Problems with RCD Tripping Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

[jayuk76]

Need your input on this

Last three days my RCD has been triping up upto 8 times per day.

The fuse that is going seems to be the downstairs ring [sockets] It has all the tv, fridge, tumble dryer, washing machine etc on it. But its only been happening for last three days. The wiring is 3 years old and was certified and passed

Today I called the homecare guys out and the spraky says that he tested the RCD at 30mA which is fine and he said the load on the circuit was 19.5? He said a reading of 13-14 and it tripping would be cause for concern but 19.5 is bang in the middle and this is whats causing the issue - ie too much on the ciruit. He did checks on the wiring and board and said all was ok and then recommended breaking up the sockets and putting in a RCBO or something? But i cant understand why it just happens in the last few days. Nothing new has been added.

Does this make sense or is he bull****** me?

thanks guys

Jay

[steve the plumber]

Sounds to me that something on the sockets is tripping the RCD.

The only thing you can do is to try and isolate the piece of equipment that is tripping, could be a short in a flex, check the plugs (if you can) just to make sure all connections are as they should be.

You say it's the sockets that is tripping, but then you mention that the RCD is tripping, what else do you have under the RCD?

[Dusklights.co.uk]

What the electrician says is one way of stopping the problem. I feel that there are a few other options to go down before this costly route of changing to RCBOs. As you mentioned your electrics are only three years old so the problem should not lie with the installation. I would suggest having a look at what you have plugged into the installation electrics. Firstly check that your fridge / freezer is not causing the problem, unplug these items and hopefully your RCD will not trip. Go round the house and use this method of illimination. Hopefully you will find an appliance that is causing nusiance tripping (most commonly fridge / freezers).

[chriscba]

Have you got a split load cu, if so is the cooker on the rcd side, if so disconect it & try it again, some times an element starts to brake down & causes a problem if the cooker is on the rcd

[super sparks]

Did you say the RCD keeps tripping or the Mcb.
If its the rcd tripping then the proberbility is that the wiring is ok but you are plugging something in which is causing it to trip, therefore unplug all applianceses, reset the rcd and go around plugging the appliances back in until it trips, then you will know what peice of equipment is causing the fault. A little hint is to try all appliances which have a condensor or element, ie fridge, freezer, iron, cooker, kettle.

If it is your Mcb tripping out, it wil be down to overload and you will need to either need to find a faulty piece of equipment or limit the amount of load you are placing on the circuit. This is the lest probable of the two options.

[bd3cc]

How old is the washing machine?
A damp problem can cause an rcd to trip, could be that the wm is starting to leak a little.
But there again, if it's happening randomely throughout the day it would seem that it is something that switches on/off automatically: fridge/freezer.
As suggested it seems that an appliance is at fault.