Dust Extractor Tripping Electrics

[the_g_ster]

Hi All

It seems my trusty DX5000 has an issue that is doing some weird things with the electrics in my shed.

If it's plugged in, even if it's off or indeed running, it seems to cause the RCD to trip. What is odd, is the extractor will work for a few minutes and then trip everything off. Then you go to turn the system back on, and it trips straight away with the dust extractor turned on. It doesn't trip if you unplug it.

I am running a small radiator, drawing about 930 watts from the current reader I have plugged into it. And a dehumidifier on about 150 watts, so I am well below the maximum on the circuit.

Any ideas?

 

[graduate_owner]

I'm not a sparky so there may be better answers than mine, but this is the way I see it. The RCD will trip as a result of an earth fault, so it's not a case of excess current flowing.

What happens if you try to reset the RCD when the extractor is plugged in but not switched on? If it won't reset then it sounds like a neutral to earth fault (since the live is disconnected at the ON OFF switch). That could be something as simple as a frayed section of cable - may be worth checking. Check the resistance between the neutral and earth pins at the plug, and it should be very high (as in Megohms). The live to earth resistance should also have a similar reading whether switched on or not.

I'm not sure if this helps but it may be worth trying.

K

 

[OLD]

I think graduate_owner is correct its a neutral/earth fault .Also check that motor and switch gear is not full of dust.One other possibility is that heat is causing the motor insulation to break down after running for a short time

 

[dejaa]

Hi

There could be another couple if possibilities:

Is it actually tripping the main RCD or one of the MCB's ?

RCD's are triggered by earth leakage as others have said, MCB's triggered by over current draw. It's almost certain that your dust extractor had an inductive motor, these will have a higher current draw on the system in the initial start up phase. You could try fitting a slightly higher rated MCB (say 40A instead of 32A)

The other possibility is the start capacitor across the motor could be faulty, maybe not completely defunct as to prevent starting, but sufficient to cause the RCD/MCB to trip. I had this same fault on my Felder machine, after fitting a new capacitor all was fine.

David