Is there anyone who can help on this problem please?

Our house electrics were upgraded several years ago and a 100mA Residual Current Operated Circuit breaker installed along with miniature circuit breakers instead of the old fuses. This system has proved ultra reliable except that the RCB trips frequently when an almost new Philips steam iron is being used. This iron replaced a much older model (also Philips) steam iron which was causing the same problem. I'd assumed that the old iron was faulty, that's why it was replaced. The iron has been checked by the supplier but no fault found. They suggested that the RCB was 'too sensitive'.

I'd be very grateful for comments before we go out and buy yet another iron!

You sure it's 100mA - i suspect it's not.

If however, it is - that's your problem lol - 13A required for sockets etc....

You sure it's 100mA - i suspect it's not.

If however' date=' it is - that's your problem lol - 13A required for sockets etc....[/quote']

I think you might be confusing the Rated Tripping Current which is 100mA with the total current capacity of the RCB which is 40 amps. If the RCB was rated at only 100mA then nothing would ever work in the house!

Our 5 bedroom house is protected by a 30mA RCD (rated at 63A). We had RCD tripping trouble with a particular socket which had an earthing problem, and have also found that a number of different irons have caused the RCD to trip.

Were the previous and new iron used on the same socket?

a 40A RCBO, does this protect only the one socket circuit or more??

if it protects everything other than the lights then maybe its getting over loaded current wise rather than too much earth leakage.

it could be an over sensative RCD though

btw the way you sure its an RCBO and not an RCD??

can you get a picture then we'll know and be able to help better, get a picture of the whole board close-ish up rather than just the RCD/RCBO if you can

Thanks for replies:

The irons have been used on different sockets and still tripped the RCB

The RCB protects the whole house but I can't imagine that 40 Amps would be used at any one time.

It is a 'stand alone' RCBO and I've now realised that the system was upgraded about 20 years ago! (Time flies!)

I've attached 3 photos. There is another distribution box to the left out of the pictures which was added when extensions were added to the house. That's an old Wylex box fitted with MCB's.

Thanks very much for your help.

tis old mate, get a new split load board fitted mate, them old RCD's are well shoddy when old.

where in the world are ya?

just looked, bit far from me otherwise i'd do it cheap for ya bit a bit of a drive from oxford :eek:

just looked, bit far from me otherwise i'd do it cheap for ya bit a bit of a drive from oxford :eek:

Bengie:

Thanks for the thought - pity you don't live nearer. I'm sure you're right; it's probably cheaper to get the things renewed rather than buying more irons!

The old fuse system was best..... If somthing kept blowing just replace the fuse with a panal pin.....That stopped it blowing :eek:

:eek:

its amazing what people do in all honesty. have no idea what they are messing with and what dangers they are putting themselves in :(

btw in a local whole saler you can get a 10 way split load board complete with all breakers for about

:eek:

its amazing what people do in all honesty. have no idea what they are messing with and what dangers they are putting themselves in :(

:iagree:

R you running the iron on the same circ as any other high load appliance? ...ie electric oven, numerous table lights ...spurs to outside lighting...try turning everything off on the circuit bar the iron and see if the breaker trips ...irons do have a very high load on start up...i agree with changing the board though ...screw fix direct have a good ten way fully loaded board for 60 odd quid a competent sparky will change this in about 3-4 hrs or i would..... but i imagine my travel time from scotland would be rather more....

the trouble is cyber the RCD is acting as a main isolator covering the entire house so everything is running through the RCD i.e. cooker, immersion, washing machine, iron, kettle and every other high load device so 40A is sod all for its purpose

AWWW sorry mate, should have red the post properly i thought it was only protecting sockets......fling that last post right out the window....too much beer allready ...wife nightshift...

no worries, i assumed the same till the pics appeared

No such thing as an RCB. If you mean the MCB is tripping, we get this all the time when we build new council houses. MCB's often become more sensitive after they have tripped several times as the energy created when they trip can damage them. Same applies to RCD's but eventually they just don't work anymore. Hence the test button.

People tend to just reset the trip and work away not realising its effectiveness is reduced everytime it trips. Your new iron may be fine.

Replace the device that keeps tripping first. If that doesn't work then it's your iron at fault. If your iron started tripping a 100mA RCD in the first place then it really is dangerous.

Just a thought but do you need a 100mA RCD anyway. If you have a TNCS underground supply cable and the measured Earth Loop Fault Impedance is low enough, your disconnection times will be ok and you don't need one. I always avoid putting in MCB's and RCD's/RCBO's if safe to do so as their tendancy for false trips is a safety issue in itself.

I'd still put in 30mA for a kitchen socket ring, electric shower, whirlpool bath etc but ideally not the fridge.

