C
cglittle
Hi. New member so be gentle
First of all, a little background.- I have been an electrician since qualifying in '95. Worked on and off until 2007 when i became a manager in a caravan park. Got 2391 and inspection/testing in 2003.
Now to the problem - One particular customer has problems with nuisance trips. As you may be aware the caravan hook up has a 32A 30mA RCD feeding a 16A MCB. Inside the caravan there is a distribution board with a 63A 30mA RCD main switch feeding a 32A ring main and 2 x 10A circuits for lights. These are fairly standard set ups. Whatever the system, every caravan is governed by the external 16A.
Before xmas the customer reported the RCD was tripping at no apparent pattern. Middle of the night, during the day etc. Inside would trip, then outside on reset, then inside again for about 4 times then settle.
I replaced the outside units, to try to appease them a little, and tested the inside RCD (I have a test kit from my sparky days) and everything was OK. Told them it must be something plugged in. This is where the REAL problem lies. THey say nothing was on- I say it doesn't need to be on, just plugged in.
During the winter break, when they were away from the site, i checked their van as they leave the central heating boiler on. Nothing else was plugged in, even the fridge freezer was off and defrosted, and they never had a problem. They have now returned, and hey presto, RCD's are tripping again.
The question is, without PAT testing every applience they have, what are the likely suspects?
(ps. For a static caravan, their list of appliances is extensive. Most likely? Electric blanket? Oil filled radiators? Phone chargers?)
Any help would be appreciated
First of all, a little background.- I have been an electrician since qualifying in '95. Worked on and off until 2007 when i became a manager in a caravan park. Got 2391 and inspection/testing in 2003.
Now to the problem - One particular customer has problems with nuisance trips. As you may be aware the caravan hook up has a 32A 30mA RCD feeding a 16A MCB. Inside the caravan there is a distribution board with a 63A 30mA RCD main switch feeding a 32A ring main and 2 x 10A circuits for lights. These are fairly standard set ups. Whatever the system, every caravan is governed by the external 16A.
Before xmas the customer reported the RCD was tripping at no apparent pattern. Middle of the night, during the day etc. Inside would trip, then outside on reset, then inside again for about 4 times then settle.
I replaced the outside units, to try to appease them a little, and tested the inside RCD (I have a test kit from my sparky days) and everything was OK. Told them it must be something plugged in. This is where the REAL problem lies. THey say nothing was on- I say it doesn't need to be on, just plugged in.
During the winter break, when they were away from the site, i checked their van as they leave the central heating boiler on. Nothing else was plugged in, even the fridge freezer was off and defrosted, and they never had a problem. They have now returned, and hey presto, RCD's are tripping again.
The question is, without PAT testing every applience they have, what are the likely suspects?
(ps. For a static caravan, their list of appliances is extensive. Most likely? Electric blanket? Oil filled radiators? Phone chargers?)
Any help would be appreciated
