Discuss Washing Machine and Dishwasher turning off and on when both switched on at the same time in the Electrical Appliances Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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MarkW7

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I have a Dishwasher and Washing Machine (both several years old) both plugged into a 4 way gang. They are on a 16Amp RCD with other appliances also on the same circuit.

When both are turned on at about the same time, about 5 mins after turning on they will both turn off completely, as if they have lost all power. No fuses blow, the RCD doesnt trip and other appliances remain on, that are on the same circuit.

A few minutes later both will turn on again (resuming their program from where it was) and then the cycle repeats, off then on again.

It appears to only happen if both are turned on at a similar time (so I presume both are heating the water at the same time).

Surely if too much current is being drawn for the gang, a fuse would blow somewhere?? How can both machines be shutting themselves down and restarting??? They both work fine when used independantly or if switched on at different times. Any suggestions welcome.
 
I have a Dishwasher and Washing Machine (both several years old) both plugged into a 4 way gang.
Do they work OK if plugged directly in to a wall socket (ie not using the 4-way adapter)?
If so, stop using that adapter, they do not like large currents over long periods of time.
They are on a 16Amp RCD

RCD??? do you mean MCB?
 
A dishwasher and a washing mashine will more than likely exceed the 13A maximum load on the plug and four way adaptor. As you have found, the most current is drawn when heating so you may get away with starting the heating cycles at different times, but the combined current could still be too high and I would not recomend it.

The powering off might be caused by a resettable thermal fuse, or it might just be a component overheating and expanding in a way that breaks the circuit. Either way, you should not be loading a 4 way block in this way, and this is probably one of the most common causes of electrical fires. The cheaper extention cables are particulallay bad for this, and some are not even suitable for a 13A load.

You need to get 2 13A sockets installed or use one device at a time plugged directly in to the wall.
 
There may be a pressure switch in each appliance that only lets it work if there’s sufficient water pressure. If one appliance is taking the water, the other cannot operate.
This wouldn’t turn the appliances off completely, so I’ll have to agree with others about not using the 4 gang adaptor.

What happens the other things plugged in to the adaptor when the appliances go off?
 
OP's from London. thought they did their washing in the Thames down there.
 
Just had a very similar problem,at me ma's. A 6 gang lead,was doing the random on/off thing,and it was the switch which controlled all 6.
It had got hot at some stage,and "settled-in",providing minimal contact...

They are £11.39 on the bay,but are not rated for anything heavy:)
 
Do they work OK if plugged directly in to a wall socket (ie not using the 4-way adapter)?
If so, stop using that adapter, they do not like large currents over long periods of time.


RCD??? do you mean MCB?
Do they work OK if plugged directly in to a wall socket (ie not using the 4-way adapter)?
If so, stop using that adapter, they do not like large currents over long periods of time.


RCD??? do you mean MCB?

MCB - Yes
Do they work OK if plugged directly in to a wall socket (ie not using the 4-way adapter)?
If so, stop using that adapter, they do not like large currents over long periods of time.


RCD??? do you mean MCB?

MCB - Yes, and do they work in the wall socket, well never tried as they have been plugged into the gang for years. It is just this turning off thing I have noticed, but only happens when turned on at about the same time.
 
A dishwasher and a washing mashine will more than likely exceed the 13A maximum load on the plug and four way adaptor. As you have found, the most current is drawn when heating so you may get away with starting the heating cycles at different times, but the combined current could still be too high and I would not recomend it.

The powering off might be caused by a resettable thermal fuse, or it might just be a component overheating and expanding in a way that breaks the circuit. Either way, you should not be loading a 4 way block in this way, and this is probably one of the most common causes of electrical fires. The cheaper extention cables are particulallay bad for this, and some are not even suitable for a 13A load.

You need to get 2 13A sockets installed or use one device at a time plugged directly in to the wall.

So the fuses in the plugs are just standard ceramic cartridge fuses. The four way gang is just a four way gang with no fancy protection. Surely if it was drawing more than 13A the fuse would blow rather than both machines shutting down at exactly the same time?
 
There may be a pressure switch in each appliance that only lets it work if there’s sufficient water pressure. If one appliance is taking the water, the other cannot operate.
This wouldn’t turn the appliances off completely, so I’ll have to agree with others about not using the 4 gang adaptor.

What happens the other things plugged in to the adaptor when the appliances go off?
I thought about water pressure, but we have high pressure to the house and they are both connected directly to the main. Likewise I didnt think it would turn them both off completely.

There isnt anything else plugged into the gang, just other things on the same main circuit in the room, they all stay on.
 
MCB - Yes


MCB - Yes, and do they work in the wall socket, well never tried as they have been plugged into the gang for years. It is just this turning off thing I have noticed, but only happens when turned on at about the same time.
The fuse in the plug for the 4-way adapter may be rated at 13amp, but a 13A fuse will stand more than 20amp for hours before it gives up. The 4-way thingy is not made for what you are making it do.

The years of over current will have knackered either the 4-way thing, or the plug in the wall, or the socket itself. As it is, something has got to the point where it can’t take it any more. It’s now a fire risk.

As above, you need the sort this out properly. You need separate SINGLE 13A sockets as part of the ring final circuit. Adapters, extension leads etc should not be used as you have done.
 
So the fuses in the plugs are just standard ceramic cartridge fuses. The four way gang is just a four way gang with no fancy protection. Surely if it was drawing more than 13A the fuse would blow rather than both machines shutting down at exactly the same time?

A 13A fuse will actually take quite a bit more current than that to blow it. It sounds like the current being drawn is affecting a part of the extension lead temporarily. Either an auto-resetting thermal trip facility as spinlondon suggested, or an intermittent fault caused by heat provided by the combined current.

Either way the extension is not suitable for this use and should be not used, even for one load as it is likely it has a fault on it.

Use wall sockets as mentioned by Taylortwocities above.
 

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