Advice appreciated as regards electricity tripping?

martin57

Hi folks,

I would appreciate some advice as to what is my best option here. My electricity has tripped a few times today, I had the cooker and indesit 1dl40 about 6 years old dishwasher on at same time.

I have a modern Hager junction box in house as it is working fine as it has tripped a few times correctly in the past, just the plugs part trips on it.

It is my dishwasher that is causing the tripping. It was on drying cycle when the power went off was tripped in plugs only in house lights ok.

To find out what was causing it I switched the dishwasher off at wall, pulled the plug and no problem. I put dishwasher on again and instantly hager box tripped. I put dishwasher on again and same thing. Connecting a kettle to same power socket works fine.

For some reason or other the dishwasher is running ok now.

1 Could it be that it got too hot and therefore causing the trip?

2 Fault or anything else you may think of considering that boiling a kettle at same socket is fine.

3 possible time for new dishwasher do you think even though old one may still run, a bit nervous of electricial things now as a few scares with a shower on fire in the past.

Advice gratefully appreciated.

Martin57

HappyMJ

No need to get a new one. A call out to an appliance engineer shouldn't cost too much as a non emergency. Get a quote to fix it and you should at the same time get an idea what's wrong with it to see if it's worth fixing.

N9eav

Has the fuse box got an RCD in it?
If the sockets fuse is on the RCD side of the box it could mean that the dishwasher has developed an electrical fault. My tumble drier did that on me some years ago and I had to replace it.

martin57

N9eav wrote: »

Has the fuse box got an RCD in it?
If the sockets fuse is on the RCD side of the box it could mean that the dishwasher has developed an electrical fault. My tumble drier did that on me some years ago and I had to replace it.

Thanks for replies folks. Yes it is the RCD that tripped on box.

I forgot to mention that the dishwasher has an on/off switch that hasn't worked now for a good while you can't switch off on the dishwasher itself, little red light on all the time.

I just connect the plug to wall when I want to use the dishwasher.

I also overload the dishwasher as its a slimline one don't have the space to have full sized washer, I tend to pile things on top of each other when loading it.

Possible bearing on this as it did seem very warm inside?

I don't really want to spend too much money on it as I feel it would be good money after bad as handle to open it is not good either, just a plastic thing on front of door that has cracked over time. I just open by using door sides.

More worried though about whether a fire could occur because of a fault in washer.

Thanks
Martin57

HappyMJ

You cannot overload a dishwasher...all that will happen is the dishes might not get in a jet to get washed. They aren't like washing machines which can easily be overloaded.

N9eav

martin57 wrote: »

Thanks for replies folks. Yes it is the RCD that tripped on box.


More worried though about whether a fire could occur because of a fault in washer.

Thanks
Martin57

The RCD should prevent that from happening, but they are not designed to prevent overload. They basically detect if small amounts of electricity are leaking from the device and grounding. Tripping would suggest your appliance wiring may be an issue and the RCD is preventing you from being electrocuted...

Myser

The RCD will trip due to a imbalance of current in the live (phase) and neutral wires. In a dishwasher, this can be caused by water seeping into the electronics or by other things such as a failing heating element.

An RCD will also protect someone who accidentally comes in contact with a live wire/part in an appliance. It is recommended that the RCD is tested regularly by pressing the test button quarterly or every 6 months.

Incidentally, Hager is a good reliable brand. The junction box that you refer to on the wall with the circuit breakers and RCDs in it is actually called a consumer unit.

martin57

N9eav wrote: »

The RCD should prevent that from happening, but they are not designed to prevent overload. They basically detect if small amounts of electricity are leaking from the device and grounding. Tripping would suggest your appliance wiring may be an issue and the RCD is preventing you from being electrocuted...

Thanks a lot folks for all your good advice.

I decided that I'd rather play on the safe side as I was probably due to buy a new washer anyways also reading the above post, so that is what I did got a new zanussi.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks a lot again

Martin57

N9eav

:DEnjoy. You could have got a bottle of Fairy and some marigolds for £2.