New board, new wiring, new shower - tripping

krattapopov

Hey guys,

Approx last December we moved into a house we were renovating (old 50's council house), got a full rewire completed. We also to go one of those triton power showers in as well.

The shower now trips maybe every other day, now the shower unit itself is completely dry inside. At the time the builder/spark said we may need to get the ESB out to look at the power coming into the house, financially it wasn't really an option so they did what they could.

My question here now is, do I get a sparks to look at this, do I get the ESB out to look at the power coming into the house or a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B?

2011

krattapopov wrote: »

Hey guys,

Approx last December we moved into a house we were renovating (old 50's council house), got a full rewire completed. We also to go one of those triton power showers in as well.

The shower now trips maybe every other day, now the shower unit itself is completely dry inside. At the time the builder/spark said we may need to get the ESB out to look at the power coming into the house, financially it wasn't really an option so they did what they could.

My question here now is, do I get a sparks to look at this, do I get the ESB out to look at the power coming into the house or a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B?

Get an electrician to look at it.

The shower is not tripping due to an issue on the ESB side (highly unlikely).
That is not to say that the supply is sufficiently sized. Butas too small a supply will not cause a shower to "trip".

krattapopov

Thanks very much for the advice, I'll get an electrician in

meercat

Some faulty garo 40amp rcbo's out there.

krattapopov

Another thing I forgot to say, it trips at times when it's not turned with the pull chord or in use... would that indicate a faulty fuse?

2011

krattapopov wrote: »

Another thing I forgot to say, it trips at times when it's not turned with the pull chord or in use... would that indicate a faulty fuse?

That suggests that there might be an issue with moisture.
It is unlikely to be tripping on excess current (unless the protective device is faulty).

krattapopov

Moisture near the fuse board, along the wires or in the shower itself... or possibly all three?!

The builder gave us the indication that there mightn't be enough current coming into the house... (I know that shouldn't cause a trip!!)

2011

krattapopov wrote: »

Moisture near the fuse board, along the wires or in the shower itself... or possibly all three?!

The builder gave us the indication that there mightn't be enough current coming into the house... (I know that shouldn't cause a trip!!)

Sorry, I just saw that this happens when the shower isolator is off. Less likely to be moisture.

Most likely:
1) Issue with the integrity of the cable insulation.
2) Faulty RCD or RCBO

Bruthal

Not a dedicated rcd for shower might be another remote possibility.

beanie10

Does anything else stop working when shower trips, like shed,pumps, bathroom fan, shaver light etc.
Could be something else wired of shower breaker.
If not and it trips even when pullchord is off indicates that shower itself is fine but maybe worth checking the pullchord.

Builder & electrician are spoofing if they suggest getting ESB out to check unless the electrician recorded drops in voltage,ie approx 150 volts.
AFAIK ESB contract with household is to guarantee at least 200 volts at consumer unit. All appliances are rated to work ant 200 volts.

Get the electrician back to sort hid problem. I would first suggest an insulation resistance test at 250 volts to rule out cabling issue.

Rob O brien

a few things you could look at:

1) insulation resistance test the cable to see if there are issues, hopefully not!!
2) check nothing else is connected to your rcbo.
3) check the rcbo is connected to the correct neutral bar, although it should trip automatically.

other than that if its not your shower the only other place really could be the PC switch

best of luck

Cerco

Rob O brien wrote: »

a few things you could look at:

1) insulation resistance test the cable to see if there are issues, hopefully not!!
2) check nothing else is connected to your rcbo.
3) check the rcbo is connected to the correct neutral bar, although it should trip automatically.

other than that if its not your shower the only other place really could be the PC switch

best of luck

Good recommendations but not for the consumer/diy'er.
Work on consumer unit is dangerous and restricted to electricians.

2011

Cerco wrote: »

Good recommendations but not for the consumer/diy'er.

My thoughts exactly.


"A man's gotta know his limitations"

desoc32

meercat wrote: »

Some faulty garo 40amp rcbo's out there.

I've changed out two "newish" Garo 40a rcbos recently.
The first one was a shower constantly tripping after a minute or two so the owner went and replaced it anyway but it didn't stop the tripping, then I replaced the pull chord but it still tripped so I then meggered the cables and all ok. In the end the Garo rcbo was at fault.
The second one I replaced wouldn't trip under test conditions.... Replaced with Hagar both times and all good :-)

Bruthal

Cerco wrote: »

Good recommendations but not for the consumer/diy'er.
Work on consumer unit is dangerous and restricted to electricians.

Well its not likely to be a wrong neutral bar anyway, that would be instant tripping every time.

A problem with the shower itself is most likely, assuming nothing else is connected to the same circuit, or the faulty breaker mentioned already.

Rob O brien

2011 wrote: »

My thoughts exactly.


"A man's gotta know his limitations"

should of put that in!
thanks guys