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RCD randomly tripping

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  • 21-06-2016 12:05pm
    #1
    TheWaterboy
    Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭


    I've seen a similar post to this but maybe someone can help me.

    Moved into a renovated house last July - in the last 12 months the RCD switch trips and has done so quite a lot. I have had Electrician back 3 or 4 times and he can find no issue.

    To make it more confusing a separate RCD randomly trips in the garage (and then trips the main one in the House). This handles the heat pump and solar.

    So my assumption was that the problem was in the garage and maybe to do with the immersion which tops up the water heat at different times during the day.

    But last few times the RCD in the house has tripped and not the one the garage.

    It can trip at anytime but seems to be at night and there is rarely anything switched on - yes there are items on standby such as TVs and Fridge etc.

    Has anyone any advice on how I can get to the bottom of this or recommendations on what to do (the electrician is due this week again) - We were away last wkend and it tripped so leaving the fridge off for 3 days!


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    #2
    Risteard81
    Registered Users Posts: 2,567 ✭✭✭Risteard81


    RCD'S in series will not discriminate unless there is a time-delayed (S-type) upstream.


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    #3
    Stoner
    Registered Users Posts: 10,952 ✭✭✭✭Stoner


    TheWaterboy wrote:
    But last few times the RCD in the house has tripped and not the one the garage.


    Any chance by the main one you mean the one RCD in your house and the other items you refer to as RCDs are MCBs.

    In many cases there is one RCD that when tripped all your sockets go off, but not lights.
    Each circuit would have a dedicated MCB both need to be up for the circuit to work


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    #4
    TheWaterboy
    Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭TheWaterboy


    Stoner wrote: »
    Any chance by the main one you mean the one RCD in your house and the other items you refer to as RCDs are MCBs.

    In many cases there is one RCD that when tripped all your sockets go off, but not lights.
    Each circuit would have a dedicated MCB both need to be up for the circuit to work

    Hi Stoner - Yes you are correct in your assumption.

    So none of MCB's trip - The main RCD trips which then turns all the sockets off only. If an MCB tripped we could isolate the problem.

    I had read somewhere that it could be a fault in the fridge (which is brand new) so I turned off the ice making feature. Again that didn't make a difference and it tripped again over the weekend.


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    #5
    adrian92
    Registered Users Posts: 566 ✭✭✭adrian92


    TheWaterboy wrote: »
    Hi Stoner - Yes you are correct in your assumption.

    So none of MCB's trip - The main RCD trips which then turns all the sockets off only. If an MCB tripped we could isolate the problem.

    I had read somewhere that it could be a fault in the fridge (which is brand new) so I turned off the ice making feature. Again that didn't make a difference and it tripped again over the weekend.
    You say a second RCD trips in the garage. May I ask if you have a separate sub Distribution Board in your garage? It certainly is a strange problem


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    #6
    adrian92
    Registered Users Posts: 566 ✭✭✭adrian92


    adrian92 wrote: »
    You say a second RCD trips in the garage. May I ask if you have a separate sub Distribution Board in your garage? It certainly is a strange problem
    A further thought. When you moved in first, was any extra circuit added afterwards?


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    #7
    TheWaterboy
    Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭TheWaterboy


    adrian92 wrote: »
    You say a second RCD trips in the garage. May I ask if you have a separate sub Distribution Board in your garage? It certainly is a strange problem

    Yes there is a 2nd sub distribution board in the garage. Each time the problem happens I think I know what is causing - for example last Friday morning it tripped at 6am which is same time the timer comes on to activate the pump for the hot return pipe.

    However it tripped in house last night again randomly during the soccer when this time would have been off!
    adrian92 wrote: »
    A further thought. When you moved in first, was any extra circuit added afterwards?

    No - we didn't change anything as such - the electrician tidied up alot of loose wiring etc but that was it.


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    #8
    Tenshot
    Registered Users Posts: 648 ✭✭✭Tenshot


    Can you leave the garage and/or immersion turned off for a while, and see if you still get RCD trips. If they stop, that narrows it down.

    We did a full rewire a few years ago. For the first month or two afterwards, we were getting random RCD trips every few days. It turned out to be simply too many circuits on the RCD - the combined earth leakage of all the connected equipment, including computer devices, was collectively enough to exceed the rating.

    We added another RCD and split the load between the two: one for the computer room, one for everything else. As well as sorting out the random trips, it stopped my PCs resetting when something does legitimately trip in the utility room or kitchen.


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    #9
    baby fish
    Registered Users Posts: 267 ✭✭baby fish


    Hope you got this fixed, I was in the same position before, I kept a log of what was on every time it tripped and there was no pattern to it, it could trip in the middle of the night when there was nothing in use and then work perfectly the next day when everything was in use! Do you keep a log of whats on/plugged in and try unplugging as much as you during the night/day to try eliminate things that might cause the trip?

    I was sure it was a shower but in the end it turned out to be the cooker extractor lead - manufactured by Rangemaster. It was a socket/plug that I had overlooked because its not visible. Its hard to understand why it happened as it was a factory sealed lead, I swapped it with a new one and no trips since that day...

    Hope its something simple like this


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    #10
    TheWaterboy
    Registered Users Posts: 379 ✭✭TheWaterboy


    Hi baby_fish - Can you explain more what you mean by the Rangemaster lead.

    In reality all that is turned on at night is the Fridge, Rangemaster Cooker (as in the switch is left on) and two TV's on standby.
    The odd night then the Washing Machine would be on.

    I am away on holiday next week so little worried - But I am going to have everything physically switched off except the fridge.


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    #11
    baby fish
    Registered Users Posts: 267 ✭✭baby fish


    TheWaterboy wrote: »
    Hi baby_fish - Can you explain more what you mean by the Rangemaster lead.

    I mean the extractor fan over the cooker to suck the steam out, this is where the problem was. The power lead connecting it to the socket was the problem.
    TheWaterboy wrote: »
    In reality all that is turned on at night is the Fridge, Rangemaster Cooker (as in the switch is left on) and two TV's on standby. The odd night then the Washing Machine would be on.

    The fridge and cooker should be (I think)on their own individual RCD/MCB? mine are, so a nussance trip wont affect the fridge.

    You should unplugg the tv's when not in use to eliminate these, if it trips when these are out they are not the problem.

    Are there any sockets/things plugged in that you can't see?

    I couldn't pin the problem down, there was no pattern to it, through a process of elimination over months I had at some stage turned off everything but still the switch tripped.... so I opened all the sockets to check the wire inside them and they were all fine.....and then I remembered the sockets out of sight-> dishwasher and cooker extractor fan. I Checked both and they seemed fine too, but when I plugged back in the cooker extractor the trip switch went, I found the problem, To check if it was the socket or the lead or the actual extractor itself I got an extension lead and plugged the extractor fan into a different socket circuit, the trip switch went again...I knew it was the extractor fan or its lead... so I Got a new lead - actually used the lead from a computer monitor as they have a similar connection and have had no trips since, think that is over a year now.
    TheWaterboy wrote: »
    I am away on holiday next week so little worried - But I am going to have everything physically switched off except the fridge.

    Might be better to turn off all the MCB's at the fuse box for everything that's not needed, in this way if it is a lead problem there wont be any power going to it.

    I really just posted to tell you to think about the sockets that you cant see, hope you get it sorted soon. Took me over a year to find the problem...


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