What causes the RCD to trip?
What causes the RCD to trip?
RCDs trip when a fault is detected in an electrical circuit. When an RCD trips frequently (even after resetting), it is probably responding to a damaged electrical appliance. This means your switch is working correctly.
What does protected by RCD mean?
Residual Current Device
The Residual Current Device, or RCD, is one of the most important electrical safety devices in both the home and commercial environments. In short, an RCD protects against injury and death caused by electric shock by detecting an imbalance between the outgoing and incoming total current of a given number of circuits.
Why will my RCD not reset?
The number one cause of an RCD that won’t reset is an overloaded circuit. If you’re using an extension lead with a number of appliances running off the same circuit unplug the extension lead. Run your appliances off of separate circuits, and it shouldn’t happen again, ideally use a single appliance to a single circuit.
Can a power cut cause RCD to trip?
Yes they can. Everything is coming back on line at the same moment. Motors starting, filters and suppressors being energised – lots of little bits of leakage to earth and they all add up.
How do you fix a RCD switch?
If an RCD trips i.e. switches to the ‘OFF’ position you can:
- Try resetting the RCD by toggling the RCD switch back to the ‘ON’ position. If the problem with the circuit was a temporary one, this may solve the problem.
- If this does not work and the RCD immediately trips again to the ‘OFF position,
How do you know if your RCD is bad?
If your RCD trips and you can’t reset it, or after resetting, it trips again in a few minutes, you may have a faulty device. Your RCD should be tested regularly and according to the standard dictated by the AS/NZS 3760:2010.
What causes an RCD to fail?
The most common causes of RCD tripping are faulty appliances but there can be other causes. If an RCD trips i.e. switches to the ‘OFF’ position you can: Try resetting the RCD by toggling the RCD switch back to the ‘ON’ position. If the problem with the circuit was a temporary one, this may solve the problem.
What happens when an RCD fails?
Failure to fix an RCD that repeatedly trips can lead to many hazards such as the risk of fire and electrocution. An RCD which is continually tripping may already be faulty or low-quality to begin with but either way repeated tripping can cause the RCD to deteriorate over time.