting it dry out and what would probably happen if I plugged the microwave direct into the 13 amp socket without the RCD? the microwave is only a couple of months old.
thanks

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Have you tried resetting the rcd? If yes and it is still tripping then there is a fault to earth in the microwave, do not use it.
Quite likely the thing will work if you bypass the rcd but there is a good chance of you or your mother getting a belt off it. Which is what you wanted to prevent....

 

[jj4091]

It should dry out as it is only likely to be the wires to, or the turntable motor that will have gotten wet although in normal use it should be steam proof at least & withstand some amount of water ingress from things boiling over. Try the RCD on another appliance & if it is ok then ask for a new microwave in the new year, under warranty if it is only a couple of months old. I presume you mean she is spilling water inside the cabinet rather on top of the microwave.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Doesn’t your mother’s CU have an RCD of its own?

 

[rhinosaw]

Thanks JJ
I'll let it dry out for a couple of days, RCD works on other items, she spills liquid inside not on the top.

Taylor 2 etc, she has a fusebox

 

[Tigercubrider]

A decent microwave should be reasonably liquid tolerant
Pretty sure that mine has a one piece inner? It also doesn't have a turntable, just a square/ oblong pyrex dish that has edges that might hold a pint of liquid at a push?

 

[333rocky333]

Does she ever turn off the switch on the wall socket, as most of them rcd units will default to off, with no power, this can give the impression that its tripped

 

[rhinosaw]

Rocky

No she never turns it off on the wall but uses the microwave every couple of hours.
When I went there it kept tripping even though I reset it many times.
I'll try it again in a couple of days, thanks

 

[rhinosaw]

Thanks for all your comments, the microwave is Ok again now and still plugged into the RCD

 

[jj4091]

If the problem returns I would consider complaining to the supplier, as, after giving it some more thought, a large amount of spilled water would have run out the door & the base of the microwave should as I said previously be waterproof enough to cope with spillages. I would suspect a fault (leaking seal?) or badly designed appliance.