I hope some one can give me some advice. I have read a lot of similar problems. We have just bought a Bailey Pageant Champagne series 5 and on our first outing the electric kept tripping. It only seemed to trip the sockets though. We plugged the van into the mains at home for and tried different appliances. The heater was on for ages and after I turned it off at the wall the fan was still going and then it tripped the sockets but not straight away. Has anyone any idea why?
Electric Tripping
- Thread starter Viki
- Start date
When on your outing do you mean it tripped at the point when you plugged in to the site or the trip in the van. If the former then I would suspect the heater is pulling more amps than the site hookup could provide. When you tried it at home did the house trip go or was it the van trip. Either way I would suspect the heater and have it checked out.
HTH's
HTH's
Hi, it didn't trip initially it just tripped intermittently after we had hooked up. When attached at home to our electric it was ok for ages, we thought it was ok and then we turned the heater off but the fan was still on on the heater and it tripped just the van electrics not the house. (it tripped the van on site too)
On my van -not Bailey, if you turn off the heater then the fan will continue to run for a couple of minutes to allow it to cool down. Have no experience of Bailey but sounds like the heater has an earth fault.
Damian
Moderator
The fan is supplied by 12vDC so will not affect the mains operation.
The first thing to do is start with all the MCB's off.
Plug in the van to the mains and switch one of the MCB's on and switch on any appliances connected to that MCB see what happens.
Then if all is ok, switch that one off and switch the next one on and each appliance connected to it,,,see what happens.
If you can eliminate individual items it makes sorting it out easier.
What other items are supplied by each MCB? and in particular the one which tripped?
The first thing to do is start with all the MCB's off.
Plug in the van to the mains and switch one of the MCB's on and switch on any appliances connected to that MCB see what happens.
Then if all is ok, switch that one off and switch the next one on and each appliance connected to it,,,see what happens.
If you can eliminate individual items it makes sorting it out easier.
What other items are supplied by each MCB? and in particular the one which tripped?
I have eliminated the fridge the only others that are on that MCB were the fire and the sockets I think
Damian
Moderator
There have been several instances of the actual MCB being faulty and dropping out for no apparent reason.
Your best bet is to get a mobile engineer to have a look at it.
Your best bet is to get a mobile engineer to have a look at it.
Grahamh said:
I'm intrigued to know how you arrived at your conclusion, could you explain please?
Damian
Moderator
MCB = Minature Circuit Breaker
On your mains distribution unit you have an RCD (the one with a press button test facility) and the other trip switches are MCB's
On your mains distribution unit you have an RCD (the one with a press button test facility) and the other trip switches are MCB's
It is not clear whether it is the MCB that is tripping or the RCD. If it is the MCB there will likely be a bang associated with it as to trip a 10A or 16A breaker needs quite a bit of current to make it go - way over its rating. If there is simply a click it would suggest a faulty breaker especially if it is those cheap and nasty Chinese units that Bailey persist on using.
If you are competent to do it yourself they are easy enough to change but you may have difficulty getting a double pole ganged-switch type MCB - they are known as DIN-rail fitting - and if you do find some they cost an arm and a leg!* Also - in my Peg 462 at least - the distribution from the outlet of the RCD to the inlet of each MCB is by insulated copper busbars. If the screw terminals of the MCBs are tightened the shape of the busbar will cause the case of the MCB to try to break open. In my case the fault was the RCD (replaced with Schneider, £22 from Toolstation) but to remove the tension I replaced the busbars with appropriately rated flex instead. Domestic solid copper wiring cable is not suitable as it will eventually sheer due to vibration - 2.5mm or 4mm flex is better.
* We are talking north of £40 apiece here.
If you are competent to do it yourself they are easy enough to change but you may have difficulty getting a double pole ganged-switch type MCB - they are known as DIN-rail fitting - and if you do find some they cost an arm and a leg!* Also - in my Peg 462 at least - the distribution from the outlet of the RCD to the inlet of each MCB is by insulated copper busbars. If the screw terminals of the MCBs are tightened the shape of the busbar will cause the case of the MCB to try to break open. In my case the fault was the RCD (replaced with Schneider, £22 from Toolstation) but to remove the tension I replaced the busbars with appropriately rated flex instead. Domestic solid copper wiring cable is not suitable as it will eventually sheer due to vibration - 2.5mm or 4mm flex is better.
* We are talking north of £40 apiece here.
If the trip goes it indicates an earth fault. as it trips when the heater is on then surely this points to the heater no?
Sorry but meant this as reply to Prof John. (I'm intrigued to know how you arrived at your conclusion, could you explain please? )
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