Trips

[Cheltman]

I have a garden fountain powered by an mains electric Eden model 128 pump. The electric feed comes from my garden shed where there is a junction box - this also powers the garden lights. There are two switches - lights & fountain.
Occasionally when I turn off the fountain the mains breaker trips in the fusebox in the house. This only happens when I turn off the fountain - never when I turn it on. It never happens when I operate the lights switch.
If I changed the pump would that rectify the problem?
Is there a device I can install in the line to stifle the surge?

 

[davesparks]

What is tripping? Is it an MCB or an RCD? If you don't know can you post a picture to help us identify the type of trip?
Could you also post a picture of the switch?

If I had to guess then I would guess it is an RCD which is tripping due to a slight imbalance occurring when the pump is switched off.

I doubt that there is a surge occurring and replacing the pump is unlikely to achieve anything other than lightening your wallet a bit.

If my guess is correct then changing the switch may solve the problem, but this is only guesswork at the moment.

 

[Pete999]

I have a garden fountain powered by an mains electric Eden model 128 pump. The electric feed comes from my garden shed where there is a junction box - this also powers the garden lights. There are two switches - lights & fountain.
Occasionally when I turn off the fountain the mains breaker trips in the fusebox in the house. This only happens when I turn off the fountain - never when I turn it on. It never happens when I operate the lights switch.
If I changed the pump would that rectify the problem?
Is there a device I can install in the line to stifle the surge?

What is tripping MCB or RCD?

 

[radiohead]

I'm not sure whether these pumps are class 1 or 2. Does it have an earth in the lead?
Pond pumps in my experience are of poor quality and often develop earth faults.
Assuming the pump is earthed and an RCD is tripping I would suspect the pump is at fault. But that could only be verified with an IR test on the pump.

 

[davesparks]

I'm not sure whether these pumps are class 1 or 2. Does it have an earth in the lead?
Pond pumps in my experience are of poor quality and often develop earth faults.
Assuming the pump is earthed and an RCD is tripping I would suspect the pump is at fault. But that could only be verified with an IR test on the pump.

If it was an earth fault it would be more likely to trip when it is switched on, this trips when it is switched off. This suggests to me that one pole is being switched and allowing a capacitor or something to discharge and cause an imbalance

 

[radiohead]

If it was an earth fault it would be more likely to trip when it is switched on, this trips when it is switched off. This suggests to me that one pole is being switched and allowing a capacitor or something to discharge and cause an imbalance

You may well be right, but I recall an incidence where a storage heater fan circuit tripped the RCD only when the fan switched off, it would switch on every time. The fault was traced to a poorly clipped supply cable where a nail was shorting L and E.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

What type of switch is controlling the pump? Is it single or double pole? DP switches controlling inductive loads like motors occasionally give this behaviour if the timing of the two poles opening is not ideal. The inductive discharge causes a momentary leakage impulse as Davesparks mentions. Although, I too would be suspicious of low IR in the pump.

 

[Cheltman]

What is tripping? Is it an MCB or an RCD? If you don't know can you post a picture to help us identify the type of trip?
Could you also post a picture of the switch?

If I had to guess then I would guess it is an RCD which is tripping due to a slight imbalance occurring when the pump is switched off.

I doubt that there is a surge occurring and replacing the pump is unlikely to achieve anything other than lightening your wallet a bit.

If my guess is correct then changing the switch may solve the problem, but this is only guesswork at the moment.

Thanks you for your response Dave. The fifth switch from the right in the main fusebox trips and switches everything off. I have also posted a pic of the shed showing the two switches for the Lights & fountain. There is no RCD as far as I can see.

 

[radiohead]

The fifth switch from the right is the RCD.
The functional switches appear to be single pole.
There are two possibilities, either as Dave suggests, and you could change the single pole functional switch for the pump for a double pole type (ie switching both L and N ) and see if the problem is resolved.
If the tripping continues then the pump is probably suspect, either get it IR tested or trial and error replacement. Preferably the former.
It may also be worth disconnecting the outside lighting L and N from the other switch, if pump and lights are on the same circuit and share a neutral, before doing the above and seeing if it still trips.

 

[telectrix]

that 5th switch from the right, if i read your post correct is the one with the yellow test button. that is a RCD. your first thing is to replace the 2 gang switch as advised before, as the cost is peanuts.

 

[davesparks]

Thanks you for your response Dave. The fifth switch from the right in the main fusebox trips and switches everything off. I have also posted a pic of the shed showing the two switches for the Lights & fountain. There is no RCD as far as I can see.

The fifth switch from the right is an RCD, the label directly below it is a bit of a clue.

So the reason for it tripping is likely to be an earth leakage.

Has this always done it for as long as the pump has been installed or is this a new development? How old is the pump?

 

[radiohead]

The fifth switch from the right is the RCD.

that 5th switch from the right, if i read your post correct is the one with the yellow test button. that is a RCD.

The fifth switch from the right is an RCD, the label directly below it is a bit of a clue.

I reckon he's got that now.