Some sparks just put an overall RCD in to cover themselves anyway but as they are liable to false tripping there is no discrimination. As already said you should have a split dist board or separate boards with 100mA protection and 30mA protection respectively. This ensures you don't loose your lights if a socket circuit trips.

My elderly next door neighbour fell down the stairs a while back. She plugged in an old vacuum cleaner one night which tripped the main RCD and all power. She couldn't see where she was going and fell.

Turned out the spark who re-wired her kitchen took a shortcut to providing 30mA RCD protection by reusing the existing circuit and fuse and just adding an overall 30mA RCD at the incomer. She looked like she'd been beaten up when I visited her in hospital but persuaded me not to report the spark to NICEIC because he was related to her.

The biggest cause of lighting circuits tripping MCB's/RCBO's is the use of cheap bulbs. They are a false economy as they don't have built in fuses and are made to a lower standard so are often prone to exploding or having reduced lives.

Should only take a couple of hours or less to swap that board over for a new one.....would make the whole system a lot safer .....it's well worth doing

R you running the iron on the same circ as any other high load appliance? ...ie electric oven, numerous table lights ...spurs to outside lighting...try turning everything off on the circuit bar the iron and see if the breaker trips ...irons do have a very high load on start up...i agree with changing the board though ...screw fix direct have a good ten way fully loaded board for 60 odd quid a competent sparky will change this in about 3-4 hrs or i would..... but i imagine my travel time from scotland would be rather more....

Thanks for reply. Just for the record the RCB trips after my wife's been ironing for a while; not at switch on. All the 13 amp sockets in the original part of the house are on the same circuit but the cooker is on it's own circuit and there's no real heavy users on the 13 amp circuit. I'm now convinced that the real answer is to sort out the circuits with new equipment, so if you know of any good sparks in Wirral, Merseyside .......

There are good deals on electrical consumer units, split load distribution boards and other stuff at the moment.

And that's because from January this year it is illegal to install them under part p of the building regs unless you have the relevant authorisation.

A number of leading insurance companies have already said they will not pay out if a claim is due to an electrical installation carried out outside of part p.

If you get an electrician in make sure he will be able to issue you with the correct certification before he starts the job.

Cheers

Lee

There are good deals on electrical consumer units' date=' split load distribution boards and other stuff at the moment.

And that's because from January this year it is illegal to install them under part p of the building regs unless you have the relevant authorisation.

A number of leading insurance companies have already said they will not pay out if a claim is due to an electrical installation carried out outside of part p.

If you get an electrician in make sure he will be able to issue you with the correct certification before he starts the job.

Cheers

Lee[/quote']

What's the story for electricians once part p comes in anyone. I'm an engineer not a spark but have always done small wiring jobs eg conservatories and extensions etc + my own work. Up until now i've done my own testing and issued my own test certs (non NICEIC of course).

What registration/qualification would I need to comply? All I have is C&G 16th Edition & Inspection & Test. I assume that all the companies I give work out to through my job will have suitably qualified part p sparks as they must be NICEIC approved but what about my homers!

How would your insurance company know whether electrical work was done to your house before or after the introduction of part P unless it's part of work you carried out that required you to increase your house insured value or it's obvious that you had made a change to the building?

What's the story for electricians once part p comes in anyone. I'm an engineer not a spark but have always done small wiring jobs eg conservatories and extensions etc + my own work. Up until now i've done my own testing and issued my own test certs (non NICEIC of course).

What registration/qualification would I need to comply? All I have is C&G 16th Edition & Inspection & Test. I assume that all the companies I give work out to through my job will have suitably qualified part p sparks as they must be NICEIC approved but what about my homers!

Part P is in now so if you are doing electrical work outside part p you are breaking the law.

There are two options. You can apply to be part p qualified which means you probably doing a course' date=' sit an exam, have your work inspected, and pay a nice big fee, you will only be able to certify your own work. There are also "Inspectors" which will come out and certify electrical work carried out by non part p electricians. The second option works out very expensive and the inspector may request more work to be done.

How would your insurance company know whether electrical work was done to your house before or after the introduction of part P unless it's part of work you carried out that required you to increase your house insured value or it's obvious that you had made a change to the building?

You are correct it's mainly down to when the building alterations have taken place although the new harmonised colour coding may give things away as well as some electrical gear having manufature dates on them.

Insurance companies will try anything to get out of a claim.

I'm a fully qualified Electrical Engineer by trade, I did a four year appreticeship, three years at college and a further three years at uni. I'm in charge of around 30 electricians working on anything from PLC control systems to 11000V ring main networks.

And I can't legally install an extra light in my house.

Cheers

Lee

The biggest cause of lighting circuits tripping MCB's/RCBO's is the use of cheap bulbs. They are a false economy as they don't have built in fuses and are made to a lower standard so are often prone to exploding or having reduced lives.

I thoroughly agree with that (from experience). :(