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Hi
I’m new to this forum, so hopefully I’m posting in the right place.I have a candy dishwasher which recently started tripping out the RCD as soon as the mains switch on the wall was turned on – even with the dishwasher power button on the control panel off…
After much investigation I discovered that the mains suppressor was blown – charred etc..I bought a replacement suppressor, and fitted, but the same thing is happening – as soon as I turn the mains on the RCD trips out.
I thought perhaps the suppressor was broken, so I hot wired the live and neutral and removed the earth to see if it would still trip out – and it didn’t..
Because I don’t mind about not having a suppressor, i thought I could leave those hot wired, but wanted to put the earth back on, however as soon as the earth feed from the mains is connected to the suppressor which is in turn fixed the the shell of the dishwasher, the electricity trips out again immediately..
With the earth “unplugged” the dishwasher appears to work fine – however I’m naturally not happy about using it with no earth…
I have had a good visual inspection of the electrics for the pump, heater, motor etc.. and can see no water ingress, or evidence of loose or dodgy connections, so I am at a bit of a loss at the best way to go about finding the problem.
is it going to be a case of unplugging everything, and slowly putting things back in until it starts tripping again?
Could a faulty suppressor cause the earth to in turn cause a RCD trip?
Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Re: How to find earth leak?
First and foremost DO NOT RUN THE APPLIANCE WITH THE EARTH DISCONNECTED…!
A faulty new main suppressor is a possibility of course. Likewise an earth leak within the appliance very likely. The heater and the main circulating pump fail regularly as does broken wiring harness within the door panel etc etc. An earth insulation tester will quickly source where the fault lies. Multimeters are never effective enough in locating earth leaks as they only operate 9 volts DC. Insulation Testers are 500 volts DC and upwards and are a must have for this type of work.
Take care! :zap:
Re: How to find earth leak?
Thanks for the reply.
Does the fact that it’s tripping before the dishwasher switch is on narrow down what could be at fault?
Looking at the wiring everything seems to get power from the mains and presumably the on switch just controls neutral feed.?
Are earth testers easy to use? Or is it more likely to be a faulted component ie heater element or motor that’s causing this?
Thanks for the help.Re: How to find earth leak?
carbonman wrote:Does the fact that it’s tripping before the dishwasher switch is on narrow down what could be at fault?
Many dishwashers are switched on the neutral side. (You didn’t give us the make or model number of your machine by the way.) but if the appliance is switched off and yet the RCD trips then likely as not the mains lead, mains terminal block or the filter could be the cause.
carbonman wrote:Are earth testers easy to use?
As easy as a multimeter is to one that can use it yes.
carbonman wrote:Or is it more likely to be a faulted component ie heater element or motor that’s causing this? .
We don’t know without checking but as I said earlier they do fail so check them out too.
Re: How to find earth leak?
Thanks
Its a candy dishwasher, but not sure of the model – its not written on the outside – but its a semi integrated one.
I tried removing the outgoing supply from the suppressor so only the incoming supply was connected and the RCD does NOT trip, so obviously something in the unit is causing the leak.
Would it be safe to say it can’t be the pump / heating element given at the point it trips neither of these are active?
Looking at earth leakage testers how can I use one if the device trips the RCD? presumably i need to plug it into a non RCD protected supply to find the leak?
is it also a viable option to disconnect everything and slowly plug things in until it starts tripping – process of elimination… do i need to just disconnect live / earth / neutral or do I only need to remove live etc?
really appreciate your help and advice, thanks.
Re: How to find earth leak?
carbonman wrote:Would it be safe to say it can’t be the pump / heating element given at the point it trips neither of these are active?
No, I refer you to my previous posts. 😉
carbonman wrote:Looking at earth leakage testers how can I use one if the device trips the RCD?
You only test the machine with the power disconnected of course!
carbonman wrote:is it also a viable option to disconnect everything and slowly plug things in until it starts tripping – process of elimination… do i need to just disconnect live / earth / neutral or do I only need to remove live etc?
No and no!
P.s. It may be advisable to get a local guy in and sort it for you. He has the tester and he knows the procedure. Could be your best option TBH.
Re: How to find earth leak?
Been a while now but think I have found the culprit.
If I disconnect the heater element I get no tripping but when I connect it back up it immediately trips out..
I’ve tested the element with a multimeter and it seems ok, I get about 15ohms but presumably the fact it’s tripping out means it’s that which is dead or dying?Just wanted to check before I buy a new one…
Thanks!Re: How to find earth leak?
It needs insulation testing. A multimeter is useless for this. But it does sound like a heater fault
Re: How to find earth leak?
Presumably the insulation tester is going to be more than the new element? 🙂 I see you are local, do you have one? A new element is about £65 so I’d pay a small sum to be sure if you were interested?
Otherwise I’ll probably just go for it and hope 🙂
Re: How to find earth leak?
carbonman wrote:Been a while now but think I have found the culprit.
If I disconnect the heater element I get no tripping but when I connect it back up it immediately trips out..Yes it has been a while, the thick end of 2½ months in fact. 😉 But by golly you’ve sussed it! :tup:
The heater is duff. 🙁
Re: How to find earth leak?
It’s not been broken the whole time 😉 it started working after I disconnected everything and put it all back together but just broke again a few days ago 🙂
I’m slow but not quite that slow 🙂 hahaRe: How to find earth leak?
A decent meter ranges upto and beyond £1000 if I recall my megger was £1150 or so but if you have a multi meter it may give you an indication if the element is going to earth. first unplugging the appliance and the setting to continuity and placing one lead to the earth point and then the other to the live connection and then try neutral to earth this is a totaly a dead test but if you get anything under infinity there between the earth point and live connections it’s a good indication of a fault
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