How do I know if the RCD is protecting my electric shower?

okigen

Hello, I have just bought my first home so very noob. The flat has an electric shower and on the fuse box there is a RCD as in the photo. The switch for the shower is to the far right side and to the left next to the RCD is the electric boiler (They are separate units).

How do I know whether the RCD is protecting the electric shower? Or do I need to hire an electrician to confirm?

Many thanks,

E

FreeBear

The three MCBs to the right of the RCD will all be protected. You can confirm this by pressing the test button. The sockets, boiler, and shower will all stop working until the RCD is reset.... Unless the RCD is faulty, in which case, you should get an electrician in to replace it.

okigen

FreeBear said:

The three MCBs to the right of the RCD will all be protected. You can confirm this by pressing the test button. The sockets, boiler, and shower will all stop working until the RCD is reset.... Unless the RCD is faulty, in which case, you should get an electrician in to replace it.

Many thanks. How would I reset the RCD after I use the test button? Or will it be restarted automatically?

FaceHead

When you press that test button at the top, the rcd switch will (should) snap down. The shower and those two sets of sockets will then not work. Push the rcd switch back up to turn them back on. 

Section62

okigen said:

FreeBear said:

The three MCBs to the right of the RCD will all be protected. You can confirm this by pressing the test button. The sockets, boiler, and shower will all stop working until the RCD is reset.... Unless the RCD is faulty, in which case, you should get an electrician in to replace it.

Many thanks. How would I reset the RCD after I use the test button? Or will it be restarted automatically?

As FaceHead says.

However, ideally avoid using the test button on days/at times where it would be difficult or expensive to get an electrician to come out and replace the RCD - there's always a possibility of test button use causing the RCD to fail permanently - in which case replacement is the only option.  You don't really want that happening late at night or on a Saturday afternoon.

For the purposes of checking the shower is connected to a curcuit protected by the RCD it would be equally valid to just switch the RCD off manually (albeit this won't prove the RCD actually works)

alleycat`

One other gotcha that can happen in this scenario is the "test" button may not work but the RCD "may" still work in regards to protecting the services it covers.

I had this very thing recently when having an extension done.

As part of the work the electrician tested the setup and the RCD would trip as it should but the test button wouldn't cause it to trip - it had obviously got "stuck" in some manor (probably a failed resistor).

Obviously the RCD (which was from about 2002) was replaced but the two things don't always work hand in hand as they should. One isn't a direct "copy" of how the other behaves.

If the RCD is particularly old and you're not sure when it was last tested i'd be inclined to push the test button with a long handled screwdriver or equivalent - mostly because the do very occasionally go pop in an unpleasant way.

None of the above is meant to put you off testing it - as they are meant to be tested quarterly (but who does?).

The advice from section62 about when to test and testing the shower is behind the RCD is also sensible.

knightstyle

Point of interest, the RCD should be tested regularly. 
I believe it is now 6 monthly for modern installations and 3 monthly for those installed before 2019. 
Plus there should be a special label by it.

Ectophile

knightstyle said:

Point of interest, the RCD should be tested regularly. 
I believe it is now 6 monthly for modern installations and 3 monthly for those installed before 2019. 
Plus there should be a special label by it.

They should be.  But nobody ever does!

FaceHead

Ectophile said:

knightstyle said:

Point of interest, the RCD should be tested regularly. 
I believe it is now 6 monthly for modern installations and 3 monthly for those installed before 2019. 
Plus there should be a special label by it.

They should be.  But nobody ever does!

Indeed. I'm not up for testing the rcds and then having to reset the clock on my oven, microwave etc. every 3 months. 

fenwick458

FaceHead said:

Ectophile said:

knightstyle said:

Point of interest, the RCD should be tested regularly. 
I believe it is now 6 monthly for modern installations and 3 monthly for those installed before 2019. 
Plus there should be a special label by it.

They should be.  But nobody ever does!

Indeed. I'm not up for testing the rcds and then having to reset the clock on my oven, microwave etc. every 3 months. 

best way is to do it when the clocks go back and forward twice a year