Passive & Active RCD's

[notoriousgib83]

Hi,

With regards to passive and active RCD's. How can you tell if an RCD is passive or active. Are the RCD's installed in a DB all of a certain type? I've searched them and all the products with an active or passive option are sockets with the RCD built in. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Dunc]

Active and passive relates to whether the RCD drops out when power is lost. All RCDs in consumer units are passive so they remain latched in the on position regardless of a power failure. An active RCD on the other hand requires resetting in the event of a loss of power similar to a DOL if you know what one of them is. The active RCD is usually used for extension leads or outdoor equipment such as lawnmowers where unexpected restarting of equipment could present a danger to the user in a power cut situation.

 

[Geoffsd]

Afraid you have it the wrong way round

Passive (latching) is what's in CUs i.e. they don't do anything when power is lost.
Active (non-latching) are the ones in sockets because you don't want the hedge trimmer jumping into action when power is restored.

By the way Wikipedia has the active/passive the wrong way round, although latching/non-latching is correct.

 

[Dunc]

Afraid you have it the wrong way round

Passive (latching) is what's in CUs i.e. they don't do anything when power is lost.
Active (non-latching) are the ones in sockets because you don't want the hedge trimmer jumping into action when power is restored.

By the way Wikipedia has the active/passive the wrong way round, although latching/non-latching is correct.

Wikipedia strikes again! :32: I had it the other way round in the beginning but thought i'd check just incase. Looks like i checked the wrong source! Editing post now....