Smeg cooker tripping randomly

[Neilacker]

Hi
Hope someone could help, I have a Smeg induction range cooker that randomly trips the switch to all the plug sockets in the house but never trips the switch the cooker is on, we have had an electrician check the wire from the cooker to the mains and all came back OK and a specialist smeg repair man look at it and no one can find fault.
It will randomly trip doesn't matter whether its the oven being used or just the induction hob, it could trip 3 times per hour then go days without problem a
The model number is tr93ix si 08.

Hope someone could help
Thanks

 

[James]

a Picture of the consumer unit (fuse board etc) would help us here.

 

[Neilacker]

How do I add a picture
Thanks

 

[Neilacker]

a Picture of the consumer unit (fuse board etc) would help us here.

 

[Electrics]

Any pattern in how much of the cooker you have turned on when it trips? Woulda thought 32a wouldn't be sufficient with all of it going at once but i've not whipped out the calculator so someone else will correct me if wrong.

 

[Neilacker]

Any pattern in how much of the cooker you have turned on when it trips? Woulda thought 32a wouldn't be sufficient with all of it going at once but i've not whipped out the calculator so someone else will correct me if wrong.

Hi
There's no pattern it could go days no problem and then a few times per hour sometimes even when not in use.
It got to the point that I made a chart for what was being used on the cooker and other electrical items even had a section for it was raining haha
Its connected to a 40a switch
Thanks

 

[Avo Mk8]

I'm assuming it's the RCD switch in the middle that is tripping.
It would be an interesting experiment, though no doubt inconvenient, to turn off the MCB's for the garage, upstairs and downstairs sockets, and the unlabelled one in between, to see if the cooker still trips it!

Is it a recently acquired Smeg range, or have you had it a while and its just started doing this?

 

[Neilacker]

I'm assuming it's the RCD switch in the middle that is tripping.
It would be an interesting experiment, though no doubt inconvenient, to turn off the MCB's for the garage, upstairs and downstairs sockets, and the unlabelled one in between, to see if the cooker still trips it!

Is it a recently acquired Smeg range, or have you had it a while and its just started doing this?

Yes its the RCD that trips, I've already tried with them all off and still tripped.
The unlabelled one is the cooker, the one saying cooker is to an outside socket
Thanks

 

[Avo Mk8]

Yes its the RCD that trips, I've already tried with them all off and still tripped.
The unlabelled one is the cooker, the one saying cooker is to an outside socket
Thanks

So when everything else on the RCD side is switched off at their MCB's, but the cooker MCB is on, the RCD still trips.
Taken at face value, that implies the problem is with the cooker.
One final test might be to repeat that experiment with the cooker isolator in the kitchen switched off (to check the tripping stops) though you say an electrician has already checked the cooker circuit.

The reason I asked if the cooker was new, is that sometimes if a new oven has been stored in a warehouse for a while, the heating element can absorb a little moisture and develop a leakage current that can trip an RCD. After it dries out the problem goes away. Probably not the issue here if you've already used the oven a bit.

Does the cooker ever trip the RCD when you are not using it at all, ie nothing working on either the hob or the oven?

 

[Neilacker]

So when everything else on the RCD side is switched off at their MCB's, but the cooker MCB is on, the RCD still trips.
Taken at face value, that implies the problem is with the cooker.
One final test might be to repeat that experiment with the cooker isolator in the kitchen switched off (to check the tripping stops) though you say an electrician has already checked the cooker circuit.

The reason I asked if the cooker was new, is that sometimes if a new oven has been stored in a warehouse for a while, the heating element can absorb a little moisture and develop a leakage current that can trip an RCD. After it dries out the problem goes away. Probably not the issue here if you've already used the oven a bit.

Does the cooker ever trip the RCD when you are not using it at all, ie nothing working on either the hob or the oven?

Yes thats correct everything else off and it still tripped, the cooker isolator switch was switched off each night so the electricity would still be on over night.
The problems started about a week after the warranty ran out so Smeg wouldn't look at it ?

Yes the cooker has tripped when not in use but isolator on
Thanks

 

[Electrics]

So what's the 32a labelled cooker?

