Safety switch tripping

[atregent]

I got home from work yesterday, eventually (other Melbourne folk will know what I mean!), and the saftey switch had tripped. It also happened in the last big storm we had down here too.

Is this something I should be worried about, or something that happens in particularly wild weather?

I'm also considering getting the fridge and freezer set up with their own circuit and RCD. Good idea, or overkill?

[Ashore]

I would be concerned the safety switch you mention I assume is an earth leakage switch and should only go if there is an earth fault, I had one that tripped a couple of times for no apparent reason and then late one saturday night tripped and would not reset , costly after hrs call out and replace , they do fail over time and should be manually tripped regularly to prolong their life
For your fridge, TV , computer get a good surge protection unit as your earth leakage unit won't protect you from power surges. So no there is no uverkill unless you use the same type of protection ie earth leakage , more than once in the same circuit
I don't understand why some people buy thousands of dollars worth of tv's vcr's sound systems, top boxes but wont spend 1 or 2 hundred dollars on a good protected power board

[atregent]

Thanks for reminding me, I've been meaning to get one of those Belkin surge boards for a while. The ones that come with their own insurance policy.

The only thing I can think of with the RCD tripping is that water is getting in somewhere and hitting the back of a powerpoint or light switch. Like I said, it only happens when the rain gets torrential. Not sure how I'm going to track that one down.

I'm getting the whole switchboard moved in the coming weeks, so I'll check with the sparky then.

I guess in the mean time, I'll just be happy that the RCD seems to be doing it's job.

[patty]

I got home from work yesterday, eventually (other Melbourne folk will know what I mean!), and the saftey switch had tripped. It also happened in the last big storm we had down here too.

Is this something I should be worried about, or something that happens in particularly wild weather?

Mate do yoursekf a favour first before calling a spark and go around an unplug one by one each appliance that is plugged into a powerpoint and try the safety sw each time thios will rule out faulty appliances Irons and Clother Dryer are notorious for this it may have been purely coincidental when the storm came it tripped it is worth a try

[nev25]

Just curious did the Safety Switch reset
No Point in pulling all the appliances out if the Safety switch resets
Sometimes these thing just happen
A sparkie can Megger the circuits to see if you have a possible problem
Where in Melbourne are you
If you are looking for a sparkie PM me

[Master Splinter]

The expensive surge protectors are pretty much the same as the cheap surge protectors...except that they cost more.

Don't spend more than about $40 on one; more than that and you are paying for the same sort of benefits offered by Monster Cable (flash packaging and lots and lots of marketing).

The basis of all surge protectors are three MOVs (metal oxide varistors); which cost about $1.50 each, retail, and if you are very lucky, a light that tells you that the fuse hasn't blown.

The "$XXXX lots of money if your equipment gets trashed" guarantee is further marketing puffery.

See here for more info on these products. (about halfway down the page)

[atregent]

I think I've found the problem.

It happened again yesterday afternoon when the rain turned from torrential to monsoonal. I noticed that under the front porch there was water dripping down around the meter and switchboard (the switchboard is on the inside, but there was water dripping on the outside of the same wall).

Once it tripped, a waited about 5 mins and reset it, all good again. And I took off one of the ceiling bits in the porch so the water had a clear run to the ground (rather than the electricity!)

At least I know what project I'll be working on over the christmas break now...

Thanks for the offer Nev, but I have a sparky lined up to relocate the switchboard in the new year, so I'll get him to have a poke around the rest of the place too.

Splinter, thanks for the tip. I'll pick up a couple while I'm out shopping this weekend.

Have an awesome Christmas everyone!

[Tools]

You would be better off having surge protection fitted to your board and then all appliances in the house will beprotected.

Tools

[patty]

No Point in pulling all the appliances out if the Safety switch resets
Sometimes these thing just happen

Whooo hang on a minute I try and offer sound advice for solutions that are going to help people out of the crap most electricians know with electrical situations such as the above without seeing the actual site it is hardto comment on can be complicated situations for the average Joe Blow but at least what i have stated is correct and only offering an option and not just an employment sevice!

[patty]

PS that is what I though this forum was to offer solutions and or find better ways to accomplish jobs!

[nev25]

Whooo hang on a minute I try and offer sound advice !

So was I

[Ashore]

No Point in pulling all the appliances out if the Safety switch resets
!

Safety switches don't reset themselves anymore than they trip themselves
Your term safety switch are you talking about an earth leakage switch an overload switch a surge switch
None of thes act on their own all are tripped either by overload , over current, earth to ground fault, over voltage or vibration or in unusual circumstances failure within them selves due to mechanicial faults but the tripping of any fault detection device even a fuse should never be written off as just something that happens because the switch reset
It happened because of a fault or the device is faulity , find the problem and fix it don't just reset and think all is well , there has to be a problem for the device to trip reset it and do bugger all and maybe the next time it wont trip, being faulity, but someone will be zapped or a fire will occure

[nev25]

My point exactly

A sparkie can Megger the circuits to see if you have a possible problem

[patty]

All I am saying is I have offered an alternative option that "might" be a
cost effective solution to the problem and may help Atregent get his power back on ASAP and without the neccessity of calling an electrician!

[weisyboy]

we were havin a lot of trouble with the safey switch.

found out it was the auto defrost on the fridge we put it on its own circut and also the washing machine and never had a problem scince. o yer the pool filter punp trips the as well.