13amp Intertek Charger tripping RCD

[aitchmarsh]

Hi, I have a Mercedes C350e and have been using the home charger in a 13 amp socket. Now the charger trips the RCD in the main fuse box. When I switch it on. Even with the charger plug not in the car or in the car socket, the charger trips the RCD. If anyone knows about the fault. How it could be fixed. How to open the box to see inside. That would be much appreciated. Thanks Howard

 

[andy27168]

Hi
If the cable or plug hasn't been damaged/crushed then its almost certainly a faulty charger unit.
You could try plugging into friends house to see if it does the same thing and possibly eliminate an overly sensitive RCD.
I probably haven't told you anything you didn't already know, you could try to take the charger apart and look carefully at the point the mains cable is terminated if it accessible but almost certainly wont be able to be fixed it wouldn't surprise me if the guts of the charger are potted in some insulating material making it impossible to do anything to it.
Are there any visible screws in the charger case?

 

[m80]

Surprisingly it may not be the charger.
Most units will have some earth leakage, units with elements are the worst especially if not used for a while.
On their own, or even the accumulation of more than one unit, may not be enough to meet the threshold for tripping, add a little more from your charger and click.

Also an incorrectly wired socket (that being neutral and earth and not live and earth) will only cause a trip when a load is put into it. Even condensation behind the socket could cause nuisance.

Try the charger on another circuit and see if it still trips.
Then you may need unplug / isolate other kit to see if that is the true cause.

Of course it could be the charger, but as many are double insulated that seems less likely.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Do you have a fan heater?
plug that in the same socket, put it on ‘high‘ and see if your RCD trips.
if it does that circuit needs investigating.

Is the socket in an outbuilding? Sometimes a more sensitive RCD (10mA) is fitted so that it trips without taking out the main CCU RCD. (30mA).

Some double insulated items “dump” current down the neutral, which could be sensed by a sensitive RCD as an imbalance- and so it trips.

You could plug the charger into a regular socket in the house and see if it trips the circuit?

If it does, your charger is toast, if it’s under warranty send it back, if not just toss it and buy a new smart charger. CTEK or see if Aldi have any of theirs available, /euro car parts using a voucher code?

 

[Atavus]

Bit expensive to chuck in the bin. It’s an EV charger that you’ll find in the odd Aldi car park, but not the shop.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Oops didn’t know it was an EV charger, what power is it Rated at? It may just be too much current draw for the RCD supplying it? In which case just a new RCD will suffice....

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Check for cable damage at the entry to the unit - seems to be a common issue.

 

[grober]

ALMOST CERTAINLY A CHARGING CABLE UNIT FAULT- pulling too much current points to an internal short' failed component--is it under warranty?

4EV - Need EV Charging Cables Quick? | 4EV

EV Charging Cables and Accessories

www.4ev.co.uk

 

[m80]

Nah it's not pulling too much current, unless there is a fault. Not on its own anyway.
The 13a fuse means it can carry over 3Kw before that pops.
The cct is likely rated at over 7Kw.
If it is tripping the main breaker, rather than the cct breaker, that is likely rated at 80 amps (getting close to 20Kw) and it's safe to assume that if it is the main breaker then it's seeing earth leakage.

So back to my previous post.

 

[Tonygw]

For the RCD to trip the current flowing through the live and neutral will be at least 30mA out of balance. Which suggests and earth leakage fault. Possibly a failed internal component. First try it on another RCD circuit to eliminate the RCD. If it trips that to, its almost certainly the unit that's gone faulty.
I am guessing they are sealed units and cannot be opened up easily. You could try measuring the resistance between the live and neutral, live to earth and neutral to earth on the units 13A plug (not when its plugged in!!). A fault would show as a low resistance between the live or neutral to earth.