RCD switch in fusebox keeps tripping

Brooklyn said:
It happens maybe once a week and always at night, immediately after I've turned off the switches on the sockets that my computer is plugged into.
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You mean it does not happen during the day when you do this? When it happens is it always when you are doing this?
 
I think so Clubman. Every time it's happened it's been at night right as I'm about to go to sleep. I'm not sure it's 100% always been just after I've switched off the sockets, but that's usually one of the last things I do at night (it certainly isn't happening before I switch them off - I'd notice that!). But even then, it doesn't happen every night, just about once a week for the past four or five weeks.
 
Are you on Nightsaver such that storage heaters and/or immersion might be running when this happens?
 
I am on Nightsaver, but it happened last night at 10pm. Storage heaters and immersion were not running at the time.
 
So nobody has any ideas? It happened again last night, within about two minutes after I'd switched off the sockets for my computer.
 
Have a similar issue with a rcd switch made by contactum tripping when i use the landing light switch. It doesnt happen every time but enough to stop me from using it completely. I took switch from the wall and had a look inside to see if i could see any bare wire but it looked ok. Any ideas what i should look for?
 
Brooklyn said:
I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that, but I'm starting to think it might.
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Maybe before you get someone in, try unplugging the computer leads at night rather than just switching off at the socket.
It would appear that there isn't a whole lot wrong, possibly some sort of leakage back through the internet cable onto the computer power supply, for instance.
We find in large offices that about two or three PC's is the max per circuit to avoid nuisance tripping, there are small currents flowing in the network cables which can reach a sufficient level to trip the RCD.
 

are you sure its the rcd thats tripping and not an mcb? lights don't normally go on an rcd.
 
aido79 said:
are you sure its the rcd thats tripping and not an mcb? lights don't normally go on an rcd.
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It says residual current device on it, and when it does trip the sockets in the house go off. It is a two-way switch as it is the landing light but the problem doesnt occur when turning the light on and off downstairs, only upstairs. The bathroom light is on the same switch but doesnt have the problem either.
 
We had a very similar problem a couple of months ago. Our spark changed the RCD switch and all is fine since. He said sometimes they are just too sensitive.
 
Hoagy said:
Maybe before you get someone in, try unplugging the computer leads at night rather than just switching off at the socket.
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Thanks Hoagy. Tried that last night and it didn't trip, but then it doesn't do it all the time anyway. Will keep trying this.
 
Problem not solved

This morning I turned off the computer, unplugged the leads and left the house. When I got home just now the switch was tripped. I couldn't say for sure if it happened right after I turned off the computer, I just didn't notice.

The only things that were running during this time were the refrigerator/freezer, a digital clock and the storage heaters (the switch that's supposed to remain on 24/7, not the front panel).
 
Correction to last post: the timer on an electric heater was also on. It stopped pretty much right at the time I left the house, so clearly the switch did trip just after I pulled the leads out of the sockets.
 
Sounds like it's time for the electrician. This sort of fault can be very difficult to trace.
 
In my opinion your problem may be is the same as the previous problem of which I experienced.Some fridge freezers as liable to trip intermittently, because 30 milliamp on the residual circuit breaker (rcd) is a very low sensitivity on the socket circuits, but that is the regulation for domestic installations and has been for some time,the reason is if there is a faulty appliance, the socket circuits will trip out before you can get a shock.
It does not imply that your fridge freezer is faulty.I wired a designated socket circuit without the (rcd) purely for my fridge freezer and everything worked perfectly and you may have to do likewise. I am an elecrician, hoping this advice will be beneficial.
 
Thanks mmcd but I'm still a little unclear as to why switching off the electricity to the computer would cause the trip?
 
I am having a similar problem with my RCD.

Sometimes when I turn off the socket switches for my laptop, tv etc the RCD gets tripped. This used to happen before but the builders are still on site so I got their electrician to check it. He just replaced the RCD switch and all was fine until the last couple of weeks.

Here is what I am usually turning off when it happens:

2 Double Sockets beside each other
One has a cable modem and a surge protection extension plugged into it

The other has a wireless router and a surge protection extension plugged into it

Across the two surge protection extensions are the following:
  • Plasma TV
  • XBox 360
  • Nintendo Wii
  • DVD Player
  • Surround Sound Amp
  • Subwoofer
  • NTL Box
1 Double Socket on the opposite wall with just a laptop plugged into it.

Any advice would be helpful because if I get the site electrician out again I don't think he'll be able to do much because his English wasn't great so he didn't really understand me!

Thanks
 
with the likes of computors,laptops etc you can get leakage currents within the appliance,its not a problen per say with the piece of equipment but it does cause problems with control gear ie RCDs.I would reccommend talking to manufacters ie Dell and someone in their service dept. might have come across it before.If you have just moved into a new house then you might have new appliances where if they have been sitting in a warehouse heating elements might have some ingress of moisture causing the RCD to trip.Drying them out would elimate this.

I wouldn't rule out sensitive RCDs either and it might be less expensive to get the RCD changed initially rather than an electrician spend hours looking at you wiring and then changing the RCD.

At least be safe in the knowledge that the device is tripping sometimes they won't trip even when you press the tset button.If you think of it test the RCDs on a regular basis.
 
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