electric tripproblem

[tony_374382203]

hi to all

when ever i hookup at home to warm van through with either portable fan heater or truma heater at some point when im not there it trips out at the trip box in caravan. has anybody got any ideas, its plugged in to my garage which as the latest earth trip electrics,it does not trip the garage supply just caravan.

tony

 

[Steve L]

Hi Tony.

If this problem doesn't present it's self when you're out on a site hook up and using the same fan heater etc, I would suspect the garage supply. If you can, plug the van into the eleciric cooker 13amp socket in the kitchen. This 13 amp standard plug/socket is usually the only socket wired into the cooker circuit. If you can't do that, use a socket that is not on the same trip/fuse circuit as the garage.

If your consumer unit (fuse/trip box) is not marked up, just plug a table lamp into the socket in the garage and turn off the trips individually to find the one feeding the garage from the house.

Now try the heaters out and see if they trip.

What you might be experiencing is a back feed via the neutral circuit in the garage wiring. This is quite common and as the voltage is usually below 20 volts, you don't see any problems. But the circuits of caravans are wired via the charger unit which does detect neutral back feed and shuts the van down via the trip.

From a safety point of view, unless you are an electrician, please don't risk playing with the wires as electricity is the silent killer. Get aqualified electrician to do the work.Even sparkies like me can get caught out.

I was decorating our front room of our newly purchased home. Got to one of the enconomy 7 storage heater points, and remembering that I'd turned that consumer unit off at the isolator circuit, I stupidly presumed that it was a dead socket. Un be known to me, the previous owner had wired a night storage socket to the 13amp household plug circuit (which was still live), I took the cover off slacked the terminals and grabbed the wires to stuff them into the box out of the way. I was blown across the room by the 240 volt shock and was very lucky to be alive to tell the tale.

Hopefully you'll be able to narrow down the problem and get a sparky to fix that issue.

Good luck.

Steve L.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Tony,

You don't tell us which trip is acting, is it the RCD or one of the MCB's in the caravan. Just for clarity, the RCD is the unit that has the test button, and cuts off every mains circuit in the caravan. the MCB's are like fuses and only isolate a particular circuit e.g. sockets or lighting.

It is always important to establish the reason for any safety device operating. The device tripping is usually a symptom of a fault elsewhere, but it can also be the safety device malfunctioning. The skill of the electrician is to find and treat the cause not just the symptom.

Steves answer as far as I can tell only relates to the RCD, and what he writes makes sense. - but I would add that there have been some reports of some RCD's being ultra sensitive. A good electrician will be able to test the RCD for correct operation.

If it is an MCB that is tripping, then again it might be an ultra- sensitive MCB, or a fault on an appliance.

If you have any doubts at all about what to do or the correct way to handle wiring you must ask a professional.

 

[Sproket]

You haven't got them both on at the same time ? & the stat kicks in on one, whilst the other is already on ? thereby pulling too much juice & causing it to trip ? have you tried just having the portable heater on in the house, to try and eliminate that ? by seeing if that trips the house electric.

If in any doubt get it properly checked out.

 

[vauxhall2]

if you are trying to use two heaters it will trip out as its overloaded.some time ago we had a new hairdyer that tripped out the electrics each time it was used(now in the bin).try another portable heater.

 

[tony_374382203]

its the RDCthats tripping i will try it from the house

thanks tony

 

[xtrailman]

I would check the RCD for loose connections, along with the CB connections. Its unlikely both heaters are faulty.

Think of it as a PIR test (joke)

Just make sure you have unplugged the mains lead.

 

[jeff_374543278]

i had this problem and it was the rcd at fault it kept tripping out it cost me about

 

[jeff_374543278]

check to see if the rcd and compare and see if the one by the side of it feels to have more resistance on it ,a faulty one will trip out if you just put very light pressure on the switch ,test the 2 you will tell the difference if the one is faulty .

 

[jeff_374543278]

the faulty one will feel very springy and it trips out under load very easy .

 

[Chris_374413356]

If as you say it's the RCD tripping, I would suspect an earth fault on one of the heater elements. A simple test with an insulation tester (not multimeter) should confirm it.

Assuming nothing else is switched on in the van of course.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Tony

I feel rotten in having to do this because it seems like Jeff is taking a battering. But his advice is patently wrong;

Jeff implies that you will have two RCD's side by side and can thus compare the feel of one with the other.

You will only have one RCD (or RCCD), which is the device that has the 'test' Button. The other devices will be MCB's and most caravans have two and some may have three.

Assuming Jeff actually meant the MCB's, then yes the devices will be next to each other, and assuming the installation is original, it is highly likely that all the devices will be from the same manufacturer, thus physically look similar, but they will all be rated differently for lighting and power sockets etc.

