Schneider Electric Square D Rcbo Reliabiliy Problems

[T_Dog]

Had good intentions to wire our house with several 10 mA residual current detecting circuit breakers for safety and to make isolating problems easier. Turns out that both of the 16 Amp RCBO breakers that I bought have failed in the first two months. They both worked fine at first, but then a few months down the line would keep tripping even though there was no residual current fault or over current situation. Both failed breakers when removed from the load center with nothing connected would be almost impossible to reset as they would trip by themselves immediately. HomePro has been great at replacing the units, but I feel both new units will also fail. At 1500 baht a unit, I would have thought that they would be very reliable. Schneider Electric in Thailand has been unresponsive, but Schneider Electric in the USA did respond to let me know that those 10 mA detecting RCBOs are not sold nor supported in the USA. I have several other higher current RCBOs of the same model that I will put in service soon but don't have a lot of confidence they will work for very long. Thought I would post this as a word of caution for those that might be thinking of spending big bucks on what they think is the right thing to do.

[Litlos]

Generally Schneider are pretty reliable, but sometimes things happen. Matter of interest have you checked your active/neutral are correctly wired to the RCBO units and the earthing is good? Do you also have a switchboard surge protector installed?

Cheers

[rucus7]

The ones in my panel are working fine. A couple of them have tripped twice,(in 18 months) probably a ground fault. They all test fine too. I used square D on installations in America with no problems also. Are you sure you wiring is OK?

[bankruatsteve]

I have a couple 20a RCBO's in Square-D box that (except for a nesting wasp in an outside receptacle) have not had any nuisance trips over 1 years. The one I got had a curly green wire that would normally be connected to the ground bar but with the TT/IT whatever it's called I think that should be connected to the neutral bar. Yeah?

[T_Dog]

Generally Schneider are pretty reliable, but sometimes things happen. Matter of interest have you checked your active/neutral are correctly wired to the RCBO units and the earthing is good? Do you also have a switchboard surge protector installed?

Cheers

No surge protector so it might be transients causing the damage. The wiring and grounding is good and as I said, they worked well for two months.

[Litlos]

I have a couple 20a RCBO's in Square-D box that (except for a nesting wasp in an outside receptacle) have not had any nuisance trips over 1 years. The one I got had a curly green wire that would normally be connected to the ground bar but with the TT/IT whatever it's called I think that should be connected to the neutral bar. Yeah?

Green is the common colour for earth, so green wire should go on the earth bar. The TT system has the neutral tied to earth at the source (transformer) only. The common path will still be active to earth for electrocution.

Cheers

[Litlos]

Generally Schneider are pretty reliable, but sometimes things happen. Matter of interest have you checked your active/neutral are correctly wired to the RCBO units and the earthing is good? Do you also have a switchboard surge protector installed?

Cheers

No surge protector so it might be transients causing the damage. The wiring and grounding is good and as I said, they worked well for two months.

Have you checked with Schneider Thailand that is their equipment and not a Chinese copy (I have seen this for before, though not with Schneider) and what their opinion may be on the problem and are they willing to replace early failures.

There is something I was reading that had different types of RCD's installed depending on if a surge protector was installed or not, only the one reference to this and was in a mostly theoretical paper on the Schneider Thailand site.

Have you actually put a meter on the active/neutral terminals and earth to ensure that it is correct, Thai sparkies do not seem to care how things are wired and have seen supposed active actually neutral a few times.

Cheers

[electau]

I have a couple 20a RCBO's in Square-D box that (except for a nesting wasp in an outside receptacle) have not had any nuisance trips over 1 years. The one I got had a curly green wire that would normally be connected to the ground bar but with the TT/IT whatever it's called I think that should be connected to the neutral bar. Yeah?

Green is the common colour for earth, so green wire should go on the earth bar. The TT system has the neutral tied to earth at the source (transformer) only. The common path will still be active to earth for electrocution.

Cheers

That wire is known as a functional earth and is connected to the earth bar, it provides operation in the event of a broken neutral. IEC colours are white for functional earth.

[Crossy]

Hmmm. My Square-D single width RCBOs (bought here) have a single BLUE pigtail. They have no additional Functional Earth.

The instructions clearly show this connected to NEUTRAL (as a European would understand, Blue being the Euro colour for neutral).

All RCBOs and RCDs require connections to live and neutral on both the supply and load ends, some also require an additional connection to earth, the Functional Earth.

Cheers for the explanation of what the Functional Earth does Electau, does this need its own earth separate from a MEN linked earth? If not how does it detect a broken neutral?

