I am an electrician, and I hadn't heard this, so I checked with a friend
who is a contractor. He says that in general, dishwashers should not
trip RCD's, however, anything with an incoloy element in it (and some
dishwashers do have them for heating the water and / or drying) can
cause RCD's to trip. That is why hot water cylinders are exempt.
So, does the dishwasher trip when it is drying or perhaps heating the
water (it would be harder to tell with the later as it will probably
also be in a washing mode while it heats the water)? Also what is the
rating fof the RCD. It should be a 30mA rating for general use, but
sometimes 10mA units are used, they are a bit too sensitive for general
use, though OK for bathrooms.
Any way there is a solution, so long as you are sure that there is not
actually a fault with the dishwasher, it can be excluded from the RCD
circuit, if it is permanently connected rather than plugged in. You
would just have to replace the plug socket with a Permanent Connection
Unit (like a towel rail connection). This will be OK if the dishwasher
is on its own circuit, but if it is looped in with other plugs in the
kitchen you'll be out of luck.
ciao
Lance Blackler
Volker Kuhlmann wrote:
Some appliances (including dishwashers?) are not suitable to run off RCDs.
What's the reason given for this?
Anything involving water would be the first thingeme I'd spend an RCD
on.
Volker
