[Brendan B]

Could any of you help on the above matter, it isnt every house but it is very fustrating when it happens as it really holds you up, i had to clean nearly every room in a 7 bed house on friday and because the electric kept tripping i had to go hire a generator and it worked fine then but took me a day and a half as oppose to one day as priced....

Cheers

[vacman]

Not every house has circuit breakers, therefore won't trip in those houses......there must be a fault in your equipment to make it trip 

[daysdeepclean]

Some houses do have consumer units which trip if you fart

Richard BF was having the same snag a while ago on a particular house and I'm sure his equipment was sound.... If it ever happens to me it always seems to be when I'm cleaning bungalows Odd!!!

[M.Acorn]

Sometimes have this prob myself,what i tend to do is put my heater in the socket nearest the cooker which will be a 16 amp i think ? And then plug in the machine on a different ring main ,so it`s not sucking loads of current off one circuit,either that or one of your vac motors is on it`s way out ?

[stevie wonder]

I know when my pump was on the way out it kept tripping the electric.But first id try what mark said.
Stevie.

[David williams]

could also be your electric cable. could have a kink an sepperates the cables.
happened to me with my pump the the cable.. luckily an electrician was around an told me the cable was the problem. good luck

[Fintan_Coll]

Sometimes the fault can be in the customers electric system but usually it is caused by some fault in the machine. Even a small drop of water around the machine wiring can cause problems. A hairdryer can be very useful in such situations.

[Joe H]

I was using the Scorpion plus inline heater a few months ago.
I was plugged into sockets in a new extension.
Tripped a couple of times, the lady said its always doing that in the new part - plug into the older part of the house. No problem there.

[Griffus]

When I have the heater and the pump plugged in at the same time I tend to have one in the downstairs circuit and one in the up.

This is not possible in a bungalow 

[richy27]

has the prob just started or has it been occuring from time to time since you have had the machine. you may have a leak somewhere in your machine which maybe getting into the vacs somewhere and causing the lecki to trip out. generally the rcd in new builds are really sensitive.

[JandS]

Always go for 2 plugs as far apart as poss.
As Mark says one up one down whenever possible.

John

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

All of the above suggestions are valid.

Use the kitchen as on a separate ring usually. yes customers houses can be really sensitive and also your equipment can need a service.

Often there is a leak of currant (not water) because the resistance has lowered. Generally if you give the brushes on the vacuums a good clean and check the cable this should be sufficient to eliminate the problem (for the time being.) As vacuums and pumps become older the parts wear and at some point the problem will become insuperable.

Roger

[vacman]

I was using the Scorpion plus inline heater a few months ago.
I was plugged into sockets in a new extension.
Tripped a couple of times, the lady said its always doing that in the new part - plug into the older part of the house. No problem there.

And why? Because the old part of the house -as likely as not- is not on the new style consumer unit, therefore does not immediatly recognise any fault or overload. I used to clean for a lady who had taken to doing her ironing in the lounge becuase when she used her iron in the new kitchen it tripped out the new RCD. Why? Because her iron used to leak water like a dripping tap, therefore was in fact quite faulty.

I think it needs to be established first and foremost if it's the RCD which is tripping (this is the overall protection device which detects earth leakage on circuits) or whether its the MCB (this is the device which replaces what were fuses and switches off when too much current is being drawn) usually the MCB it will allow you to draw an overload before switching off whereas if its the RCD that trips then this will trip the second that the fault is detected - usually on start up or when a certain something (motor, pump, heater, etc) comes on.

Plugging the two seperate units into two seperate circuits will solve the problem if it is an MCB tripping due to overload. My own carpet cleaner uses a 2-way adaptor to power both his appliances, its a wonder it's never overheated before now (or maybe it has.....?) 

[daysdeepclean]

Perhaps a PAT test would the best way to determine what the problem could be. I assume we all get all of our equipment PAT tested every 6 months :

[derek west]

i pat my truckmount regular "theres a good boy" i say
sorry in one of them moods.
derek

[daysdeepclean]

I've just looked up the price for Portable Appliance Testing..... £1.00-£2.50 per item, quite cheap really!!!

Derek, I'm sure TACCA would ensure it's member's have their air movers, vacs and other electrical items tested

Failure to do so can invalidate your insurance if you zap your custy with your Sebo Duo....

[vacman]

Perhaps a PAT test would the best way to determine what the problem could be. I assume we all get all of our equipment PAT tested every 6 months :

No, sadly not. A PAT test can be done by any Tom, Dick, or Harry, (fif you don't beleive that then search the net)., but it helps if the tester has some form of formal PAT training.

The tester does not in any way have to have any kind of electrical knowledge or backround.

Even if they did, the test would only establish a pass or a fail, and further more would not neccesarily pick up an intermittent fault.

PAT Testing is like an MOT on a car; it proves that everything was functioning (or not) on the day it was tested. There is no legal requirement for  it, but its a good way of proving you took reasonable steps to ensure the safety of your employees. However, its worth mentioning that whilst there is no obligation to PAT test per se, if it's in your H&S Policy then you MUST adhere to  the re-test dates which you’ve set yourself.