Help! Turning on Kettle causes trip switch to go.

jayteecork

So since last night when I try and boil a kettle the trip switch(I think that's what it is) goes and I lose all socket power in my apartment!

I can only turn the switch back on if I plug out the kettle!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.



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jeepers101

Buy a new kettle. That switch thats tripping is called an RCD. It trips if there is an earth fault with the appliance. You could try opening up the plug and making sure everything looks okay. Although if its a newer appliance it'll more than likely have a moulded plug. You'll more than likely need a new kettle.

jayteecork

jeepers101 wrote: »

Buy a new kettle

serious?

Fair enough.

Irish Fire

jeepers101 wrote: »

Buy a new kettle. That switch thats tripping is called an RCD. It trips if there is any kind of earth fault with the appliance.

Yep......

jayteecork

Off to the shops then it is!

quietsailor

Your probably not an electrician so I won't go into the long version .......... but ,

the trip switch your pointing at measures the electricity going to and coming from every socket in your apartment. If you plug something in that has a loose wire/faulty connection/frayed wire leaking electricity it detects the difference between the electricity going to the socket and the electricity comin back and trips as there is a fault somewhere. Its a safety feature on all modern fuseboards.

To double check the problem isn't the socket itself plug something like the toaster into the same socket and turn it on, if the switch on the fuseboard doesn't trip the problem is the kettle - buy a new one.

If the switch trips when the toaster is turned on call an electrician.

btw you can't fix kettles so if the kettle is the problem don't try, just buy a new one, its too dangerous otherwise

Tefral

If its a kettle that sits on a power base, then check that this is dry before you buy one, they tend to trip if too much water is on them.

Other than that, there is a fault in the kettle and new one is needed

jayteecork

quietsailor wrote: »

Your probably not an electrician

No, I'm not

jayteecork

Hooray!
the old one was a piece of shít anyways.

Welcome my new stainless steel, rapid-boiling bad boy!



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mikom

jayteecork wrote: »

Hooray!
the old one was a piece of shít anyways.

Welcome my new stainless steel, rapid-boiling bad boy!

2 minutes later.... trip switch goes again..... arrrgh.

Bruthal

quietsailor wrote: »

the trip switch your pointing at measures the electricity going to and coming from every socket in your apartment. If you plug something in that has a loose wire/faulty connection/frayed wire leaking electricity it detects the difference between the electricity going to the socket and the electricity comin back and trips as there is a fault somewhere. Its a safety feature on all modern fuseboards.

Well a loose connection wont cause it if there is no contact from the connection to the earth of the appliance, there has to be some contact between the proper electrical path from live and neutral, to earth for the RCD to trip. In kettles its often water causing it, or the element gone faulty along its length somewhere.

DannySparks

jayteecork wrote: »

So since last night when I try and boil a kettle the trip switch(I think that's what it is) goes and I lose all socket power in my apartment!

I can only turn the switch back on if I plug out the kettle!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.



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no to alarm you but you should check above your main fuse(the one to the left of the tripped rcd)
the cover of the fuse board appears damaged..
check that it is damage caused from bad fitting and not warping due to excessive heat.. this could indicate a loose connection

Bruthal

DannySparks wrote: »

no to alarm you but you should check above your main fuse(the one to the left of the tripped rcd)
the cover of the fuse board appears damaged..
check that it is damage caused from bad fitting and not warping due to excessive heat.. this could indicate a loose connection

Well spotted there, certainly looks like heat damage alright. Loose connection or fuse not in tight enough.

jayteecork

Fuse seems to be in well tight (as in I couldn't unlossen it even though I didn't try that hard) so what should my next step be in investigating it?

Bruthal

jayteecork wrote: »

Fuse seems to be in well tight (as in I couldn't unlossen it even though I didn't try that hard) so what should my next step be in investigating it?

Best to get electrical person to look, but if you want to look, Turn main switch off, remove main fuse, check for signs of overheating at the fuse metal ends, and in where the fuse goes. Take cover off the board and visually inspect the main fuse holder wiring connections for signs of burning or overheating. With the main fuse out and cover off the board, you can pull the plastic cover off the front of where the main fuse goes, to get a better look at the connections. Any signs of burning, then get electrician to look.

Its possible maybe that them signs of melting on cover may have been from a previous incident with another main fuse unit.

Solair

You *definitely* need an electrician. There's a fire risk if there is overheating of your distribution board!!

However, it may have nothing to do with your kettle problem!

RoundyMooney

Those era Hagar boards were known for it.

Basically OP, sparky will replace your main switch and separate fuse (bottom right) with a combined unit called a switch fuse. No biggie. Get it seen to in the nest week or two if you can.

On another note, I have two of those kettles meself, Tesco's finest, two for twenty five quid when I got them, stainless steel, illuminated when on, boil in no time, and cordless. Assuming Tesco have a 50% markup, our man in Peking is supplying them for a fiver.

Just goes to show!

Bruthal

RoundyMooney wrote: »

Those era Hagar boards were known for it.

Basically OP, sparky will replace your main switch and separate fuse (bottom right) with a combined unit called a switch fuse. No biggie. Get it seen to in the nest week or two if you can.

Bottom left i`d assume you meant:D.

RoundyMooney

robbie7730 wrote: »

Bottom left i`d assume you meant:D.

You'd be right