InTheHighlands
DIY
I'm not an electrician, but take an interest in what's happening to the electrics in my house. My electrician who is a personal friend has alerted me to AFDDs - of particular interest because I live in a remote area in a wooden panelled house with plenty of evidence of hungry mice. My CU is a Crabtree Starbreaker with a full set of miniature RCBOs. I've tried to speak to Crabtree re questions 2&3, but with no success yet. So can I ask 3 questions here:
1) Why do the latest regs suggest the use of AFDDs only for circuits with sockets? As, presumably, lighting, cooker etc circuits are perfectly capable of arcing. Is this pragmatism - cost vs likelihood?
2) When the AFDD trips, a handy sticker will show it flashing - 1x arc detected, 2x over-voltage, 3x residual current. But no indication of tripping on overload - does one assume that no flashes = overload? I'd prefer something more positive!
3) When the AFDD trips, does it hold the trip cause until reset, regardless of time? And any intervening power cuts?
Depending on answers to above, if I come home from a long holiday to find one circuit tripped, but no indication when resetting, what next?!
Thanks for any thoughts!
1) Why do the latest regs suggest the use of AFDDs only for circuits with sockets? As, presumably, lighting, cooker etc circuits are perfectly capable of arcing. Is this pragmatism - cost vs likelihood?
2) When the AFDD trips, a handy sticker will show it flashing - 1x arc detected, 2x over-voltage, 3x residual current. But no indication of tripping on overload - does one assume that no flashes = overload? I'd prefer something more positive!
3) When the AFDD trips, does it hold the trip cause until reset, regardless of time? And any intervening power cuts?
Depending on answers to above, if I come home from a long holiday to find one circuit tripped, but no indication when resetting, what next?!
Thanks for any thoughts!
