Rcd tripping with no switch on after smart meter installarion

[Desikeera]

Hi

I am.from uk
I had a gas top up meter and a electric smart meter installation

Thought to ask my energy supplier to fit me a gas smart meter aswell

Their enginner came and said we will have to install the electric meter aswell so they will combine the smart thing on the display

But after installing the new smart meters

My rcd been tripping time to time even with all switch down on the main board

It did trip 2 times while he was here - but then worked absolutly fine he did open the unit and check and tighten all connectio

In last 5 hourd have tripped 2 times
Can anybody advise?
Strange because i already had an electric smart meter installation and never had this issue so why now?
Thanks
Can anybody advise me?

 

[Desikeera]

I would tape it to the underside of your consumer unit (fusebox):

View attachment 88366

Thanks for your reply

Right i will try that and make sure to call to send an engineer to repace or put back the old one

Already because of the trip last night had to throw food from fridge and freezer having 2 kids at home it was such a bad situation this morning...

 

[timhoward]

I’m sorry to hear this has turned into a right saga.
I’d hold fire on the shower change - as above does it work?
Hopefully the card and foil shield will solve the problem short term.
(I’m wondering if there any forum members on east side of Manchester? )

 

[Mikegh]

Seems a stretch doesn't it, the meter tripping the rcd ?

Anythings possible I guess

 

[Pretty Mouth]

Thanks for your reply

Right i will try that and make sure to call to send an engineer to repace or put back the old one

Already because of the trip last night had to throw food from fridge and freezer having 2 kids at home it was such a bad situation this morning...

I hope this works for you, and please do update us with how things work out. I'm interested to hear if your supplier will take any responsibility for the problem.

 

[suffolkspark]

I've seem similar threads on here with exactly the same circumstances before... odd, but lets see, hopefully we get an update

 

[Desikeera]

I’m sorry to hear this has turned into a right saga.
I’d hold fire on the shower change - as above does it work?
Hopefully the card and foil shield will solve the problem short term.
(I’m wondering if there any forum members on east side of Manchester? )

The electric shower works but the electrician told me it has become a hazard, with some equipment he showed me that its showing somr fault on the reader ( by putting 2 wires on 2 electric point inside the shower) so he told me hes cutting it off and has put tape on wires and asked me to replace
Not only that the constant tripping has blown 4 bulbs in the house and my front flood light, i had to replace them all which cost me aswell today, i really do believe something bad happened during the meter installation but wont accuse the engineer as i have no proof

Regarding the foil trick i have put it under the unit as advised, fingercross no trip happens now , i will call eon in the morning to send out an engineer or to give me back my old meter
Will keep updating as it can help someone in the future

 

[Mikegh]

I presuy the electrician is saying there's a low IR reading on the shower heater tank

When they go the reading is usually low enough to trip the RCD ime, maybe it's higher than that

RCDs are unpredictable at the best of times and I've seen some strange things happen, so definitely wouldn't be amazed if this was caused by the meter

 

[James]

Seems a stretch doesn't it, the meter tripping the rcd ?

Anythings possible I guess

It would seem that some rcd’s mounted close to some smart meters can in some circumstances cause the rcd to trip.
presumabley when they are transmitting data back to base.

when you think about it, an rcd is infact basically 2 coils of wire, wrapped round the conductors.
the rcd compres the current flow by measuring the current in the coils of wire.
strong radio waves could upset the balance.

it is not the first time we have heard this type of thing happen and although it seems far fetched, I believe it is a genuine problem for some people.
it is also something the suppliers are unlikley to spend much time investigating or admitting to.

 

[Mikegh]

It would seem that some rcd’s mounted close to some smart meters can in some circumstances cause the rcd to trip.
presumabley when they are transmitting data back to base.

when you think about it, an rcd is infact basically 2 coils of wire, wrapped round the conductors.
the rcd compres the current flow by measuring the current in the coils of wire.
strong radio waves could upset the balance.

it is not the first time we have heard this type of thing happen and although it seems far fetched, I believe it is a genuine problem for some people.
it is also something the suppliers are unlikley to spend much time investigating or admitting to.

Seen a fluorescent on a non RCD protected way tripping an RCD

The capacitor apparently was causing it

Definitely unpredictable devices

 

[Strima]

The smart meter uses the mobile network to contact the supplier for monitoring etc, in poor reception areas this software jacks up the transmit power to try and get a better signal, this in turn can have a negative effect on RCDs.

One option is for the supplier to fit an external antenna which should sort this out.

 

[Mikegh]

Uses 2G to transmit data if I recall correctly

 

[Strima]

Uses 2G to transmit data if I recall correctly

Yup, they use Multi-network SIM cards so are not restricted to one mobile provider. 2G is still the best technology for this type of use as it easily penetrated structures and has a good range, but still can suffer from poor reception in some areas.

 

[Desikeera]

I would tape it to the underside of your consumer unit (fusebox):

View attachment 88366

Unfortunatly this tripis not working for me its still tripping ?

But sorry i just read properly, i have attached foil underneath as you advised, but just saw you said cardboard wrapped in tinfoil? Is it necessary to have cardboard with foil?
Because clearly only foil not working for me

 

[Mikegh]

I assume the cardboard is just to give it a bit of strength

 

[littlespark]

Does the shower have an isolation switch? It will be double pole, so if its turned off, the shower itself will not affect the rcd.

can we have a wider photograph showing the consumer unit, not just the bottom edge. There may be something else in view that someone might suggest is the problem.