The_Trician
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I have a 4 year old Proteus consumer unit, well two of them in fact, one has no RCD and does the lighting etc and the other has a 63A 30mA RCD. The RCD controlled unit is mounted directly above the non RCB unit.
OK,
We have had nuisance tripping once every week or two since we moved here 3 years ago.....
No such thing as a 'nuisance trip'! The RCD is just doing it's job - i.e. tripping due to a fault, which is what it is designed to do.
I decided to track it down and bought a one way MCB box and connected one circuit to that, with the aim of trying one circuit there at a time. The plan was that when a nuisance trip occurs I know it is not the isolated circuit, so connect it back it in the RCD protected unit and move on to the the next circuit. Once I find the problem circuit I will not have any more nuisance tripping. [assuming it is only one circuit]
Good idea, but it could take a long time! Might be a better idea to have the whole installation inspected and tested instead?
Then we had an electrical storm with a lightning strike very close and no power through the RCD consumer unit. I found eventually that although the RCD switch was still in the ON position, no power was going through. Power was restored by switching the RCD OFF and then ON.
Not quite sure what you mean by this. Most RCDs can only be reset by switch8ing to 'Off', then to 'On', so this sounds normal to me, and certainly doesn't indicate a faulty RCD.
Today we lost power again, no storm, so it seems to be a nuisance trip, once again we had to switch the RCD OFF then ON. So it seems the RCD needs to be replaced.
I'm not sure you are correct in this assumption.
I found a thread here which led me to believe I should get a 30mA RCBO for each of the two circuits with external sockets, and scrap the main RCD altogether. Also it suggested Proteus is not high quality.
Is that correct? Should I avoid Proteus RCBO? Is their unit's rail a standard fit for any manufacturer's MCBO?
I beleive your Proteus board is working correctly, regardless of quality. Ultimately, it is your money you are spending, but I'd be reluctant to replace a sound board just because of the brand, and especially because swapping the board won't cure the existing fault!
When bypassing the RCD:- The mains tails go in to the non RCD controlled unit, then there are tails going up to the top of the RCD controlled unit and direct on to the RCD. The neutral then runs from the bottom of the RCD to the neutral junction point. I would prefer not to fit new tails between the units, is there some bridging/connecting device I can buy to replace the RCD and make the wiring simpler? I suppose I could just buy a 63 Amp 2 pole isolating switch to got there?
Indeed, you could do just that, but you'd be losing the RCD protection offered by your existing set-up.
Rather than chuck a couple of hundred quid on an new CU etc, why not get the existing installation checked out for faults first?
BTW - RCBOs are good, but very expensive. You'd be looking at around £30+VAT for each one!
Keep us posted as to how you get on - this one sounds interesting.
Good luck.
TT
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