Electricians Look Here Please

Danger Phoenix · 9 Dec 2009 at 15:04

We have had an issue with our home electrics for quite a while now, where irons trip the circuit breaker which turns off all the sockets in the house.

We found that turning the steam function off in the iron stops the problem, or even buying a new iron helps for a few months, before the problem starts again.

Now the electrics are fairly old, so that could be one explanation, but I am just curious to find out what the issue could be. All other appliances in the house work as they should.

Could we put anything in between the plug socket and iron to stop it tripping the circuit breaker - I am not to keen on my PC turning off every time someone wants to iron their clothes

Danger Phoenix · 9 Dec 2009 at 15:21

SB118 said:
Sounds like the breaker is on the way out, being overly sensitive to jumps in current. Does it do the same thing is you turn on other high drain stuff (fan heater, hair drier, etc)

Is the kitchen on a separate circuit? Electric/gas cooker?

Nothing else in the house trips the circuit - tested heaters, AC units, driers etc. We have tried the iron in different rooms but that does not help either.

The fridge and cooker sockets are on a different circuit, so I could try and running an extension lead from them into the living room and seeing if that makes a difference.

Danger Phoenix · 9 Dec 2009 at 15:42

Gadge said:
what rating is the breaker? 32A? should be a type B also.

The circuit breaker says on it:

Code:

240V
60A D.P.
30mA Trip

Not sure what all that means :eek:

What is an RCD? How much do they cost and where can I get one?

Danger Phoenix · 9 Dec 2009 at 17:30

jaybee said:
This happens in mine and my mums house from time to time. I generally thought it was a sign of the iron being poor?

Carl said:
That will save the main breaker tripping, but id invest in a new iron.

The iron that tripped the circuit today is only 3 weeks old and its not some cheapy one either - it's a £40 Bosch one. We have established that it isn't the iron because every iron we buy does that, and we have gone through over 7 irons in the last 15 years

Right, I will try and buy one of those RCDs and see if that helps

/Edit: Is this what I am looking for:
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/44855/Electrical-Supplies/RCDs/Masterplug-RCD-Plug

Danger Phoenix · 9 Dec 2009 at 20:39

All this electrical talk is just going above my head, so can someone please explain it in simpler terms?

I know that it is definitely NOT the iron as it seems to happen to every iron we have bought, and we don't be cheap ones either. We don't leave the water in the iron after we have finished using it - the water is drained every time. The current iron is only 3 weeks old so unless it's faulty (which I very much doubt) it is not the root of the problem. All irons have been tried in various sockets around the house and the circuit still trips.

The images below show our circuit breaker, and I have circled in red the switch that is turning off:

I don't know if those images help in the slightest, but I thought they would provide far more information than I can give

/Edit: Oh, I have just noticed that it says "Earth Leakage" next to the switch that is tripping, so I guess that is what is happening

Danger Phoenix · 9 Dec 2009 at 21:09

ZG002 said:
I'm going to go for over sensitive earth leakage device.

Get an electrician in to check it with a ramp test and also test the circuit you are using the irons on.

This really isn't something you should be playing about with yourself mate.

I don't plan on playing around with any of this - usually my Dad sorts this sort of thing out, but I know he won't get round to it for ages, so I thought it would be easier if I try and find out what the issue was.

Now I can at least buy the RCD Adaptor as a work around to stop my PC turning off every time someone in the house tries to iron. It also stops us having to set the time again and again on our answer machine and microwave, lol!