One for the sparkeys out there

[tick59]

When my motorhome is plugged into mains everything is ok ecept when you switch the water heater on then the house electrics blow. Have checked fuses in van all ok only the house electrics affected. ????

 

[pappajohn]

Dont know what a RCD is all i know is the house electrics switch off and the fuses trip.Works ok on gas.

An RCD has a test button next to the switch.. Usually says TEST.
An MCB just has a small switch.

 

[autorouter]

When my motorhome is plugged into mains everything is ok ecept when you switch the water heater on then the house electrics blow. Have checked fuses in van all ok only the house electrics affected. ????

Have a look at this picture. It shows an electrical box with one RCD on the left, and three MCBs on the right. The RCD is quite wide, and has a small button in the top left, labelled 'Test'. Note that older wiring may not have an RCD at all, and sometimes two RCDs are fitted.

 

[bigalw35]

you may not be able to do the full test but getting a circuit from one terminal to the shell of the tank does tell you there a a break in the element ive been testing immmersions that way for years

It actually does NOT tell you that there is a break in the element, it does tell you that there is a possible circuit to earth, no offence but I’m glad that I never asked you round to check my immersion or earth faults

 

[RandallC]

You are partially correct, but you can get an RCBO trips out on overload and earth fault current, basically directly swappable with mcb’s

Sorry was totally correct an MCB is not a RCD is not an RCBO

they are all different devices. The later incorporates both of the former but is not the same.

Pedantic he is:

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bigalw35]

Sorry was totally correct an MCB is not a RCD is not an RCBO

they are all different devices. The later incorporates both of the former but is not the same.

Pedantic he is:

When correct, PEDANTIC I am , have a good day

 

[RandallC]

When correct, PEDANTIC I am , have a good day

sounds like a subject we could debate over a pint or 3 post apocalypse.

 

[bigalw35]

sounds like a subject we could debate over a pint or 3 post apocalypse.

We do get down that way occasionally (pandemic allowing) and I never turn down the invite of a beer meet, we do quite a bit of overnighting at a pub in Hook, be good for a temp meet

 

[RandallC]

Happy to share a pint and tales of the un-infected.

But could I ask which Hook village? county would be good as we have lived near several.

 

[Steve and Denise]

Happy to share a pint and tales of the un-infected.

But could I ask which Hook village? county would be good as we have lived near several.

Brill that Tales from the uninflected!
Could be the name of a good thread

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bigalw35]

Yay

 

[Charlie9038]

The op probably does not have a megger so the only way to find the problem causing the trip is to isolate to investigate. With no power to the Motorhome disconnect the heating element and insulate the terminals.
When safe plug the mains back in, if it doesn’t trip you know there is a earth fault with the heater, repeat until you find what is causing the issue. Just remember to unplug before going fault finding

 

[tick59]

All lights sockets and plugs go off, Once i switch the water heater off and reset the Electrics in the house everything works except the water heater.

 

[stevewagner]

That would only tell you if the element had continuity or not IT WOULD NOT TELL YOU IF THERE WAS AN EARTH FAULT

Don’t know why you feel the need to use capitals. I never said to test for earth leakage just continuity. Just trying to help the OP. Only thing worse than bad information is wrong information.

 

[bigalw35]

Don’t know why you feel the need to use capitals. I never said to test for earth leakage just continuity. Just trying to help the OP. Only thing worse than bad information is wrong information.

No offence but that would appear to be what your doing, continuity is NOT the problem, (the problem is OBVIOUSLY earth leakage, which you will not find with a multimeter) CAPITALS, well thats an emphasise to a get to a point, you have a good day

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Lenny HB]

All lights sockets and plugs go off, Once i switch the water heater off and reset the Electrics in the house everything works except the water heater.

Pretty much confirms the heater element is faulty.

If this lot on here weren't so busy bickering about RCD's d meggars etc they might have noticed your post.

 

[mitzimad]

It actually does NOT tell you that there is a break in the element, it does tell you that there is a possible circuit to earth, no offence but I’m glad that I never asked you round to check my immersion or earth faults

It does show a break in the sheathcontinuity shows a break in the element and resistance will also show a fault but as a first test it usually works

 

[autorouter]

Pretty much confirms the heater element is faulty.

Yes, fault in heater element, or possibly the wiring to it. Almost certainly needs replacing.

