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UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: jim etchells on June 29, 2010, 01:52:55 pm

Title: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: jim etchells on June 29, 2010, 01:52:55 pm
Had a job the other day. When it came to turning machine on. 1st vac came on, but when I turned the pump on it tripped out the electric in the house. Tried it a couple more times and the same thing happened. I was starting to panic as had already presprayed. Luckily I could hear a radio in the kitchen that stayed on each time everything else shut down. I tried this socket and all was fine. Got job done. When I got home tried machine in few sockets at home and all worked fine. Couldnt see any problem with pump  but wouldnt know what to look for anyway. Any ideas what could have happened. Ive put it down to dodgy wireing in the house. Never had this problem before. Any ideas?
Thanks
Title: Re: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: cleantom on June 29, 2010, 01:56:54 pm
Overload.

Make sure when you plug in use seperate sockets in seperate locations/areas, ideally use one near the cooker as it has seperate power to prevent tripping.

Title: Re: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: Joe H on June 29, 2010, 01:58:44 pm
I had a problem Jim, some time ago - it was the sockets in the new extension that tripped. Lady of the house says they always doing that. Plugged into the older part of the house and all ok.
Title: Re: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: richy27 on June 30, 2010, 08:58:14 am
rcd s can be very sensitive
Title: Re: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: jim etchells on June 30, 2010, 01:31:55 pm
Thanks for that guys.  Richard, whats an rcd s. Cheers
Title: Re: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: Colin Day on June 30, 2010, 01:50:34 pm
An RDC, similar to a Residual Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB), is an electrical wiring device that disconnects a circuit whenever it detects that the electric current is not balanced between the energized conductor and the return neutral conductor. Such an imbalance is sometimes caused by current leakage through the body of a person who is grounded and accidentally touching the energized part of the circuit. A lethal shock can result from these conditions. RCDs are designed to disconnect quickly enough to mitigate the harm caused by such shocks although they are not intended to provide protection against overload or short-circuit conditions.
Title: Re: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: Graeme@Access on June 30, 2010, 03:09:25 pm
Jim,

It may be the case that the RCD was at fault, but it could also be the pump brushes on the way out. We had this with a vac motor that looked fine and worked 99% of the time, but would trip some electrics. It had a buildup of carbon on the commutator that seemed to throw some rcds. Cleaned it and all was well, meaning it hasn't done it since.

Maybe time to look at some pump maintenance or renewing the switch.

Graeme
Access Cleaning Solutions
Title: Re: Electrical short. Why?
Post by: Kinver_Clean on June 30, 2010, 04:49:19 pm
I have come across ring mains with a 5 amp trip before now and plenty with 16a max. As said, use the cooker switch/socket as that will be 45 to 60 a.

Trevor