SHOWER TRIPPING OUT RCD

Shin Bet

Hi guys
im looking for some advice
when the flatmates shower is on it keeps tripping the rcd
this started last wednesday but doesnt happen each time the shower is on.
Im going to go through the circut to make sure everything is sound. but I was wondering with the current demand for power would there be any chance its blowing due to a reduced supply from esb?
todays one there was the
tv, grill (not the oven) sky box , wifi router, and possibly kettle, all running then shower was switched on for about a45 seconds before the breaker went.

anyone an ideas??

davelerave

could be damp or faulty heater tank(instantaneous)
you can run it cold to see if it's the heater tank causing trouble

N-E fixed wiring faults can cause trouble too.normally the shower would have it's own 'rcbo' .if it's sharing the rcd ,'standing ' leakage and 'accumulated' leakage can be factors obviously.
don't think undervoltage is a factor .standard rcds don't have undervoltage release

eoghan.geraghty

Have you a 40A RCD or a 63A one.
A 40A could be overloading and used to be the norm, a 63A one is required these days.

davelerave

eoghan.geraghty wrote: »

Have you a 40A RCD or a 63A one.
A 40A could be overloading and used to be the norm, a 63A one is required these days.

would hardly be an issue here would it,exceeding the current rating of a 40amp rcd?

cafferkey

How old is the shower? The life is greatly reduced when used with 'hard' water as the limescale builds up on the heating element and causes the unit to draw more power to heat the water. You coould/should try de scaling the unit.

Shin Bet

40a rcd
im going to reseal the unit i tried to recreate the conditions earlier but it wouldnt trip.
showers about 6 years old, Im not too worried just when i moved in first 5 years ago the guy who installed it had 13a spades connecting in the attic :eek: yep thats right luckily i got it as it was smoldering i still have all the wires melted into each other as a reminder to people.
I think ill fit a 63a rcbo during the week will never do any harm
also ill descale and check the heating elements. not sure if im in a hard water area though.

it turns out there was a few other things on the other day and this morning
a tv a toaster and kettle.
Id say its leakage all right but i was a little curious as the esb are reporting huge demand would me running everything and a possible drop in supply be a factor weve been having a lot of "surges" lately aswell like lights dimming etc same as when the shower is switched on or off.

just another question would 45a isolaters be ok still if i changed the rcd to a 63a rcdo? ita a standard mk 45a dpdt switch

cheers guys

.G.

if the other circuits are covered by this same rcd then you don't need an rcbo as they have their own mcb's in line with the rcd.you can change to a 63a rcd or put the shower on its own rcbo,suitably rated in line with the showers kw rating.I'd do the latter

the isolator would be fine cos its just that,an isolator,its not there for protection of the cables,provided of course the shower is not pulling more than 45amps

Shin Bet

i think ill go with the rcbo its only a 20 min job to do and would be safer in the long run,
now to descale the shower

eoghan.geraghty

If you are going to change anything in the board, put the shower on it's own 40A RCBO and change the RCD to a 63A one.
These should operate independently, and this will give you best protection.