electricity keeps cutting off

dball

For some reason the fuse box trips every time the washing machine finishes its cycle and i have to reset the trip switch.
Where should i look for a fault - is it as simple as a fuse in the plug of the washing machine or do i have to delve a little deeper.

Anyone any thoughts??


Thanks in advance

brightspark

I'm going to take a guess that you are referring to the left breaker on the top row?

Short answer is it's definitely not the fuse in the plug top.

Is the machine leaking?

dball

correct on the button location, no leaks that are noticeable.
its a washer/dryer and the dryer has never worked - it wont produce any heat - well not consistently!
as a result we never use the dryer function.
Always happens at the very last second of the cycle as it clicks to "finish"

brightspark

If it only happens when finished, perhaps a problem with the door switch release?

Or the programmer? Or is it trying to start a drying circuit and you have bad elements?

Luckysasha

I'd say its trying to start the drying cycle and because you have a problem with your dryer elements that's causing the trip.

sparkfireman

as above. faulty washer dryer. get a new on off your house insurance!!!

Sir Arthur Daley

sparkfireman wrote: »

as above. faulty washer dryer. get a new on off your house insurance!!!

Getting a home insurance policy to cover a white goods appliance would be very slim to none.

sparkfireman

hmmm they did mine, once u factor in water damage.... but thats a bit extra i suppose. including policy excess.... anyway we're off topic lol

Sir Arthur Daley

Imo it wouldnt take much to resolve that tripping issue.

zool1974

Or just put washer on a program that doesn't include a dry at the end. I'm sure certain programmes don't dry as well. Or use freshen up or rinse program.
No point getting white goods guy in to service it, as it would be just as cheap to buy new one. If you have a mate who is an electrician, ask him to have a look behind casing in back of machine. The fact that the dryer works a bit now and then, and you have a tripping breaker, I'm thinking just a loose wire or crimp from vibration of washer. If it was bad element, your rcd or elcb would be tripping out.
In my experience, it's usually the simplest problem. Hope this helps. But don't try this yourself. Even when washer plugged out, you still have live parts inside machine, capacitors etc, and can give you a nasty shock.

brightspark

zool1974 wrote: »

Or just put washer on a program that doesn't include a dry at the end. I'm sure certain programmes don't dry as well. Or use freshen up or rinse program.
No point getting white goods guy in to service it, as it would be just as cheap to buy new one. If you have a mate who is an electrician, ask him to have a look behind casing in back of machine. The fact that the dryer works a bit now and then, and you have a tripping breaker, I'm thinking just a loose wire or crimp from vibration of washer. If it was bad element, your rcd or elcb would be tripping out.
In my experience, it's usually the simplest problem. Hope this helps. But don't try this yourself. Even when washer plugged out, you still have live parts inside machine, capacitors etc, and can give you a nasty shock.

It is the RCD tripping, have a look at the first three posts.

Also how does a loose wire/connection trip an MCB?

Your advice about capacitors is good though.

zool1974

brightspark wrote: »

It is the RCD tripping, have a look at the first three posts.

Also how does a loose wire/connection trip an MCB?

Your advice about capacitors is good though.

Sorry, pic never showed up on my phone. Yeah your heating element is gone.

How does a loose wire trip a breaker? Not quite sure why you asking that. I'm guessing you are a spark. And I'm hoping you already know the answer.

Firstly, if there is a loose wire, arcing can occur, which will give a surge in current each time juice is on there wires. The MCB rating will be well exceeded by the surge and will trip.
And secondly, if connection is only barely making contact and wires have juice on them constantly, if they are main power cables, and not just switching cables for circuitry, the current could be running high Due to arcing again or corrosion on connections, and bi metallic strip heats up and trips. Electrics 101. MCB protects for short circuit and overload protection. And for the record, I am a spark. I do no installation work, no first or second fixing.
I'm a fault finder. Nothing like using the old grey matter now and again.

2011

zool1974 wrote: »

Firstly, if there is a loose wire, arcing can occur, which will give a surge in current each time juice is on there wires. The MCB rating will be well exceeded by the surge and will trip.

I would say that if the MCB operates due to a loose connection it is far more likely that it is due to an earth fault.

The MCB should react quickly to overload or short circuit conditions. However it should not operate when a the normal inrush current flows. Are you suggesting that arcing would cause the inrush current to be of a larger magnitude than normal inrush current?

And secondly, if connection is only barely making contact and wires have juice on them constantly, if they are main power cables, and not just switching cables for circuitry, the current could be running high Due to arcing again or corrosion on connections, and bi metallic strip heats up and trips.

The bimetal strip in an MCB is designed to heat up and bend under sustained overload conditions. I would think that a high resistance in the circuit due to corrosion will reduce the currrent drawn as the circuit now has a higher resistance. This would reduce the chances of the bimetal strip operating the MCB.

Bruthal

A loose connection at an mcb can cause it to trip if it is supplying an inductive load, if the mcb is already on the threshold of just about being able to hold when the load starts.

If the bad connection and arcing was causing trips due to a fast series of inrush currents due to the arcing, then trips would be seen at least now and again during the normal operation of the appliance in question.

Never seen it happen on any domestic appliance in a house.

It seems clear it's the rcd in this case anyway.

2011

Bruthal wrote: »

If the bad connection and arcing was causing trips due to a fast series of inrush currents due to the arcing, then trips would be seen at least now and again during the normal operation of the appliance in question.

Exactly.
So what you are saying is the MCB is undersized which would cause it to trip occasionally under normal operation and a loose connection would cause the frequency of this problem to increase.
But the arcing would not cause an increase in the magnitude of the inrush current.

Never seen it happen on any domestic appliance in a house.

Me neither.
Not likely to occur.

zool1974

But the arcing is most likely just on a power cable in circuitry for the dryer part, so it would not cause any nuisance tripping at other times for the poster. We are probably all making this too complicated for original poster. Is he not just better off finding a cycle that doesn't use drying, and if it doesn't trip rcd, then it's definitely element of dryer or bad wiring. The better we can narrow it down for him, the less it will cost him, if he gets electrician out to have a look. Or even simpler, check warranty, as some manufacturers give 3 to 5 years warranty. Could be still under warranty. Or Google make of machine, and see if it's a common problem. There could be a cause and fix already out there for it.

2011

zool1974 wrote: »

We are probably all making this too complicated for original poster.

Agreed

check warranty, as some manufacturers give 3 to 5 years warranty. Could be still under warranty. Or Google make of machine, and see if it's a common problem. There could be a cause and fix already out there for it.

True, worth checking.