Discuss 230v hair dryer swimming pool. in the Electrical Appliances Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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conrad

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Standard 230 v hairdryers wired into rcbo protected spurs poolside, id say zone 2 but didnt measure. Hair dryer cable is 2 core, the cable had been damaged leaving the neutral snapped and exposed at the hairdryer end, floating neutral... Someone apparently grabbed the cable and received a shock. With no path to earth what would it take for the rcbo to operate. Maybe if the floor was wet enough to find a path etc. Iv recommened a hand dryer designed for the application be installed.
 
The RCBO will operate either as a result of overload or more than 30mA leakage (leakage being the difference between the current flowing in the line and neutral) no matter how that leakage originates.

Theoretically if someone grabbed it and got a shock, they have completed a line/floating neutral to earth circuit and I would have expected the RCBO to trip if they felt it.

A dryer designed for the location is a good start, but maybe consider mechanical protection for the cable as well... PVC conduit perhaps.
 
Conduit wouldnt be practical. Obviously the hair dryer needs to be moveable to dry your hair. Lol... An ip type has no cable just a hose. In terms of the rcbo not operating, i didnt speak to the person who reported. Id say it was a flash when the cable broke and maybe they didnt get a shock. Installation is only 3 years old.
 
What type of site is this?

I cannot for one second believe it would be a site open to the public with that kind of nonsense going on. I'm sorry, but I'd be suggesting to the client they loose the hair driers and put them in a more sensible place (like the changing rooms perhaps), and if they weren't willing to do that, I'd probably walk.

Zone 2 extends to 3.5m from the waters edge, but you're still going to be sopping wet if you walk that far. It's a disaster waiting to happen and I'd say the person this happened to is lucky.

In the case you described, then the RCBO won't trip because there was no overload, no fault current and potentially no leakage.
 
It is a new site. Local council public swimming pool. On the schedule its says 60898 which they must have been on originally. Poor design. Someone has put them on rcbo since but its not sufficient. I have not checked the regs yet but im sure they have to be designed for use or elv on swimming pool. To be fair the client has already been on and put the order in to replace. Theyre not on rcd spurs theyre on rcbos in the db which is in plant room..
 
Those hairdryers are not suitable if they are standard domestic appliances.
 

They look like they might be just the ticket. Decent containment on the cable and they'd probably be a good way to move forward.
 
How often was the existing equipment formally inspected for serviceability?

New kit is all well and good but if processes aren't in place this could happen again.
 
There is already an established solution for this through most of Europe and across America: Use a hose type dryer :) They don't just have them for outdoor/pool leisure, they're in hotel and home bathrooms - literally millions of them.

The airbox and heating element are wall mounted at high level, various IP ratings available for the wall mounted unit. The user just presses the on button and holds the dryer on the end of the hose.

It kinda baffles me that anyone installed anything other than the established solution in the first place. Who wants to go to court to explain that!?

This is not an area I would recommend trying to come up with a new solution.
 
Even 10mA is a painful shock, you could definitely get a nice tingle from a neutral when wet without tripping the rcd.
Id say you'd need better than a 30mA rcd for pool side use and the dryer needs to be suitable for the conditions as stated above.
 
Even 10mA is a painful shock, you could definitely get a nice tingle from a neutral when wet without tripping the rcd.
Id say you'd need better than a 30mA rcd for pool side use and the dryer needs to be suitable for the conditions as stated above.

Painful, sure. If you actually carry the current. But that's tough to do as most pool environments are effectively isolated from earth by design. The easiest route back to earth pre-trip is to head for the nearest neutral/earth connection - in this case the one neatly exposed on the flex.

RCD is all well and good, and of course, have the best protection you can. But this is more of a common sense issue and solution: Take the flex away for the user. The ideal solution already exists and is not remotely expensive.
 
Iv ordered 1.5 kw robus hairdryers... specifically designed for this use.

Just out of interest... why did you pick the Robus units? They are IP20. There are IP34 units available which I would have thought are a better fit for the environment these are going to be installed in.
 

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