Karcher SC4 fault tripping mains

[saiki21]

We have a Karcher SC4 steamer, it was working well until today. Now when you plug the appliance in it trips the fuse in the consumer unit. I have tried to plug it in elsewhere to make sure it was overloading, and it still does the same. I opened the device to take a look and run a continuity test on the power, the lead works fine but something strange in the appliance.

I run a continuity test from the mains into the other wires, but if I try the blue wire, I get nothing from the continuity yet if I touch the brown, I get continuity on everything I touch.

Can anyone suggest what best to look at to try and narrow down the fault.

 

[mainline]

We have a Karcher SC4 steamer, it was working well until today. Now when you plug the appliance in it trips the fuse in the consumer unit. I have tried to plug it in elsewhere to make sure it was overloading, and it still does the same. I opened the device to take a look and run a continuity test on the power, the lead works fine but something strange in the appliance.

I run a continuity test from the mains into the other wires, but if I try the blue wire, I get nothing from the continuity yet if I touch the brown, I get continuity on everything I touch.

Can anyone suggest what best to look at to try and narrow down the fault.

Is this tripping a rcd/rcbo or mcb.

If a mcb does it make any sort of noise before it trips.

 

[Avo Mk8]

I run a continuity test from the mains into the other wires, but if I try the blue wire, I get nothing from the continuity yet if I touch the brown, I get continuity on everything I touch.

You seem to be describing a connection between Live and Earth/the chassis?
If you are using a multimeter, can you measure how many ohms the 'continuity' is?

I'm not familiar with that Karcher steamer, but it could be the heating element has failed and that is causing the tripping.
Note the above doesn't explain why there's now no continuity between neutral and anything, unless the cable's gone open circuit as a result of the fault.

Just had a look at this:

https://fixpart.co.uk/product/karcher-40700603-boiler

If you take off all 4 connectors on the heating elements, do you get continuity between the element tabs and the metalwork?

 

[mainline]

May also be worth checking the mains lead for continuity/short and where it goes Into the clamp as those seem to be a point of failure.

 

[James]

You seem to be describing a connection between Live and Earth/the chassis?
If you are using a multimeter, can you measure how many ohms the 'continuity' is?

I'm not familiar with that Karcher steamer, but it could be the heating element has failed and that is causing the tripping.
Note the above doesn't explain why there's now no continuity between neutral and anything, unless the cable's gone open circuit as a result of the fault.

Just had a look at this:

https://fixpart.co.uk/product/karcher-40700603-boiler

If you take off all 4 connectors on the heating elements, do you get continuity between the element tabs and the metalwork?

it is not unusual for appliances to have a thermal cut out in the N line.

 

[mainline]

it is not unusual for appliances to have a thermal cut out in the N line.

But that's not going to cause overload or leakage.

 

[James]

But that's not going to cause overload or leakage.

Long shot, but looking at the previous posts.
hope i have understood correctly.
1. continuity between live and earth
2. no continuity between incoming N and anything else.

just imagine that the water had stopped flowing. a heating element will quickly destroy itself, if a heating element had failed, it would not be unusual for the thermal overload to trip.

what you are left with is a continuity between live and earth through the failed element, also a lack of continuity between N and anything as it goes through the thermal overload.

that means you have a big leakage between live and earth but no current flowing between Live and Neutral.