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Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

Does what it says on the tin
Clariman
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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247549

Postby Clariman » August 28th, 2019, 4:51 pm

csearle wrote:
Clariman wrote:The only thing he could think of was that the socket switch was faults and had arced.
Well if there is any kind of inductive load, which your Iron may well be then, depending upon when in the cycle the switch disconnects, it most certainly will arc. That shouldn't cause an over-current though as the load would limit the current*.

Not sure what it could have been other than a momentary short circuit (probably near where movement occured).

Chris
* Not so in the case of a filament lamp where the arc can effectively replace the filament (the load).

He did say that a short circuit was a possibility. Socket looked very secure wiring wise and the iron has a molded plug on it.

Clariman
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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247550

Postby Clariman » August 28th, 2019, 4:52 pm

dubre wrote:is the iron now in use?

Well it works and it heats up fine. Not sure whether to keep using it or ditch it just in case?

jfgw
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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247591

Postby jfgw » August 28th, 2019, 8:03 pm

Clariman wrote:Well it works and it heats up fine. Not sure whether to keep using it or ditch it just in case?


I see no reason to suspect the iron. Keep using it.

If you dismantle the socket, you may see where it failed.

Julian F. G. W.

Itsallaguess
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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247594

Postby Itsallaguess » August 28th, 2019, 8:12 pm

jfgw wrote:
Clariman wrote:
Well it works and it heats up fine. Not sure whether to keep using it or ditch it just in case?


I see no reason to suspect the iron. Keep using it.


And maybe alternate the socket the iron plugs into...

Irons are pretty unforgiving, and often the largest prolonged electrical load in the house when compared to the relatively shorter time that kettles are usually switched on for, so sharing the load between each side of the double-socket could lengthen the life of this new one..

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247627

Postby quelquod » August 28th, 2019, 10:12 pm

csearle wrote:
Clariman wrote:The only thing he could think of was that the socket switch was faults and had arced.
Well if there is any kind of inductive load, which your Iron may well be then, depending upon when in the cycle the switch disconnects, it most certainly will arc. That shouldn't cause an over-current though as the load would limit the current*.


The current available due to switching an inductive load is unchanged from that flowing at the moment of interrupting it so that can’t of itself cause a trip.

If there was significant arcing then probably the switch didn’t break cleanly. The snap action is supposed to minimise the likelihood of arcing but won’t defeat an inductive back-emf. Either way I think there’s a good chance that the circuit was broken and remade rapidly while the contacts were separating and that kind of repetitive circuit interruption can certainly cause a trip.

I agree with the earlier comment about MK, and IMHO a DP switch is always recommended.

csearle
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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247647

Postby csearle » August 29th, 2019, 12:08 am

quelquod wrote:Either way I think there’s a good chance that the circuit was broken and remade rapidly while the contacts were separating and that kind of repetitive circuit interruption can certainly cause a trip.
Maybe this is getting to the heart of the matter? Why could repetitive circuit interruption cause the MCB to trip? I'm not arguing, just curious as to the mechanism. C.

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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247681

Postby jfgw » August 29th, 2019, 9:03 am

I, too, cannot think of why arcing would trip an mcb. There are devices which are designed to trip when they detect arcing. These are known as AFDDs (arc fault detection devices) in the UK and AFCIs (arc fault circuit interrupters) in the USA. John Ward tried to get one to trip in this Youtube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVpXQa6EW3k&t=748s . (His videos are longer than they need to be but, if you increase the speed to 1.5x, it isn't quite so bad). The comments make interesting reading, especially those from American electricians. It appears that the UK one tested (which didn't work) is far superior to the American ones (which trip every time you switch on the vacuum cleaner).

Julian F. G. W.

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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#247690

Postby DrFfybes » August 29th, 2019, 9:21 am

Clariman wrote:
The electrician has replaced the socket to be on the safe side. It was made by British General. There were no burn marks evident on or in it, nor on the iron's plug. He said that if it had been an earthing problem, the RCD would have tripped rather than the individual circuit trip switch. He doesn't think it would be the iron. The only thing he could think of was that the socket switch was faults and had arced.


BG are towards the budget end of the scale, but not THE cheapest. I also use Crabtree or MK and have replaced a few budget sockets and light switches - in fact the 'trade' switches our electrician installed were so flimsy the rockers went brittle and snapped on the more used ones in direct sunlight after 5 years, so I replaced them all.

Paul

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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#248194

Postby dubre » August 30th, 2019, 9:30 pm

Dear Mrs Clariman

Please may we all bring our ironing round to your house.It is most important that this iron is properly stress tested.
Ta!

Clariman
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Re: Electric trip - check the socket or the iron?

#248276

Postby Clariman » August 31st, 2019, 8:56 am

dubre wrote:Dear Mrs Clariman

Please may we all bring our ironing round to your house.It is most important that this iron is properly stress tested.
Ta!

Ha-ha. Good luck with that mate, she doesn't even do mine! I :lol: I do some from time to time but take the rest to a place that does them for me. Should I complain or be happy that we have an equal relationship - equal in the sense that I do what I'm told ;)


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