All lights sockets and plugs go off, Once i switch the water heater off and reset the Electrics in the house everything works except the water heater.

Moving on from the heater element fault, what exactly did you reset when you reset the electrics? From the picture in post#32, can you tell if it was an RCD or an MCB? I'm asking because there could be a problem with the MH electrics.

If there's no RCD in the MH electrics box, it's worth getting one fitted. They are cheap and easy to fit.

If there is an RCD in the MH electrics box, it might be faulty. You could test it by pressing the 'Test' button, to see if it trips. If it does, it's OK. The house RCD is just a bit more sensitive, so it's tripping first. If it doesn't trip when the test button is pressed, it's faulty and needs replacing. An RCD protects against electric shock.

 

[kevenh]

It would surprise me if they run 240v for high power appliances.

We run some high power stuff on site and it’s all 110v

240v is available to USA houses for bigger electrical devices 2 x split phase 120v go to their properties.

 

[dunnah01]

When correct, PEDANTIC I am , have a good day

Love to hear your guys thoughts on earth reference wire or not on RCBOs

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[tick59]

Test button trips

 

[johntheboat]

Check for faulty connection on your home socket

 

[autorouter]

Test button trips

Looks like your heater element is faulty, and the protection circuits are doing their job.

RCDs are set to trip at 30 milliamps. Two RCDs on the same circuit will trip at slightly different currents. Each RCD will be slightly different, so maybe one trips at 29.8mA and another trips at 30.2mA. It's just the luck of the draw that the house RCD trips before the motorhome RCD. If you hooked up to a different house you might find the motorhome RCD trips first.

 

[Silver-Fox]

240v is available to USA houses for bigger electrical devices 2 x split phase 120v go to their properties.

Every days a school day

 

[bigalw35]

HOPEFULLY WE ALL LEARN SOMETHING EVERY DAY ????, who knows ???

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[RandallC]

All lights sockets and plugs go off, Once i switch the water heater off and reset the Electrics in the house everything works except the water heater.

Hi, Sorry for earlier post, just sometimes folks pose a Q and are never heard from again.

Ok so all ok until you switch on the heater.

Sorry if you have already said but need to know if.

water heater and blown air system is the same I.E Truma Combi 4 / 6E or the dark sides water based payload issue (alde)

Again unsure of your tech/DIY abilities and access to test kit. As you may have seen there is a bit of divergence in opinions on faults and diagnostic test instruments. All can be accomplished without breaking the bank.

OK back to basic Q combi space & water heater or just water heater?

 

[tick59]

My van is fourteen years old and has just developed this fault would an auto electrician be able to fix it ?

 

[bigalw35]

My van is fourteen years old and has just developed this fault would an auto electrician be able to fix it ?

Put a post up for auto electricians in your area, good luck

 

[dunnah01]

My van is fourteen years old and has just developed this fault would an auto electrician be able to fix it ?

They would probably be able to find the fault in a couple of minutes but are unlikely to be interested in pulling your van apart to get at the boiler to strip it down and replace the heating elements if that's what the problem is. Caravan/Moho specialist to sort that if it's the problem I'm afraid

 

[DandB]

When my motorhome is plugged into mains everything is ok ecept when you switch the water heater on then the house electrics blow. Have checked fuses in van all ok only the house electrics affected. ????

The RCD is designed to trip in the event of a live or neutral to earth fault . Generally the trips are set to operate when a leakage of 30 mA is detected. This means that the appliance conductive surfaces will not reach a voltage higher than 50 volts before the rcd operates isolating the circuit and hence providing shock protection. The MCB also provides protection from fire and shock if their is a fault to earth or a short circuit in the appliance but will not protect against shock if there is a disconnected or bad earth and a live or neutral to earth fault on the appliance at the same time. If the rcd is tripping then there is a leakage to earth somewhere and it could be on either the live or the neutral supply cables or more likely on the element of the water heater. An insulation resistance test is required on the supply cables and on the appliance to determine where the fault is. If you are not a competent person ( electrician ) then you need to consult one who will have the knowledge and the equipment to diagnose the fault quickly

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Keith E]

By and large the kitchen ring main has the highest load capacity, try plugging the ehu into one of the kitchen sockets, if it still trips then likely to be a fault on the motorhome

So how does that work?
A kitchen ring main uses the same size cabling, the same capacity circuit breakers and the same outlet sockets as any other power circuit in the house.
So how can it have a higher load capacity?