At this point you need to have the installation tested by a competent person.

 

[Avo Mk8]

So what's the 32a labelled cooker?

At this point you need to have the installation tested by a competent person.

OP is saying it's an outside socket.
And he's also had an electrician who couldn't find a fault!

 

[Electrics]

And he's also had an electrician who couldn't find a fault!

Was it tested though? Sometimes 'check it' means they just looked at some stuff.

 

[Avo Mk8]

Yes thats correct everything else off and it still tripped, the cooker isolator switch was switched off each night so the electricity would still be on over night.
The problems started about a week after the warranty ran out so Smeg wouldn't look at it ?

Yes the cooker has tripped when not in use but isolator on
Thanks

I think you should persist with Smeg - fitness for purpose/ merchantable quality and all that. Shouldn't be failing with a safety related fault so soon!

 

[Neilacker]

Its for an outside socket. I have had an electrician check from the switch to the cooker and a Smeg recommended electrician to check the cooker and no faults found.

Thanks

 

[Electrics]

Its for an outside socket. I have had an electrician check from the switch to the cooker and a Smeg recommended electrician to check the cooker and no faults found.

Thanks

When you say 'check' did he put a multi function tester on it?

 

[Neilacker]

I think you should persist with Smeg - fitness for purpose/ merchantable quality and all that. Shouldn't be failing with a safety related fault so soon!

I will try with smeg again see where that gets me

 

[Avo Mk8]

Smeg recommended electrician to check the cooker and no faults found.

Frustrating. "No fault found" doesn't solve the problem.
Need an electrician equipped with the necessary test gear and a bit more determined to get to the bottom of it!

 

[Neilacker]

When you say 'check' did he put a multi function tester on it?

He put some sort of tester on it I remember him telling me the equipment he was using was more accurate than a multi meter
Thanks

 

[Electrics]

He put some sort of tester on it I remember him telling me the equipment he was using was more accurate than a multi meter
Thanks

Sounds good.

Coming from a French background i wonder if any of the experts in here (since i'm not one) think it's a reasonable suggestion that the AC RCD could be the problem? I've had a look at the cooker there doesn't seem to be much electronics on it so maybe this suggestion is bunk but i just noticed the AC RCD and it sprung to mind.

 

[ferg]

Intermittent faults can be a bit of a pest to find sometimes.
They are by nature not always immediately obvious.

It may be that he was unable to replicate the fault as it may be something inside the cooker heating or cooling that causes the issue.

There is also a possibility that it's a neutral earth fault on a separate circuit.

 

[Avo Mk8]

Sounds good.

Coming from a French background i wonder if any of the experts in here (since i'm not one) think it's a reasonable suggestion that the AC RCD could be the problem? I've had a look at the cooker there doesn't seem to be much electronics on it so maybe this suggestion is bunk but i just noticed the AC RCD and it sprung to mind.

It'a apparently got an induction hob, so it's got around 7kW of electronics I believe ?

 

[Electrics]

It'a apparently got an induction hob, so it's got around 7kW of electronics I believe ?

Does that count as the type that can backfeed DC to an RCD though?

 

[Neilacker]

It'a apparently got an induction hob, so it's got around 7kW of electronics I believe ?

On the back it mentions 11.1kw and 19.4kw

 

[Avo Mk8]

There is also a possibility that it's a neutral earth fault on a separate circuit.

Yes I agree, still a possibility that it's not the cooker !!

 

[Electrics]

Yes I agree, still a possibility that it's not the cooker !!

Yep i would get the spark to test the entire installation. If that returns nothing would it be worth changing the RCD to a Type A?

 

[Norah Nabino]

So what's the 32a labelled cooker?

At this point you need to have the installation tested by a competent person.

You need a complete test on the cooker circuit.
Insulation resistance, RCD test, continuity test etc

 

[Neilacker]

Thanks for the advice.
Little update, I have borrowed another range cooker that has induction hob and electric oven but not has powerful has the smeg (don't know if it will make any difference) just to see how it goes, so far 2 days in and no issues at all i will let you know how it goes over next few days.
Thanks