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OT - Tumble dryer tripping the electric
nick205 - 13/8/10 at 10:03 PM

2 year old Hotpoint tumble dryer has started tripping the main trip switch after 5 mins of running.

After a bit of a Google it appears to be a relatively common issue with the particular model and suggested culprit is the heater element.

I've removed said element (which looks a little suspect on some of the contacts) and run the machine "cold" for a good half hour with no problems.

Before I spend £55 on a replacement element does anyone agree or disagree with my diagnosis....?

Cheers!

MakeEverything - 13/8/10 at 10:06 PM

Is it an RCD that keeps tripping? ( does it have a "T" button on the front)

If so, they are only supposed to be used (Tripped) a certain amount of times.

nick205 - 13/8/10 at 10:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MakeEverything
Is it an RCD that keeps tripping? ( does it have a "T" button on the front)

If so, they are only supposed to be used (Tripped) a certain amount of times.



Yes, main RCD with a test button. The consumer unit is the same age as the dryer and has only tripped a handful of times (3 that I can recall) before now.

What's the recommended lifespan?

carlknight1982 - 13/8/10 at 10:17 PM

RCD units can stand 100's of trips depedning on the rating, when they wear out the just wont stay in any more its all to do with the contact breakers inside.

try cleaning up the terminals on the element or checking for the resistence reading aginst what the new one should be rated at, you can find that out from the supplier

SteveWalker - 14/8/10 at 12:20 AM

£55 !!!! Where are you looking, the last couple of elements I've had to buy have been around £20 or is this a difficult one to obtain?

b16mts - 14/8/10 at 07:44 AM

As a sparky, it's usually the element causing the problem, and people usually throw a £300 appliance away for a £20 part!

Hunt t'internet for a new element.

I now lecture in electrical installation full time, and I've never heard of rcds having a use by life.

Martin

nick205 - 14/8/10 at 08:14 AM

part came up on www.espares.co.uk for £54 delivered, must admit I Didn't look much further as Hotpoint wanted £104 just to come and look at it. I think we only paid £180 for the dryer in the sales!

GMPMotorsport - 14/8/10 at 08:51 AM

Ours is one of those reverse things and some times when it stops then kicks to go the other way it will take the RCD out, not sure why probably increased loading?

Liam - 14/8/10 at 09:07 AM

Very common for heating elements o fail in such a way they get leaky (earth leaky that is) and trip RCDs, and if removing it removed the problem I'd say your diagnosis is good. Could possibly be caused or exacerbated by moisture/humidity, in which case it may sort itself out when it dries out. For example, the first few times I used my condensing tumble dryer I shut it in the tiny uility room. Turns out even condensing dyers eally need some ventilation and one time I returned to something more like a steam room because I'd also neglected to empty the condensed water collector . The heater element tripped the RCD for a while after that but sorted itself out when the place dried out.

But if yours is tripping consistently and you didn't have a sudden extremely humid room event that may have caused it, sounds ike it's just faulty.

Don't worry about the RCD itself - it did what it's designed to do and should be able to do so for many more operations than it will ever need to.

BenB - 14/8/10 at 05:20 PM

Bet you a million dollars it is! Replaced them twice on my old one.

nick205 - 14/8/10 at 09:07 PM

Excellent, feeling confident after reading above replies/experiences. Part ordered and due on Tuesday so SWMBO should be back in action without delay

nick205 - 21/8/10 at 01:36 AM

new heater element fitted, machine and SWMBO now back to full service