ELECTRIC TRIPPING

[James]

it sounds baffling.

the only thing I can think of is, the rcd extension lead might have a faulty earth, i.e. it is not connected correctly or wire is broken.

this would allow the machine to run without tripping the rcd at the distribution board if there was a live to earth or a neutral to earth fault within the machine.

If this is the case, the extension lead could be causing a dangerous fault to be undetected.

please avoid using the machine in this manner just in case.

Also, ask the electrician to test your rcd extension lead whilst he/she is on site.

 

[Buffyrose]

it sounds baffling.

the only thing I can think of is, the rcd extension lead might have a faulty earth, i.e. it is not connected correctly or wire is broken.

this would allow the machine to run without tripping the rcd at the distribution board if there was a live to earth or a neutral to earth fault within the machine.

If this is the case, the extension lead could be causing a dangerous fault to be undetected.

please avoid using the machine in this manner just in case.

Also, ask the electrician to test your rcd extension lead whilst he/she is on site.

Wow, that's a fantastic bit of advice - 2 fold - re the washing machine and the lead. Thank you very much.

 

[James]

it fits the description of the fault, also your fault finding seems to match up with the symtoms of what I have described.

however, it is a remote diagnostic and there could be other reasons, it is by no means a definitive diagnosis.

I and quite a few others will be looking forward to hearing what the electrician finds tomorrow.

p.s. you never mentioned who was coming to look at it, please remember there are a lot of good electricians on the forum that provide free advice, we also have to make some money during the day so it is always worth putting up a post requesting an electrician when you need one.

You wont get me because I don't do domestic work, but i am quite sure that a couple of other members are almost as good as I am!!!!

Please let us know what is found.

 

[Buffyrose]

it fits the description of the fault, also your fault finding seems to match up with the symtoms of what I have described.

however, it is a remote diagnostic and there could be other reasons, it is by no means a definitive diagnosis.

I and quite a few others will be looking forward to hearing what the electrician finds tomorrow.

p.s. you never mentioned who was coming to look at it, please remember there are a lot of good electricians on the forum that provide free advice, we also have to make some money during the day so it is always worth putting up a post requesting an electrician when you need one.

You wont get me because I don't do domestic work, but i am quite sure that a couple of other members are almost as good as I am!!!!

Please let us know what is found.


Ha Ha James - before I read your reply today I was going to ask you if you could come and help - you're the electrical expert everyone should use. You were spot on. And I didn't know you could find electricians through this forum.

The WM had a live earth leak (think I've got that right) and the 'safety' RCD lead had no earth (don't know what that means either). First thing he said was - 'don't use that WM'. Appliances are not his area anymore, but it used to be, having 30 years experience, so he kindly looked at the WM too and found a faulty capacitor. He'll be back to move the socket so from now on, although it wasn't implicated, at least I can ditch the adapter too.

Thanks again from a safe household.

it fits the description of the fault, also your fault finding seems to match up with the symtoms of what I have described.

however, it is a remote diagnostic and there could be other reasons, it is by no means a definitive diagnosis.

I and quite a few others will be looking forward to hearing what the electrician finds tomorrow.

p.s. you never mentioned who was coming to look at it, please remember there are a lot of good electricians on the forum that provide free advice, we also have to make some money during the day so it is always worth putting up a post requesting an electrician when you need one.

You wont get me because I don't do domestic work, but i am quite sure that a couple of other members are almost as good as I am!!!!

Please let us know what is found.

Ha Ha James - before I read your reply today I was going to ask you if you could come and help - you're the electrical expert everyone should use. You were spot on. And I didn't know you could find electricians through this forum.

The WM had a live earth leak (think I've got that right) and the 'safety' RCD lead had no earth (don't know what that means either). First thing he said was - 'don't use that WM'. Appliances are not his area anymore, but it used to be, having 30 years experience, so he kindly looked at the WM too and found a faulty capacitor. He'll be back to move the socket so from now on, although it wasn't implicated, at least I can ditch the adapter too.

Thanks again from a safe household.

 

[Wilko]

and the 'safety' RCD lead had no earth (don't know what that means either).

Hi - that means it’s not safe to use and it should be cut up.
Glad it’s sorted for you now .

 

[James]

Ha Ha James - before I read your reply today I was going to ask you if you could come and help - you're the electrical expert everyone should use. You were spot on. And I didn't know you could find electricians through this forum.

