water heater tripping

darebel · Aug 22, 2016

i have bailey pegasus verona 2011 model the water heater works fine when hooked up at home but trips immediately when i switch it on when im away on sites

Gagakev · Aug 22, 2016

Do you use the same EHU cable at home and on site?
Are you using any other appliances at the same time, if so unplug all of them and just use the heater, see what happens.
Any thing else will be more technical and the boffins will be along soon

ProfJohnL · Aug 22, 2016

Hi, can you be more specific please:-
Which make and model of water heater?
Exactly what is tripping, is it the mains RCD, MCB, or the heaters control?
When was it last serviced?
How quickly does it trip, is it instantly? After 10 seconds? Or after 20 minutes?

Sproket · Aug 22, 2016

darebel said:
i have bailey pegasus verona 2011 model the water heater works fine when hooked up at home but trips immediately when i switch it on when im away on sites

How many sites has this happened at ?
What type of site were you using ?

darebel · Aug 23, 2016

Thanks for interest prof john it trips mains rcd immediately , its a truma 10 ltr model us 103. It tripped on 4 sites in past week with 6 amp or 10 amp supply. Im home since yesterday plugged in this morning working fine. 2 of the sites it tripped on this week it worked on before. All suggestions gladly received.

Sproket · Aug 23, 2016

Are you using the same EHU cable that you have used on site, also at home with the van ?

If you didn't turn the water heater on did all other mains appliances work ok when you were on site ?

darebel · Aug 23, 2016

same cable and everything else woeks thanks sproket

ProfJohnL · Aug 23, 2016

Thank you for the clarification. So its the RCD that's tripping NOT the heater, an important difference.

Basic electrics tells you that for a circuit to work the current must be able to flow, and it should be the same wherever you measure it in the circuit.The RCD's job is to monitor the current that flows in both the Live and Neutral conductors of the incoming supply. If every thing is working properly then the currents in each cable will be the same. Only if there is a difference in the current in the two conductors of more than 30mA the RCD should operate and disconnect both Live and neutral conductors. The reason for an imbalance would be an appliance with a leaky insulation between live and/or neutral to earth.

Now the fact the system seems to work at home, but trip when your away suggests two things. Firstly there is a fault one one or more of your appliances, and the water heater immersion heater is a common candidate for a fault to earth. This should cause your RCD to trip wherever it is connected.

As a consequence of it not tripping at home, this calls into question the wiring in the socket you use at home, which may a have a poor earth connection which prevents an earth current from reaching the 30mA threshold.

You must establish which appliance is causing the earth current and correct it, But you must also get your home wiring checked for adequate earth protection.

darebel · Aug 23, 2016

great stuff prof johnl il check my earth on home sockets, if i have a faulty earth and i fix that how do i
solve my heater problem, thanks again for your help

darebel · Aug 23, 2016

i found earth fault on home socket and sorted it now water heater tripped rcd in caravan and lcb in house any ideas

Sproket · Aug 23, 2016

Looking like the water heater element is going to earth .... With out turning the water heater on are all of the other appliances working ok ?

darebel · Aug 24, 2016

yes everything else is working ok, thanks sproket

ProfJohnL · Aug 24, 2016

As I pointed out previously, the most likely candidate is the water heater element. As this is part of a gas appliance, you should refer the removal replacement of the appliance and parts to a person who is competent at gas fitting.

Damian · Aug 24, 2016

ProfJohnL said:
As I pointed out previously, the most likely candidate is the water heater element. As this is part of a gas appliance, you should refer the removal replacement of the appliance and parts to a person who is competent at gas fitting.

The electric element can be changed without needing to go anywhere near the gas side of the heater and can be changed very easily by anyone with ability to deal with the mains side of things and does NOT need the heater to come out.
You do NOT need a competent gas fitter.

darebel · Aug 24, 2016

thanks for that i need to get new element and hopefully thats the end of my water heater problems

carolpalmer · Aug 25, 2016

It ususally happens when the heat is extremely high. Have a grounding element so that heat will continue. Have your test water heater thermostat tested and if limit switch is weak have it replaced.

ProfJohnL · Aug 25, 2016

carolpalmer said:
It ususally happens when the heat is extremely high. Have a grounding element so that heat will continue. Have your test water heater thermostat tested and if limit switch is weak have it replaced.

Hello Carol,
Your post does not make a great deal of sense in the context of the OP original question. Could you clarify please?

Damian · Aug 25, 2016

carolpalmer said:
It ususally happens when the heat is extremely high. Have a grounding element so that heat will continue. Have your test water heater thermostat tested and if limit switch is weak have it replaced.

This poster obviously has no knowledge whatsoever of how the Truma water heater works or what can and cannot be done with it.
Posting should be totally disregarded.

BryanTheSnail · Aug 30, 2016

Had my heater element replaced once. The Truma heaters need a small opening created near the outgoing hot pipe by tearing the fibre case to give access the element position which can then be replaced ONCE THE MAINS ARE DISCONNECTED. The thermostat mentioned in an earlier post can be reset by switching off all power including 12 volt, for 5 minutes. It may solve that issue.

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