RCD Tripping

[hutch6447]

Hello guys had a lady on the phone who said she has upstairs and downstairs ring mains, she can plug the 1400 watt vac in upstairs and its fine but she cant plug it in downstairs as it trips the RCD protecting it I am not sure never come across this?

 

[WPD Lad]

Cumulative earth leakage?

 

[Rockingit]

Could just be that one RCD is more sensitive than the other. Tests will show.

Either way, sounds like the Vacuum sucks.

 

[Top Cat]

Cumulative earth leakage?

I agree, you will probably find the downstairs ring L-E, N-E is probably about 0.5 M ohms or less.

 

[Octopus]

or a N-E fault on one circuit but not the other!

 

[Snapester]

You will probably find the RCD is stuck and has never been tested in all its life, but the downstairs is still working nicely.

 

[Rockingit]

This is becoming a more recurrent theme: nuisance RCD tripping through nothing more than electrical accumulation. I'll often clamp a 'perfectly good' domestic installation's tails and see the other side of 40mA+ leakage, through all the digital stuff plugged in.

What's the betting that next set of regs will have us all installing RCBO's and doing away with the split board??

 

[Snapester]

Yes accumulation of leakage is becoming a large thing now, as you say all these digital appliances its not rare to see high leakage. I find where possible to use Rcbos they are so much better but the price of a loaded rcbo board doesn't bare thinking about!

 

[cakey]

Loose connection on circuit possible?

 

[sedgy34]

Hello guys had a lady on the phone who said she has upstairs and downstairs ring mains, she can plug the 1400 watt vac in upstairs and its fine but she cant plug it in downstairs as it trips the RCD protecting it I am not sure never come across this?

did u ask the caller if upstairs ring is on the rcd??

 

[hutch6447]

Yes went round to look the kitchen and living room are on one ring main downstairs and upstairs is on another now everything works fine except when youplug the vacuum into a socket in the living room it trips the RCD but plug it into the kitchen it also works fine, the vacuum is 1400 watt dyson but plug the kettle (2300 - 3000 W) into the living room sockets and it works fine not come across this in the forces I tell you. The installation is on a split double RCD board.

 

[cakey]

Ir test the circuit, earth leakage clamp and check connections behind socket.

 

[hutch6447]

Done a full test and everything was spot on, did ramp test on rcd's and one was significantly more sensitive so replaced it and everything is fine.