Machines suddenly tripping out for no reason.

[piman]

Hello Gritineye,

what is tripping, an RCD or a circuit breaker? The former is caused by low insulation resistance and the latter by overcurrent. If there are multiple circuits off one RCD then the combined leakage current can build up to cause a trip.

Alec

 

[normspanners]

any faulty appliance in the house could cause it .dont just turn them off unplug them as a lot of sockets are single pole and the neutral and earth are still in circuit and can give current imbalance

Cheers BS again you are right, thats what I meant sorry, we go through it here so often, when I am away, I have to do this over the phone with the family, we unplug then go round and replug. I am still looking for the time to change my CU to all rcds.

 

[Gritineye]

Hello Gritineye,
what is tripping, an RCD or a circuit breaker? The former is caused by low insulation resistance and the latter by overcurrent. If there are multiple circuits off one RCD then the combined leakage current can build up to cause a trip.

Alec

Good point! The w/shop has a PCCD in the CU, the house has a trip in the incoming power lead to the meter, both are tripping, the circuit breakers aren't

w/shop

house

 

[brightspark]

[that crabtree elcb is a voltage operated trip they were outlawed 25 years ago. if thats tripping u deffo need to get it checked out . im suprised the electrician that came didnt tell u so. i wouldnt have conected your garage in to your db without changing it to a current operated one and it would have been seperate from the house

 

[Gritineye]

[that crabtree elcb is a voltage operated trip they were outlawed 25 years ago. if thats tripping u deffo need to get it checked out . im suprised the electrician that came didnt tell u so. i wouldnt have conected your garage in to your db without changing it to a current operated one and it would have been seperate from the house

Blimey! The w/shop wiring was installed many years ago, possibly even 25!

edit: It hasn't been seen by any sparky since installation..

 

[Gritineye]

Just connected the shaper to the house with an extension lead, the craptree elcb tripped, so it seems the w/shop wireing may not be the problem.

 

[oilyneil]

[that crabtree elcb is a voltage operated trip they were outlawed 25 years ago. if thats tripping u deffo need to get it checked out . im suprised the electrician that came didnt tell u so. i wouldnt have conected your garage in to your db without changing it to a current operated one and it would have been seperate from the house

That rules out a neutral earth fault then ! Bloody voltage trips,,, hoped they had all gone by now,,,,

 

[Gritineye]

That rules out a neutral earth fault then ! Bloody voltage trips,,, hoped they had all gone by now,,,,

So I need to have that replaced by a qualified sparky, what should he be replacing it with to comply with latest regs?

 

[Robotstar5]

So I need to have that replaced by a qualified sparky, what should he be replacing it with to comply with latest regs?

I suggest you get an EICR (electrical inspection & condition report) done first, should cost about £150, ideally they are done every 10 years in domestic. It will give you an idea of the wiring condition, the report will highlight any problems and you can then get quotes for any remedial work.

 

[Gritineye]

I suggest you get an EICR (electrical inspection & condition report) done first, should cost about £150, ideally they are done every 10 years in domestic. It will give you an idea of the wiring condition, the report will highlight any problems and you can then get quotes for any remedial work.

Yep will get that done ASP.

Will also test the shaper motor for leaks with the old Bakelite Megger.

Meanwhile I found this which mentions nuisance trips, so that might be some of the problem.

Early ELCBs responded to sine wave fault currents, but not to rectified fault current. Over time, filtering against nuisance trips has also improved. Early ELCBs thus offer a little less safety and higher risk of nuisance trip. The ability to distinguish between a fault condition and non-risk conditions is called discrimination.

 

[Gritineye]

Tested the motor and it has an 50,000 ohms earth fault, opened the motor and it got an oil film all over, so I need some decent safe cleaner, can only find small expensive spray cans. What's the best one to get in a lager amount and where from please?