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Mar123

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Hi all. We have been having power cuts intermittently which trips the rcd protected circuits which the sockets for upstairs and downstairs are on gas happened twice so far this week and both times overnight. Reset the switch all fine. I'm guessing its one of our appliances probably in the kitchen? Any advice on how to track it down..I'm thinking it's probably the fridge freezer? Thanksv
 
Is it definitely when a powercut has occurred?
Maybe just the inrush currant when everything turns back on.

you could try unplugging everything, but won’t tell until there’s another interruption.
can you simulate the fault by turning the mainswitch of the board off, then back on?

are all your sockets on one rcd? Ie a split board? Photo of board showing breakers would help.
A multitude of chargers and electronic equipment always plugged in can trip an rcd with a cumulative earth leakage from each device, although perfectly fine individually, the combination of all of them could be more than the 30mA threshold.
also, the rcd could be more sensitive than 30mA, which is also normal... but can’t be tested without the proper equipment.
 
had similar a few times. on reinstatement of power, need to turn all breakers off. reset RCD then breakers back on 1 at a time.
 
Hi all sorry for delay in replying.....so still having this issue. The circuit which sockets for upstairs and downstairs are on tripped again last night..so had to reset the switch again...hasn't happened for a few weeks so thought it had resolved itself. The only things on this circuit which is tripping are the sockets for upstairs and down stairs...is it just uplug everything each night except the fridge freezer to see if it is? Is it worth getting and electrican out? Thanks all
 
Hi all sorry for delay in replying.....so still having this issue. The circuit which sockets for upstairs and downstairs are on tripped again last night..so had to reset the switch again...hasn't happened for a few weeks so thought it had resolved itself. The only things on this circuit which is tripping are the sockets for upstairs and down stairs...is it just uplug everything each night except the fridge freezer to see if it is? Is it worth getting and electrican out? Thanks all
The thing that is tripping, does it have a "Test" button and say 30ma or 0.003A on it? Or does it just have a switch and nothing else on it?
I'm trying to establish whether it's a MCB (basically a modern resettable fuse) tripping or a device incorporating an RCD that is tripping as the cause and hence diagnostics are different.

If it's an RCD or RCBO tripping then an electrician can test this using a ramp test or clamp meter and see how close it is to tripping in normal circumstances. Turning a suspected item (e.g. fridge freezer) off and seeing if the value changes can be helpful in pointing to what is tripping it.

Other random thought - any pattern to weather conditions when it happens?
Do you have any other appliances active overnight - maybe a bread maker on a timer or a dishwasher?
 
The thing that is tripping, does it have a "Test" button and say 30ma or 0.003A on it? Or does it just have a switch and nothing else on it?
I'm trying to establish whether it's a MCB (basically a modern resettable fuse) tripping or a device incorporating an RCD that is tripping as the cause and hence diagnostics are different.

If it's an RCD or RCBO tripping then an electrician can test this using a ramp test or clamp meter and see how close it is to tripping in normal circumstances. Turning a suspected item (e.g. fridge freezer) off and seeing if the value changes can be helpful in pointing to what is tripping it.

Other random thought - any pattern to weather conditions when it happens?
Do you have any other appliances active overnight - maybe a bread maker on a timer or a dishwasher?
 

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Its RCD protected circuits switch on the left side with red line under it that i have to reset...it just has the sockets on....there were other things been used last night when it tripped.. reset it straight away and all OK....the nights I have unplugged everything expect fridge freezer nothing happened..last time it happened was 2 weeks ago so haven't unplugged anything for about 2 weeks now
 
These can be tricky to pin down as it sounds like you appreciate.
I'd say it's worth having an electrician visit. They can confirm the RCD isn't faulty, and find out how close it is to tripping in normal circumstances, as well as find out if any appliances are already contributing to it tripping. A lot could be ruled out in 30 minutes.
 
Not sure if this would be anything to do with...but we had a double socket replaced in December. This is the socket for the hob and oven to be plugged into....it was replaced by a local company as the one of the sockets stopped working the switch was jammed and oven wouldn't stay on...the 1st trip was in February sometime...May not be related at all
 
if it's onlt tripped since the socket was replaced, then that's the first suspect.a conductor trapped behing the socket. just intermittently causing a leakage to eath , maybe due to expansion as the ambient temperature alters.
 

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