Burnerman, it is a 16amp MCB.
Dave, I tried running it dry and wet, but it still tripped every time.
Dave, I tried running it dry and wet, but it still tripped every time.
Faulty Clarke ES150 Pressure Washer
- Thread starter Milleniumaire
- Start date
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Can you try plugging it into your cooker outlet and see what happens?
John
John
Hoping to get it back from MM sometime this week. The ground floor sockets are on a 32A circuit, just like the ovens, so will try this. To be honest I may have tried that already, I can't remember !
Got the pressure washer back from machinemart. Nothing has been done to it as it worked for the service guy. I plugged it in at the machinemart store and it worked. Plugged it in at home in the garage and it tripped the 16A garage circuit. Unplugged EVERYTHING in the garage (boiler, fridge freezer, electric garage door) and it STILL tripped the circuit. Plugged it into the 32A downstairs kitchen circuit and it worked!
So, the issue is with the 16A garage circuit. It occurred to me that although it was used 6 months ago, this was at one of our lets, not at home, so the last time I used it at home would have been about 3 years ago, to clean the block paved drive. A couple of years ago, we had a kitchen extension built and as part of this the consumer unit was change, so it is possible that the current 16A garage circuit is not the same as the old garage circuit that existed on the old consumer unit. I can't be sure, but maybe the old circuit was higher rated!
It looks like the only way to resolve this is to get an electrician to either upgrade the garage circuit from 16A to 32A or to possibly separate out the garage sockets from the existing garage circuit (there are plenty of spares in the new consumer unit). Whether a new garage socket circuit would need to be 16A or 32A I'm not sure - I'll leave that to the electricain - ideally, it would be possible to test it.
So, the issue is with the 16A garage circuit. It occurred to me that although it was used 6 months ago, this was at one of our lets, not at home, so the last time I used it at home would have been about 3 years ago, to clean the block paved drive. A couple of years ago, we had a kitchen extension built and as part of this the consumer unit was change, so it is possible that the current 16A garage circuit is not the same as the old garage circuit that existed on the old consumer unit. I can't be sure, but maybe the old circuit was higher rated!
It looks like the only way to resolve this is to get an electrician to either upgrade the garage circuit from 16A to 32A or to possibly separate out the garage sockets from the existing garage circuit (there are plenty of spares in the new consumer unit). Whether a new garage socket circuit would need to be 16A or 32A I'm not sure - I'll leave that to the electricain - ideally, it would be possible to test it.
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Maybe the 16A MCB is getting lazy and not allowing full current to flow......I've never had one faulted in this way but I guess its possible!
John
John
I'm considering adding a new 32A MCB to my consumer unit for the garage sockets, which are currently on a 16A MCB along with the boiler, CH cylinder and electric garage door. The consumer unit is only a couple of years old (installed as part of a recent kitchen extension) and has plenty of spare sockets.
Anyone any idea what kind of price an electrician would charge for this work? I assume all that would be required is to install the new 32A MCB into a blank on the CU, then "move" the socket cables (assuming they will reach!). Does £6 for the hager 32A MCB + half an hour labour, possibly an hour including traveling, sound reasonable?
Anyone any idea what kind of price an electrician would charge for this work? I assume all that would be required is to install the new 32A MCB into a blank on the CU, then "move" the socket cables (assuming they will reach!). Does £6 for the hager 32A MCB + half an hour labour, possibly an hour including traveling, sound reasonable?
I can't comment on the legality or recommendation on what you propose (the sparkies would know better) but the next size up MCB wise is 20A. As far as I gather, a 16A MCB is recommended to protect the average 2.5 sq mm ring main.
I guess you could consider a separate outlet to serve your pressure washer alone?
John
I guess you could consider a separate outlet to serve your pressure washer alone?
John
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