Rcd burning ???

[sidekick]

Have customer with elecric powered gates. The supply for the gates comes from a plug in RCD unit in a kitchen socket. Apparently it has been like this for some years but recently the plug in unit gave off very strong burning smell and eventually burnt out and stopped working, i.e would not reset and power to gates was lost.
On removing the unit and fitting ordiary 13a plug the power was restored and gates operated fine with no burning smell from plug. The sockets used are all protected on main board RCD anyway on TT system.
A replacement plug in unit was used and the 13a plug plugged into that. The burning smell returned and Rcd unit would not reset but main board rcd still not tripping.

What could the problem be ???

 

[sparks_114]

IR test should reveal the condition of the cable. Tongue test can help as well in seeing starting current and earth leakage current (if any). Being a motor drive at the end of the circuit, it is very easy for an obstacle (or even kids!) making it harder for the gate to open/close which will drastically increase the current it's pulling!

 

[truckster]

Hav you checked the rear of the socket? If the RCD has been overheating it may have damaged the actual socket as well.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Get this kind of problem a lot with people (usually DIY'ers) who force a 2.5mm flex into a plug top for things like ovens, it has to be overload in my opinion.

Cheers........Howard

 

[sidekick]

Hav you checked the rear of the socket? If the RCD has been overheating it may have damaged the actual socket as well.

Thanks Truckster. Yes have checked behind socket first thing to ensure no bad connections and no damage from RCD burning out.