Advice from Electricians Please

V

VladKinder

Well-known member
Our power went off last night.

Lights were fine but everything plugged into a socket went off.

The master switch just kept going back down when I kept moving it back to the on position.

I turned everything off room by room and back on.

Isolated the issue to the kitchen area.

Everything went back on ok, then we turned on the dryer (we have separate washer and dryer) and the power went off again.

So is it likely the dryer is faulty (overheated) or there is a deeper problem with the electrics in the kitchen?

In the past we have bought four slice toasters but they always trip the electrics so we have to go back to the smaller two slice one.

Best to get an electrician out or just give dryer time to cool down or maybe replace the dryer? (we did notice the water cartridge had gotten full and the indicator hadn't gone on to tell us it was full, so maybe a combo of wet clothes in it and a full water cartridge tripped the electrics?)

Long winded I know! Thanks.
 
Get an electrician out, you should be able to run a 4 slice toaster without tripping your electric

Dryers use a lot of power so it seems like you need it looking at to stop it happening any time something spikes usage. Ovens usually on a separate ring to the rcd with its own switch so that's why that isn't tripping it
 
VladKinder said:
Our power went off last night.

Lights were fine but everything plugged into a socket went off.

The master switch just kept going back down when I kept moving it back to the on position.

I turned everything off room by room and back on.

Isolated the issue to the kitchen area.

Everything went back on ok, then we turned on the dryer (we have separate washer and dryer) and the power went off again.

So is it likely the dryer is faulty (overheated) or there is a deeper problem with the electrics in the kitchen?

In the past we have bought four slice toasters but they always trip the electrics so we have to go back to the smaller two slice one.

Best to get an electrician out or just give dryer time to cool down or maybe replace the dryer? (we did notice the water cartridge had gotten full and the indicator hadn't gone on to tell us it was full, so maybe a combo of wet clothes in it and a full water cartridge tripped the electrics?)

Long winded I know! Thanks.
Click to expand...

We had exactly this with a dryer. Replaced the dryer and all was fine.
 
Normally the washing machine or dishwasher when I’ve experienced this previously.
 
VladKinder said:
Our power went off last night.

Lights were fine but everything plugged into a socket went off.

The master switch just kept going back down when I kept moving it back to the on position.

I turned everything off room by room and back on.

Isolated the issue to the kitchen area.

Everything went back on ok, then we turned on the dryer (we have separate washer and dryer) and the power went off again.

So is it likely the dryer is faulty (overheated) or there is a deeper problem with the electrics in the kitchen?

In the past we have bought four slice toasters but they always trip the electrics so we have to go back to the smaller two slice one.

Best to get an electrician out or just give dryer time to cool down or maybe replace the dryer? (we did notice the water cartridge had gotten full and the indicator hadn't gone on to tell us it was full, so maybe a combo of wet clothes in it and a full water cartridge tripped the electrics?)

Long winded I know! Thanks.
Click to expand...
Is the breaker that's tripping an earth leakage breaker? Does it trip when you try to start the dryer or simply when you plug it in? Washing machines and Tumble Dryers often have single phase, capacitor start motors and the capacitor can prove problematic. If it is an earth leakage trip it could just be a build up of damp fluff under the machine.
 
when we do our firefighting drills on our annual checks the ex firefighters said that the biggest cause of house fires was faulty white goods, so get them checked.
These have now been superseded by mobile phones bursting into flames through being constantly left on charge.
 
I've has this a couple of times over the years. It's always been a simple 'fix' of the toaster. Once it was defective after many years and buying a new one rectified the tripping.

The other time was as simple as tipping it upside down and watching the years worth of crumbs fallout. A few were currants from T cakes so no doubt getting jammed under the 'thingy' when I pushed it down.
 
we had this in November replaced the dryer as it was knackered and it solved the issue.

Ours was the drum had stopped turning (motor then drawing more power to get it turning and that was causing the trip
 
WoodallServices said:
These have now been superseded by mobile phones bursting into flames through being constantly left on charge.
Click to expand...
And probably dodgy batteries on charge that have been fitted in shoddy ebike conversions. I've seen some very scary footage online of those bicycle batteries going up in flames inside of people's homes.
 
WoodallServices said:
when we do our firefighting drills on our annual checks the ex firefighters said that the biggest cause of house fires was faulty white goods, so get them checked.
These have now been superseded by mobile phones bursting into flames through being constantly left on charge.
Click to expand...
Surely not? Mobile phones causing more fires than cooking appliances? You'd be hearing about it non-stop?

UK in 2020/21 were as follows.

1. Cooking appliances: 11,078 fires​

Cooking appliances account for almost half (46%) of all accidental house fires and account for around 10% of deaths. Common sources of ignition include:

  • Cookers & ovens
  • Rings & hot plates
  • Grills & toasters

2. Electrical distribution: 2,962 fires​

Electrical distribution accounts for 12% of accidental house fires and 6% of deaths. Common sources of ignition include:

  • Wiring, cabling & plugs
  • Apparatus, batteries & generators
  • Heating equipment

3. Domestic appliances: 2,152 fires​

Other household appliances (not including cooking appliances or heating equipment) account for 9% of fires and 5% of deaths. Common sources of ignition include but are not limited to:

  • Dishwashers
  • Extractor fans
  • Fridge/Freezers
  • Tumble dryers
  • Washing machines

4. Smoking-related materials: 2,115 fires​

Smoking materials including cigarette lighters account for around 9% of fires and 34% of deaths – the highest of all sources.

5. Matches and Candles: 1,032 fires​

Matches and candles account for around 4% of fires and 4% of deaths.

6. Space heating appliances: 784 fires​

House and space heating appliances account for 3% of house fires and 11% of deaths. Common sources of ignition include:

  • Patio heating equipment
  • Heaters & fires
  • Other heating equipment

7. Electric lighting: 438 fires​

Electrical lighting accounts for 2% of house fires. Common sources of ignition include:

  • Fairy lights
  • Fluorescent lights
  • Spot lights
  • Incandescent light bulbs

8. Central and water heating appliances: 217 fires​

9. Blowlamps, welding and cutting equipment: 153 fires​

10. Office equipment: 20 fires​

Click to expand...
 
It sounds like what you are referring to as the master switch is an RCD. RCDs have a test button where as MCBs don’t. You may have a split load board where an RCD protects several MCBs this would be why your lights stay on as they are protected by an MCB not supplied via the RCD.
RCDs trip when there is an imbalance between the current in the line conductor and the current flowing back to the RCD in the neutral conductor i.e. some current has leaked to earth. This can happen when there is an earth fault in an appliance like your drier. The earth fault may be temporary caused by water and dry out naturally so the earth fault is no longer present or it could be an inherent fault for example a faulty heating element.
I would suggest that if your drier has had sufficient time to dry out following a spillage of water and it still trips the RCD then you either replace it or look to have it repaired.
 
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