yes it's a residential property. The RCD was ordered off ebay as apparently they're old and hard to get hold of now, at least that's what he said.
Earth Leakage Detector
- Thread starter TheBinarySheep
- Start date
yes it's a residential property. The RCD was ordered off ebay as apparently they're old and hard to get hold of now, at least that's what he said.
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I'm going to add more information which I missed out as I'm certain the issue is caused somewhere on the garage feed. Our extension is also connected to the garage RCD, however I'm confident that the problem isn't with any of the extension wiring. Sorry, I should have mentioned this earlier.
Why do I think the issue isn't in the extension wiring? The extension was build about 3 or so years ago. A couple of years before that we had block paving fitted, and the workmen couldn't plug some of their equipment into the socket in the garage as it would keep tripping, so we had to leave an extension cable outside for them every day that was plugged into the kitchen. So I'm confident that the problem existed before the extension was built.
So a few notes;
1) The treadmill trips the RCD when connected to the single socket in the garage
2) The treadmill trips the RCD when connected to a socket in the extension (on the same RCD as the garage)
3) The treadmill doesn't trip an RCD when it's connected to a socket in the house (kitchen)
4) Before the extension was built, certain things would trip the RCD when plugged into the garage
5) The garage and the extension both have their own feeds directly from the RCD
I think the simplest thing for me to do, is open up the consumer unit, disconnected the garage feed from the RCD, then plug the treadmill into a socket in the extension. If it doesn't trip the RCD, then it's something on the garage feed.
Why do I think the issue isn't in the extension wiring? The extension was build about 3 or so years ago. A couple of years before that we had block paving fitted, and the workmen couldn't plug some of their equipment into the socket in the garage as it would keep tripping, so we had to leave an extension cable outside for them every day that was plugged into the kitchen. So I'm confident that the problem existed before the extension was built.
So a few notes;
1) The treadmill trips the RCD when connected to the single socket in the garage
2) The treadmill trips the RCD when connected to a socket in the extension (on the same RCD as the garage)
3) The treadmill doesn't trip an RCD when it's connected to a socket in the house (kitchen)
4) Before the extension was built, certain things would trip the RCD when plugged into the garage
5) The garage and the extension both have their own feeds directly from the RCD
I think the simplest thing for me to do, is open up the consumer unit, disconnected the garage feed from the RCD, then plug the treadmill into a socket in the extension. If it doesn't trip the RCD, then it's something on the garage feed.
Actually, I have a 2kw heater connected in the extension (via the same RCD), and it works fine without tripping the RCD. But if I plug the treadmill into the same socket, it trips after a few minutes. The heater though, I can have on for hours.
I've had heaters connected in the garage as well, and they've been fine.
I work from home, and our extension is an office. To give you an idea it's currently running;
iMac + additional monitor + speakers
iMac
HP Microserver
Hp Microserver
2kw heater
Xbox + monitor
Dell PC + Monitor
and there's various things plugged in on charge
None of these cause any issue, but if I disconnect them all, plug in the threadmil, it trips the RCD.
I have one of those cheap plugs that tells you how much electricity a device is using, I plugged it into the treadmil and it was only using a max of 3amps, so I don't think it's tripping due to overload.
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That's what you would think, but the treadmill works when plugged into sockets in the house, so you'd think if there was an issue it would trip the RCD in the house too?
I've opened up the consumer unit, disconnected the garage feed, and connected the treadmill to the exchange via the same RCD, still tripped.
It's all pointing to a problem with the treadmill, but... I don't understand why it trips when connected in the garage with absolutely nothing else connected to the circuit. But doesn't trip when connected in the kitchen which has all sorts of other devices (tv's etc) connected to the circuit.
It's all pointing to a problem with the treadmill, but... I don't understand why it trips when connected in the garage with absolutely nothing else connected to the circuit. But doesn't trip when connected in the kitchen which has all sorts of other devices (tv's etc) connected to the circuit.
But the feed to the garage has had it's RCD replaced recently? or would the tolerance of the old RCD and the replacement be the similar? The old RCD (which I still have here) is a MEM M6 TYPE 3 16A 30mA
Yeah same as the new one but from what I understand from what you have said the Type C RCBO isn't tripping the thing is plugged in to a socket served by that? I think Type 3 and Type C have different specs / characteristics but I am not sure so am open to correction.
That makes sense now. No in theory, if I connect the treadmill to an upstairs socket which is also on a type 3 RCD, then it should also trip. I may give that a try.
It trips with or without the extension lead.
I may be tempted to call an electrician out to test the treadmill, at least if only to confirm the issue is with it.
As has been said, it would seem to make sense to first see if the treadmill causes a trip when plugged into a socket which is protected by a different RCD/RCBO. That may avoid your having to call an electrician to tell you what you could already have discovered for yourself.
Kind Regards, John
I've ran an extension cable from upstairs, into the garage and plugged the treadmill in, no tripping. Upstairs is supplied by a TYPE 3 RCD.
The treadmill also doesn't trip when connected to the downstairs sockets, this is connected to a TYPE C RCD
The only thing left I can try is to disconnect the extension from the garage's RCD so that it's only supplying the garage, and see if that makes any difference, maybe the issue is in the extension wiring after all.
The treadmill also doesn't trip when connected to the downstairs sockets, this is connected to a TYPE C RCD
The only thing left I can try is to disconnect the extension from the garage's RCD so that it's only supplying the garage, and see if that makes any difference, maybe the issue is in the extension wiring after all.
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