The WM had a live earth leak (think I've got that right) and the 'safety' RCD lead had no earth (don't know what that means either). First thing he said was - 'don't use that WM'. Appliances are not his area anymore, but it used to be, having 30 years experience, so he kindly looked at the WM too and found a faulty capacitor. He'll be back to move the socket so from now on, although it wasn't implicated, at least I can ditch the adapter too.

Thanks again from a safe household.

Glad you got it sorted.

I am no more of an expert than a lot of the guys and girls on here.
Sounds like you have found a good spark there, not all of us are great at fault finding.

Worth considering that in any Comercial premises , extension leads and appliances need to be regularly tested to ensure they are safe for continued use.

It is not a requirement in people’s own households but your experience has highlighted just how easy it is to have a dangerous (extension lead) being used and although unlikley it is possible that it is used with an appliance that also has a fault that together could lead to a nasty injury.

 

[DPG]

Great result, thanks for letting us know. Just goes to show how there can be hidden latent faults just waiting to show up!

 

[Buffyrose]

Hi - that means it’s not safe to use and it should be cut up.
Glad it’s sorted for you now .

Gone in the bin! Thanks
[automerge]1581760687[/automerge]

Glad you got it sorted.

I am no more of an expert than a lot of the guys and girls on here.
Sounds like you have found a good spark there, not all of us are great at fault finding.

Worth considering that in any Comercial premises , extension leads and appliances need to be regularly tested to ensure they are safe for continued use.

It is not a requirement in people’s own households but your experience has highlighted just how easy it is to have a dangerous (extension lead) being used and although unlikley it is possible that it is used with an appliance that also has a fault that together could lead to a nasty injury.

Actually he said I'd done the hard work in finding the fault (sort of - all I knew was what was causing the problem) - he is brilliant. But what he also said was, domestic householders should test their electrics every month with the test button. I repeated ' every month' and he said yes. Not many of us will, but at least if we do it once a year its better than never.

 

[telectrix]

Gone in the bin! Thanks
[automerge]1581760687[/automerge]


Actually he said I'd done the hard work in finding the fault (sort of - all I knew was what was causing the problem) - he is brilliant. But what he also said was, domestic householders should test their electrics every month with the test button. I repeated ' every month' and he said yes. Not many of us will, but at least if we do it once a year its better than never.

IET recommend every 6 months, used to be 3 months. 6 months is logicalas you can test when you put the clocks back/forward. you need to reset the clocks anyway after the power is interrupted. personally, i test ours once a month

 

[Buffyrose]

IET recommend every 6 months, used to be 3 months. 6 months is logicalas you can test when you put the clocks back/forward. you need to reset the clocks anyway after the power is interrupted. personally, i test ours once a month

Wow - amazing what I've learned.

 

[scootknew]

hi i recently had a call similar to yours. had washing machine for ages then all of a sudden would trip rcd. normally when the element inside wm would start heating up water or 5 min into fast spin etc. i told them to get appliance engineer first. inside wm there is a part called a mains filter .that helps the voltage for the motor to run better and keep it smooth. if that goes faulty then can trip rcd. i would get electrican after as dont want to pay twice if money is tight, if electrican sees everything is ok.

 

[Buffyrose]

hi i recently had a call similar to yours. had washing machine for ages then all of a sudden would trip rcd. normally when the element inside wm would start heating up water or 5 min into fast spin etc. i told them to get appliance engineer first. inside wm there is a part called a mains filter .that helps the voltage for the motor to run better and keep it smooth. if that goes faulty then can trip rcd. i would get electrican after as dont want to pay twice if money is tight, if electrican sees everything is ok.

Oh, that's really interesting. Yes, its a real dilemma about whether to call an electrician or an appliance person. I have a new capacitor now, (£35), plus the call out from the elctrician, so I'm already a bit down the line on cost and still no guarantee of working. But I want the socket moving anyway - reckoned I wouldn't want to put the machine back knowing it was on an adapter - that was done in haste on removal day some years ago and long forgotten. I'll keep your reply to hand in case it doesn't solve it - and to be fair, although the electrican said the capacitor was faulty and he was 75% sure it was causing the problem, it doesn't seem to fit the symptoms, but we'll see. Presumably I still needed a new capacitor if he said it was faulty - maybe I have more than one fault!