Electrical item tripping electrics.

Brazo

Brazo

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I recently bought a Bain Marie that draws 1300w and 5.5amps.

As soon as I plug it in and turn it on it trips the house electrics. It does however work perfectly if I use the plug socket which is part of the cooker (on/off) switch.

Any ideas as to why this happens like this and is it likely the item is faulty or my electrics that are up the spout?

TIA
 
RCBO protection ?

After the electics have tripped, does the cooker still work?
 
How many other sockets have you tried it in other than the cooker box? Bad box?
Or have you other items on the ring main running at the same time taking the load above trip point maybe?
 
If it's a dedicated cooker supply is rated at 30amps, on the domestic ring it will be 13amps. Maybe you've just overloaded the ring?
 
Overloading the ring main.
Try unplugging one or two other items and see if it still trips when plugged in
 
The ring is just one breaker, its not the "house electrics" which suggests everything..:)
 
A local "domestic appliance engineer" should be able to test the thing properly. If it's working properly, chances are that your house electrics are the problem. Kettles seem to be around 2-3 kW so about twice what the bain marie draws.
 
Any decent electrician can check your circuits.
Ask about cost first
 
joxby said:
RCBO protection ?

After the electics have tripped, does the cooker still work?
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Yes it was the RCBO that tripped. I didn’t think to check the cooker afterwards!
 
mj4456 said:
How many other sockets have you tried it in other than the cooker box? Bad box?
Or have you other items on the ring main running at the same time taking the load above trip point maybe?
Click to expand...
Tried it in numerous other sockets throughout the house (downstairs). I don’t think we have too much stuff overloading it and I can use the kettle And cooker at same time quite happily!
 
Brazo said:
Yes it was the RCBO that tripped. I didn’t think to check the cooker afterwards!
Click to expand...

If its a dual load distribution board, the cooker panel may not be rcbo protected, it ought to be but it depends how old the installation is and the edition of regulations it was made to comply with.
It points towards a faulty appliance, though its not impossible for either the circuit or the rcbo to be faulty.
If the cooker panel is rcbo protected, then there is a 3rd fault possibility.

Nobody can be 100% about any of this without testing.
 
Thanks all I think I’ll test it at a neighbours house and move on from there.
 
Assuming it's not just a bit duff it could be an earth leakage issue. Maybe?

When I used to do CE product approval I saw a similar problem over and over as some products include a filter which due to how it's made dumps a small current onto the metalwork it's usually screwed to and if you plugged it in to a circuit that already had other devices doing the same thing it could push things too far and it'd just pop... but plug it in somewhere else where there wasn't another device doing the same thing and it'd be fine. Personally I hated these devices as I thought it was a lazy way of doing it but it's a cheap way of doing it so that's how it's sometimes done. It got to the point that it was one of the first things I looked for when doing the electrical assessment, I used to insert a note in the product manual.

This may not be the problem, but it also could be :D

Good luck sorting it.
 
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Brazo said:
I recently bought a Bain Marie that draws 1300w and 5.5amps.

As soon as I plug it in and turn it on it trips the house electrics. It does however work perfectly if I use the plug socket which is part of the cooker (on/off) switch.

Any ideas as to why this happens like this and is it likely the item is faulty or my electrics that are up the spout?

TIA
Click to expand...

5.5A shouldn't be a problem, a kettle is usually 3000W and and 13A after all. You could try the kettle in the same socket which is tripping to see what happens.

Probably a loose connection in the socket.
 
I didn’t think anything recent came fitted with rewireable plug tops?
 
Brazo said:
Thanks all I think I’ll test it at a neighbours house and move on from there.
Click to expand...


I would get it properly tested before risking taking out a neighbour's electrics...
 
boogie man said:
I didn’t think anything recent came fitted with rewireable plug tops?
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My recently acquired Russell Hobbs kettle (as in a fortnight ago) has a rewireable plug. Good job because the first thing I did after testing it wasn't DoA was to shorten the cable to a more sensible length.
 
needs a pat test sounds like it has an earth leak. Take it back.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
needs a pat test sounds like it has an earth leak. Take it back.
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It is possible for something to pass a pat test and still cause a trip in situ because of some other factor such as devices adding up to cause the trip. The op could send it back but it could be that the item is working to spec, it may not be but it's possible that it is. It is possible that the tripping is being caused by the cct being too sensitive or by an adding up of devices.

If this one is swapped for another that doesn't trip the cct then it's the thing itself that's the problem but if another one does the same thing maybe switching brands would be the answer, or investigating further why the cct is tripping.
 
If the underside of my kettle gets wet where the power connects is then it will trip, so could the product have a dodgy ground but not cause enough of a problem to trip the higher rated cooker socket?

Needs a process of elimination done. Check regular socket with higher rated kettle to eliminate socket. Try product in different rooms, ideally on a different ring and see if it still trips.

But thinking about it some more, I would just take it back.
 
Need to test it with another RCD or perhaps in someone else's house. I have a plug in one that I use for the mower, and a built in one in the workshop/garage that supports my power tools..
 
gman said:
If the underside of my kettle gets wet where the power connects is then it will trip, so could the product have a dodgy ground but not cause enough of a problem to trip the higher rated cooker socket?

Needs a process of elimination done. Check regular socket with higher rated kettle to eliminate socket. Try product in different rooms, ideally on a different ring and see if it still trips.

But thinking about it some more, I would just take it back.
Click to expand...
That’s what I had thought I.e the cooker socket was a bit ‘stronger’ hence why it had not caused problems!

I did test the Bain Marie on multiple sockets and all tripped. Whilst I haven’t tested the kettle on multiple sockets I’ve plugged in all sorts over the years with no issues!

My return request has been accepted and they have asked me to confirm the serial number (presumably to ensure I’m not pulling a fast one!)
 
Brazo said:
That’s what I had thought I.e the cooker socket was a bit ‘stronger’ hence why it had not caused problems!

I did test the Bain Marie on multiple sockets and all tripped. Whilst I haven’t tested the kettle on multiple sockets I’ve plugged in all sorts over the years with no issues!

My return request has been accepted and they have asked me to confirm the serial number (presumably to ensure I’m not pulling a fast one!)
Click to expand...

Based on what you've just said I think 100% it's the unit and your are doing the right thing (y)
 
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