SallyP Posted July 26, 2020 Report Share Posted July 26, 2020 I have a 13A plug in kiln. Most of the time it fires completely fine, but sometimes it trips the power to the house (RCD). I cannot figure out why. It's been doing it for a year or two on and off...like I said, most of the time there's no issue. This week it started doing it again after about 9 months of being hassle free. Load the kiln...set it going for a cone 6 firing. It starts off fine...and then trips the power to the house when it's around 120-150c. It's always the same kinda temp...never had it trip at higher temps. If I turn the power back on, the kiln will immediately start up again and the power trips again within say 10 seconds or less. I have to unplug the kiln to be able to put the power back on. Sometimes it will do it a few times and then just continue the firing like nothing has happened...other times it won't restart without tripping so I just turn the kiln off, try it the next day and it's working fine again. If it's tripping continually I can't see the control panel to see if there's any error messages. It's really beginning to get on my nerves...I'm starting to feel anxious about putting the kiln on because I never know whether it's going to be "one of those days", sometimes I have customers waiting for orders and haven't time for the unreliability of it. I'm probably going to try find an electrician to check things out but was just wondering if anyone had any idea why it would be tripping at low temps on occasion but working fine other times? Thing's I've considered... If something needed replacing, wouldn't it just "break" rather than work fine most of the time? Wiring - house was completely rewired about 5 years ago, other than that I don't know anything about the about electricity or wiring. Elements - no signs of slumping, brittleness, flaking, blackening etc. Still pretty darn fast when it does fire without tripping. Thermocouple - has been changed recently so don't think that would be an issue Relay - I don't know any signs that would indicate a relay has failed or how to find out if it needs replacing? Power - I live in a tiny village with quite frequent power cuts in bad weather...sometimes we experience everything "going slow"...dimmed lights, washing machine not sounding as powerful etc. But that's maybe once or twice a year, not very frequent. Could it be something to do with communal power use, rather than just the house? The kiln isn't on a dedicated circuit, but I turn all other sockets off when it's on and that hasn't made a difference. Any advice would be appreciated...or at least something to point an electrician in a direction perhaps. TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted July 26, 2020 Report Share Posted July 26, 2020 @SallyP When you say it's tripping the power to the house, do you mean the main breaker for the entire house, or just that circuit? Since it's not tripping the breaker immediately when it turns on, it's probably not a kiln issue. If anything was wrong with the kiln that would cause it to trip, it would probably happen instantly, like a loose wire that's grounding out. Most likely the breaker needs to be replaced. I'd also check the wiring and outlet and make sure nothing is corroded or overheating. What is the brand and model of the kiln? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted July 26, 2020 Report Share Posted July 26, 2020 Ok I had to read up on RDC in the UK whole house protection GFI here on this side of the pond My guess is you have nuisance trippage. This could be from a lot of things not just the kiln. Loose connections ,crossed neutral ground? bad ground(Earth I think is what you call it) Any leaks like Rockhopper sugested will trip that . Is your whole house on an RDC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SallyP Posted July 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea about electric, I'm not even sure what a breaker actually is. The power for the whole house goes out...there's a switch on the wall that flicks down and I have to flick it back up to put the power back on. The RCD protects the circuits to the right of it...have attached a pic of similar, the yellow underlined switch is tripping the power for the whole house. I have a 40L L&L Fuego. It's kept in the same place and always plugged in but switched off at the kiln or wall socket. The power lead is fine, so is the plug and wall socket, doesn't feel hot/heat whilst firing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 Check the ground on the kiln with a multi meter. With one probe on the grounding prong on the plug, touch the other probe anywhere on the metal parts of the kiln and you should get continuity. If that's good, then it's likely an issue with the outlet or house wiring or breaker itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liambesaw Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 You have only 100 amp service, so make sure when you're firing you're not using any high draw appliances like stoves or furnace/AC. If it's flipping the main, it's likely drawing too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 10 hours ago, SallyP said: Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea about electric, I'm not even sure what a breaker actually is. The power for the whole house goes out...there's a switch on the wall that flicks down and I have to flick it back up to put the power back on. The RCD protects the circuits to the right of it...have attached a pic of similar, the yellow underlined switch is tripping the power for the whole house. I have a 40L L&L Fuego. It's kept in the same place and always plugged in but switched off at the kiln or wall socket. The power lead is fine, so is the plug and wall socket, doesn't feel hot/heat whilst firing. Since this is not your area of knowledge .You need an qualified electrican ,then have them check out the whole situation including the kiln grounds etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SallyP Posted July 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 I think it's probably an issue with the breaker or wiring in the house. My cooker tripped the same RCD switch this evening when I turned it on to cook dinner. Have an electrician coming out this week. Thanks folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted July 27, 2020 Report Share Posted July 27, 2020 16 minutes ago, SallyP said: I think it's probably an issue with the breaker or wiring in the house. My cooker tripped the same RCD switch this evening when I turned it on to cook dinner. Have an electrician coming out this week. Thanks folks. If you have a lot of appliances using power, especially if the air conditioning is running, you can max out 100 amps pretty quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 You will need to contol whats on when the kiln is on. After they determine the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted July 28, 2020 Report Share Posted July 28, 2020 2 hours ago, SallyP said: My cooker tripped the same RCD switch this evening when I turned it on to cook dinner. Have an electrician coming out this week. Thanks folks. Smart move with electrician, good chance that RCD is a bit touchy, but can also be wiring to any of the loads to the right of it as well as their wall switches . Not likely but needs to be electrically tested not just visual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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