Discuss RCD2-6330 Has been soaked........Question? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Reaction score
1
Hi, I am not an electrician but thought I would ask the experts. I had a major leak in the roof of my garage which was just above my consumer unit. Now eveything was working fine prior to the leak and the switch/trip feeding the garage tripped (obviously) with the leak.
I disconnected every circuit in the consumer unit (marking where each one goes first) and then using a hair dryer (fed by extension from hallway) I began drying each one out, it took a couple of days to do (after solving the roof leak), but they all seemed dry. I have a cheapie circuit test meter which I used to check if, when I swithched each of the individual trips/switches on/off they would show that when I switched on they would show on and vice/verser as they should so using my circuit tester.
I thought they had dried all ok so re-connected each one and switched back on the mains from the main feed in the house.
All OK with everything awiched off in the garage consumer unit, now I switched on the main one in the garage marked '63A 30mA' (I was told this would be the 'feeder' for the box by an old electrician I know that I see when walking my dog), and it switched on OK and stayed on.
Now when I try to switch ANY of the others on inside the consumer unit, the one marked '63A 30mA' switches itself off (but the main trip/feed inside the house which looks like all the others stays on).
Now I thought I'd be clever and disconnect all of them bar one (which fed sockets on the left hand side of the garage) after switching off the mains from the house.
I then switched on the mains again and the 63A 30mA one in the box and then the one I had left connected, but the 63A 30mA one in the garage tripped out. I tried this process for each one inside the box, having only one connected each time and I had the same result for all.
It has been two weeks since I had the roof fixed (by a neighbour who is a roofer luckily) and around 10 days of drying them out has passed so does this mean they still may be damp or does it mean they cannot be dried and once they have been wet they all have to be changed?
Thanks.
WD
 
Inside all of these devices are a collection of mechanical devices made of different metals.

Getting them wet will cause corrosion of the internal parts and I personally would never put a water damaged breaker or switch back into service as damage could be there but unseen.
 
Electrical components do not like water and the deposits that it carries. After water logging I replace protective devices and test the affected circuits with appropriate test equipment.

It would be worth engaging a local electrician to come round and do some basic tests as water can tract through cables via capillary action, shouldn't cost too much and they will have the proper test kit.

Water is not very conductive but what it carries, such as minerals, are. These deposits cause the problems.
 
Being wet for 10 days or so is not going to do the reliability much good. How old is the garage unit? It might be you can still buy a replacement RCD for it, but it might work out cheaper to simply replace the whole garage CU and that would remove the reliability worries over any of its parts (the RCD and the MCBs)

However, it is also possible you have water in the other circuits still so the RCD is actually doing its job!

Realistically you should get someone in with the test equipment to check the insulation resistance of the circuits and, if it were me, simply replace the CU as a precaution..
 
Thanks all for your quick replies (he says in lockdown - lol) it looks like I'll have to change the lot then as they are a few years old, so I'll get someone in to do some more checks as you've suggested and act as necessary.
Cheers
WD
 
Thanks all for your quick replies (he says in lockdown - lol) it looks like I'll have to change the lot then as they are a few years old, so I'll get someone in to do some more checks as you've suggested and act as necessary.
For something outside of the main living area you should not have too much trouble getting someone round to sort it out during lock down, even seeing if anyone on this forum covers your area, is it Swansea (as your info says)?
 
couldbe some water in MCBs, sockets or lights etc. that is still there, causing the RCD to trip. testing of the circuits and the RCD is the way forward.
 
I have a cheapie circuit test meter which I used to check
You need to proper insulation resistance meter to check at 500V to establish if any moisture ingress is evident in other circuits or part thereof.
As others have said best find a local sparks to check, as the fault may lie elsewhere and not within the CU.
 
couldbe some water in MCBs, sockets or lights etc. that is still there, causing the RCD to trip. testing of the circuits and the RCD is the way forward.
I am in the process of disconnecting all lights, sockets, wall heaters etc so I will only have cables hanging out of everything. My tester can check for faults between cores in cables so I'll check them all that way first, hopefullly it will turn up somewhere or maybe many somewhere's and I can change lengths of cable as they are all just pinned to joists or the walls.
If all the cables prove to be OK between cores then I am stuffed as it seems a complete change of the box (unless there is still damp inside it which I haven't or can't pick up with my tester (it is very old and has not been checked out or calibrated as you say for at least 20 years - Fluke 23 series II multimeter)
 
The cables should be fine after they dry out. I would be more worried by accessories having been damaged (water in sockets, heaters, etc), though if clean they should dry out OK.

But something like the RCD where you depend on the internal electronics for your personal safety is something I would definitely change!

Your meter might pick up on leakage, though not as definitely as a 500V insulation tester would do.
 
What price safety?
Maybe ask your insurance company to include the replacement of RCD MCBs and anything else that was soaked.
They might not want to pay out for any subsequent damage that manifests itself later, if you didn't notify them of this incident.
A qualified electrician's report stating replacement is essential should assist you in negotiations with the insurers.
 
Just to concur with others comments, if the protective devices have suffered an ingress of water they should be replaced!
I'm beginning to agree, bite the bulet and fit a new consumer unit complete after I have done all my checks, although it was only the consumer unit that got wet (the leak was above it and nowhere near any othe elctrical piece, the nearest sockets have shelves above them, and they were dry, as was the trunking.
As for insurance, thanks for the tip, but my excess is £100 and I can get a new unit for far less.
Thanks all
WD.
 
I have one more question if any of you can answer please.
If I was to purchase just a 63A 30mA RCD trip to replace the faulty one, which one would you recommend for longevity or stability as I have searched and there are many to choose from but I don't really know what to look for within their descriptions (i.e. an Amazon search bring up loads to choose from but what's the difference apart from price?) I am OK with paying £40 for one, but they range from around £13 and up?
Thanks
WD
 
I have one more question if any of you can answer please.
If I was to purchase just a 63A 30mA RCD trip to replace the faulty one, which one would you recommend for longevity or stability as I have searched and there are many to choose from but I don't really know what to look for within their descriptions (i.e. an Amazon search bring up loads to choose from but what's the difference apart from price?) I am OK with paying £40 for one, but they range from around £13 and up?
These days you are only allowed to use the matching ones tested by the manufacturer, so basically you should not mix-and-match devices as they are not standard in terms of busbar fitting details, etc., and fires have been started as a result.

Realistically getting a whole new unit is your best choice if you can't find the exactly same model of RCD, the garage CU cost tends to be dominated by that part anyway.
 
These days you are only allowed to use the matching ones tested by the manufacturer, so basically you should not mix-and-match devices as they are not standard in terms of busbar fitting details, etc., and fires have been started as a result.

Realistically getting a whole new unit is your best choice if you can't find the exactly same model of RCD, the garage CU cost tends to be dominated by that part anyway.
OK, thanks, I will buy the same make/model again to make sure all matches OK.
Thanks
WD
 
Are you getting an electrician to fit the consumer unit (or RCD) or are you notifying building control? If you don't do either of these then you risk any house insurance being invalid.
 

Reply to RCD2-6330 Has been soaked........Question? in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock