Ian,
I bought a steamate second hand and it was tripping breakers. I sent it away to be serviced, and Ashbys lost it. They sent me a reconditioned one, new casing etc, that I used a couple of times, and has sat in the garage since. I checked it out last week and it was tripping the breakers again. I don`t know if it is condensation due to lack of use, or how it was stored. If I had the time/knowledge I would strip it down, and check it out. I`d rather someone else got the use from it. If you want any pictures let me know, and I`ll text you them.