Consequently whilst they may physically look the same size their internal systems that make them operate may make them feel different, and there will be differences if the devices are made by different manufacturers. So their comparative 'feel' is not a conclusive indication of their normal operation.

 

[jeff_374543278]

Hello Tony

I feel rotten in having to do this because it seems like Jeff is taking a battering. But his advice is patently wrong;

Jeff implies that you will have two RCD's side by side and can thus compare the feel of one with the other.

You will only have one RCD (or RCCD), which is the device that has the 'test' Button. The other devices will be MCB's and most caravans have two and some may have three.

Assuming Jeff actually meant the MCB's, then yes the devices will be next to each other, and assuming the installation is original, it is highly likely that all the devices will be from the same manufacturer, thus physically look similar, but they will all be rated differently for lighting and power sockets etc.

Consequently whilst they may physically look the same size their internal systems that make them operate may make them feel different, and there will be differences if the devices are made by different manufacturers. So their comparative 'feel' is not a conclusive indication of their normal operation.

keep on going i will be out for a count i am bruised and battered lol. i meant the MCB's, did not know the name of them .i had trouble with my bailey and this is what it was a friend took it out then we bought a new one and it was ok after .the spring was weak and it kept triping out under load.weeeelllllllllllll i was only trying to help (

 

[jeff_374543278]

keep on going i will be out for a count i am bruised and battered lol. i meant the MCB's, did not know the name of them .i had trouble with my bailey and this is what it was a friend took it out then we bought a new one and it was ok after .the spring was weak and it kept triping out under load.weeeelllllllllllll i was only trying to help (

 

[tony_374382203]

thanks for all you great replies wich all make good sense,i found out that the exstension lead plug was faulty and getting very hot.

tony

 

[PaulShellHull]

dont know if this will help my house electrics is 13 amp but my garage is set up as 16 amp

maybe that is the problem. I would stick to using your garage supply if its tripping your house out

hope thats some help

 

[lessirrocc]

Sorry to jump in but i am having the same problem with the mcb that says outside socket and fire .

It does not have too have anything plugged in or switched on and it trips but not all the time. could this possibly be a faulty mcb .Also this happens at home and on site and it only started to happen when we were away for the last time late last year and then i forgot about it till last weekend when were away .

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[jeff_374543278]

with mine the lever on the mcb was very springy as soon as you touched it with the lightest touch possible with the tiny est of pressure it would trip out ,because my caravan as 2 mcbs you can tell the difference if the one is ok and the other may be faulty as its as more resistance on it and the other one you have to put pressure on it to get it to trip out but this was my cheapest option to start off with .because i never had no trouble with my electrics in the van it came on gradually and got worse over time ,stuff was triping out when it did't before .

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Les,

Without testing your circuits no one can conclusively tell if the MCB is faulty or not. If you do not know how to test them, then you should refer the problem to an electrician, as doing it wrong can have very serious consequences.

I must also refer you to my answer further up, as Jeff's comments are a repeat of inaccurate conclusions.

 

[jeff_374543278]

Hello Les,

Without testing your circuits no one can conclusively tell if the MCB is faulty or not. If you do not know how to test them, then you should refer the problem to an electrician, as doing it wrong can have very serious consequences.

I must also refer you to my answer further up, as Jeff's comments are a repeat of inaccurate conclusions.

like my damp test that turned out to be true .as per the question this what was wrong with mine and this is was told was the cheapest to start off with and turned out to be the fault but yes its better to get it checked out by an electrician if you know nothing about this stuff as it could be an electrifying experience if you do not know .i was lucky my friend that looked at mine was electrician .

 

[jeff_374543278]

like my damp test that turned out to be true .as per the question this what was wrong with mine and this i was told was the cheapest to start off with and turned out to be the fault but yes its better to get it checked out by an electrician if you know nothing about this stuff as it could be electrifying experience if you do not know .i was lucky my friend that looked at mine was electrician .

 

[gary]

Something along the lines of what Jeff is saying but a test I've successfully used to prove faulty MCB's, that is to tap it while under load with the handle of a small slim electrical screwdriver.

I've found if it's faulty it will trip and basically it should not!

 

[lessirrocc]

Thanks everyone for the advice,i have tested all the sockets with a plug in tester and that tells me there all fine .What puzzles me is how come it still trips even when nothing is switched on or plugged in .

Its due for a service now so i will get it booked in and hopefully get the problem sorted out.

Les

 

[xtrailman]

les

A CB has a mechanical content, this is what usually fails over time, also if a CB is constantly tripping due to a fault this will shorten its life.

As gary and jeff have already said there are quite a few markers indicating a possible faulty or tired CB.

I prefer the cartridge fuse, it trips quicker and never fails to trip, a CB can.

But the CB has proved more popular due to its easy reset function.

The crudest form of protection is the wired fuse.

 

[jeff_374543278]

hi

this is what was wrong with mine better explained in detail thanks j