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Discuss RCD 1 Tripping When Kettle Turned On in the DIY Electrical Advice area at ElectriciansForums.net

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msattitude

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Hi, Have an issue with the RCD1 tripping each time I turn on the kettle. Have tried 3 different kettles and they all trip it yet all 3 kettles work fine. The confusion is, the kettle is plugged into socket that is run via RCD2 NOT RCD1

This is the set up:
RCD1 trip controls:
Oven
Boiler
Kitchen Lights

RCD2 trip controls:
Hob
Kitchen Sockets

When the kettle is switched on it throws the RCD1 but all MCBs on RCD1 & 2 stay on, it does not trip the MCBs at all. This means the sockets stay on so the kettle continues to boil no problem, but the Oven, boiler and lights go out, obviously because RCD1 trip goes off.

It's confusing because the sockets are not controlled by RCD1 so why would it be tripping it?
I would have thought the sockets on RCD2 would trip instead.

The consumer unit is only about a year old, had all new wiring and separated from the rest of the house when a new kitchen was installed. The kettle and everything else has been working fine up until now. Nothing else has changed.

If anyone can help shed some light it would be much appreciated. No doubt I will need to get an electrician in but the more information I can give them would help no end. Thanks
 
As you have tried with 3 kettles, I am going to say they are not at fault. Do they work on another RCD protected circuit in the house? Living room/bedroom etc..

Sounds like a classic case of a neutral fault. Only showing up when a high load is placed on a circuit.

I presume you are not an electrician, can't see any information on your profile.

Best bet is to call an electrician out.
 
As you have tried with 3 kettles, I am going to say they are not at fault. Do they work on another RCD protected circuit in the house? Living room/bedroom etc..

Sounds like a classic case of a neutral fault. Only showing up when a high load is placed on a circuit.

I presume you are not an electrician, can't see any information on your profile.

Best bet is to call an electrician out.

Thanks for your reply, I did try the kettle in another room yes and it did throw the trip on RCD1, but again that makes no sense as that unit is not running the other room.

You are correct, I am not a qualified electrician (but understand a fair bit having worked on electrics before) however, I will be calling one in for this if it's seemingly not an easy fix. I really just wanted some idea's of what it may be that's causing this to save time for an electrician.
 
UPDATE: Just tried a smaller kettle from the caravan, only 1000watt and this one does NOT throw the trip, so it does look like a higher load is causing it to trip although this still does not solve the issue as to why it suddenly started doing this when nothing else has changed. Just throwing that thought out there :)
 
UPDATE: Just tried a smaller kettle from the caravan, only 1000watt and this one does NOT throw the trip, so it does look like a higher load is causing it to trip although this still does not solve the issue as to why it suddenly started doing this when nothing else has changed. Just throwing that thought out there :)

Almost certainly a neutral fault then.

Could be a poor termination somewhere that has over time gotten to the point of not working.

Any work in the house conducted that could've damaged wiring?

Any electrical work done, even if it seems like it's in a different area or circuit?

Any sign of rodents?

Could even be that the issue is external to the house. E.g your supply cable. (An electrician can find this problem, but would require your network supplier to fix).

Unfortunately this kind of fault finding requires test equipment to measure the insulation resistance and also the earth loop. An the experience to understand the received test results.
 
Almost certainly a neutral fault then.

Could be a poor termination somewhere that has over time gotten to the point of not working.

Any work in the house conducted that could've damaged wiring?

Any electrical work done, even if it seems like it's in a different area or circuit?

Any sign of rodents?

Could even be that the issue is external to the house. E.g your supply cable. (An electrician can find this problem, but would require your network supplier to fix).

Unfortunately this kind of fault finding requires test equipment to measure the insulation resistance and also the earth loop. An the experience to understand the received test results.

Thank you Rob, appreciate your questions and ideas.

I have just been informed that 2 days ago my husband was trimming the hedge and caught the cable which threw the whole house out. The trimmer was plugged into the garage at the time. I am now wondering if this may have been the cause of starting this issue off! A possibility I guess?

No rodents, no other electrical work carried out anywhere since the kitchen was installed a year ago.

I totally understand the correct test equipment will be needed but from your replies I at least have something to go on regarding the neutral fault.
 
There maybe a member on here close by. We used to have an electrician near you feature. However I'm not sure if it is back active yet.

The forum was updated a little while ago.
 
Hi - for what it’s worth I too think there’s a connection between N and E that shouldn’t be there (a fault), but likely not the kettle itself. Which is a shame, cause I always blame the kettle :) .
Sometimes the fault is created when an outlet is changed and the N conductor (blue or black) gets pinched in the metal back box. Changed any outlets lately? Another thought is to unplug all the other appliances and lamps so it’s just the kettle and see if that changes anything.
 

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