RCD keeps tripping when I use my grill, why?

[colincallan]

Hello

I have lived in my flat for over 6 years without ANY electrical problems whatsoever. Now, since having a new Wylex consumer unit fitted with RCD's my grill on my cooker keeps tripping the RCD's after it has been on for around 2 minutes. The grill was used every day for the week before so it should have been dry and not damp. also most of the indicator lights on the cooker do not light up now! (the oven and 1 ring light up to show they are on) The rest do not work now. Why is this please?

Before the changeover, my cooker worked fine, never had a problem. I've also noticed my cordless drill charger now does not light up nor does it charge the battery as it did before the change.

Can anyone please shed some light on this matter please? Pulling my hair out and don't need the hassle of having to look at buying a new cooker!

Also fed up of the electricians telling me to "buy a new cooker, that will sort it, your's is obviously broken"

Help? Thanks
Colin.

 

[remustered]

Easy diy way to safely check power feed to socket is to get plug in power monitor. Test your battery charger usage in your flat and round a friends...compare readings

sent from my HTC HD2 using tapatalk

 

[johnboy6083]

the cooker could wellbe damaged, and you didnt know beofre as MCB's are not as sensitive as RCD's. that would explain the grill tripping the RCD. You could get your cooker tested. AS for the lights, didthe spark carry out any testing, and did he switch off the cooker at the isolator during this testing.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

If a CU change was carried out the installer should have given you an Electrical Installation Certificate which should show a full set of test results and show up any problems. If not you should be getting back to him a demanding one. It is likely that even if a proper set of tests was carried out at the time this would not have included the cooker itself,so if the cooker element has a low insulation resistance...(very common)....an RCD will pick that up where as the protective devices before an RCD was fitted wouldnt. Either way your electrician should be able to pinpoint the cause with proper testing.
The charger issue is a bit odd....again,testing of the socket will pinpoint any issues there. It is possible that if your electrician carried out L-N 500v insulation tests at the time of the CU change and didnt disconnect the charger (and perhaps cooker lights?) some damage has been done to it. I would stress "possible" though.....most electricians know not to carry out such a test for exactly that reason,and IR tests are usually carried out in a way that cant do any damage.

 

[Octopus]

Did you get an EIC? was the job notified? Can you post a copy of the EIC?

 

[GT1]

The element in the grill is probably breaking down prior to failing completely.
It's very common for an RCD to "find" heating elements on their way out.
Kettles are favourite.
Replace the element in your grill And you more than likely solve the problem.
(they're about £20).

 

[plugsandsparks]

Hi Colin, hopefully just the grill element can be changed. My oven is notorious for tripping the rcd and its because the element is on its way out. Dont know about the rest.

 

[the pict]

yep I had a customer with the same issue top oven element was causing the RCD to trip new element and I have'nt been back
Pict

 

[steve447]

The element in the grill is probably breaking down prior to failing completely.
It's very common for an RCD to "find" heating elements on their way out.
Kettles are favourite.
Replace the element in your grill And you more than likely solve the problem.
(they're about £20).

This is exactly what i had to do after a board change, oven kept tripping the RCD after it had been on for about 5 minutes , £20 and a new element later not had a problem since.

 

[mogga]

the element is the most likley cause element inside is basicaly a spring and when heated it will expand at different rates due to hot spots ect over the years and this is probably the cause of your problem wouldnt show up on MCB but as has been said RCBOs tend to find these sorts of things
Fluff on a steam iron is another thing that does it