[electau]

Make sure that you do not have low insulation resistance betwee the L to E and N to E on the protected circuit(s). A Neutral to E fault can inhibit the operation of the test button.

The standing leakage current should not exceed 30% of rated current in mA. In many cases what appears to be a faulty RCD is actually the RCD doing its job. An RCD must trip between 50% and 100% of rated current in mA.

You may have to split your socket outlets over more circuits if you use 10mA RCDs

RCDs have been proved to be very reliable. 30mA is standard, 10mA for higher risk areas.

　

[electau]

Hmmm. My Square-D single width RCBOs (bought here) have a single BLUE pigtail. They have no additional Functional Earth.

The instructions clearly show this connected to NEUTRAL (as a European would understand, Blue being the Euro colour for neutral).

All RCBOs and RCDs require connections to live and neutral on both the supply and load ends, some also require an additional connection to earth, the Functional Earth.

Cheers for the explanation of what the Functional Earth does Electau, does this need its own earth separate from a MEN linked earth? If not how does it detect a broken neutral?

Only certain types of RCBO have a functional earth (white) the trailing lead on the RCBO ( black or blue) goes to the neutral link. They are electronic . Merlin Gerin make them (Schneider). One pole in width (18mm) they will trip on reverse polarity.

The functional earth ( a thin white wire) is connected to the earth bar at the switchboard

Edited March 14, 2012 by electau

[electau]

When you purchase a RCD there should be information on the product and also a installation instruction sheet from the manufacturer.

[Pib]

I just may have a SquareD RCBO reliability problem also. Bought two SquareD 32A/10ma RCBOs at HomePro on 4 Apr 12 and installed the same day...easy enough installation...rerouting the neutral wires a little within the circuit box required a little work but still not hard The RCBOs were replacing two regular/non-RCBO SquareD 32A breakers which had never tripped. The RCBOs are for two identical Foger 6000W water heaters which draw around 27A in my two showers. After installing both RCBOs I turned each heater off and on numerous, numerous times....no problems. Since then they have been in regular use for actual showers.

No problems until 11 Apr/yesterday when I noticed the RCBO feeding master bedroom bathroom shower had tripped...figured that out when I got into the shower, turned the heater on, no hot water/no power to the heater. Went and turned the RCBO back on...took my shower...and turned the heater off and on numerous times in trying to get the RCBO to trip again...but it would not. Even took the case of the heater to look inside for any possible problems...looked good...put the cover back on...turned the heater on and off numerous times with no problems/no trips of the RCBO. I even did some additional testing of turning on and off certain high power devices around the house like the A/Cs, clothes dryer, washing machine, microwave, etc., to see if I could get the RCBO to trip due to surges/leakage current/etc....but neither RCBO would trip.

Then today/12 Apr around noon I looked at the circuit box and noticed the same RCBO was tripped again. Turned it back on, did the heater on and off thing again with no problem. But about 15 minutes later when neither of the heaters are in use, just watching TV and scratching my hear about the RCBO tripping, I heard the RCBO trip. I immediately flipped it back on and it didn't trip. At that point I decided I would do a test and swap the RCBOs, since the RCBO feeding my other shower heater had never tripped.

Ok, took about 10 minutes to do the swap, turned on both RCBOs and then went and turned both heaters on and off several times...no problems. But with the heaters now off and it's about 5 minutes later I'm looking at the circuit box and the RCBO feeding the heater in my second shower trips....the RCBO that had been tripping when hooked to the other heater. The other RCBO now feeding the other shower does not trip. So, it seems the one RCBO would trip while in the circuit of either heater; so far the other RCBO hasn't tripped regardless of which heater it's feeding. As FYI, I had used the RCBO Test button to test both RCBOs and they would trip...and I even made myself a little RCBO tester consisting of a 7W light bulb in a socket (would draw about 31ma at 225V ) and two leads...hooked one lead to ground and the other to Line and both RCBOs would trip...I just wanted to make sure the Test button was properly working. I really need to find a 3W bulb (13ma draw) or hook up the right sized resister if I want to test the RCBO closer to its actual tripping point of 10ma, but that's a future project.

Anyway, one RCBO trips in either heater circuit; one RCBO does not trip in either heater circuit. Both heaters are identical and to the best of my knowledge/testing they are on their own separate circuits with no other circuits tagged on. This indicates I probably have a faulty RCBO. I go off to HomePro and get the RCBO replaced since it was only 8 days old; they replaced it no problem. Brought it home, installed it, and so far it has not tripped nor has the other RCBO I bought on 4 Apr. Time will tell if it was just a faulty SquareD RCBO problem or someting else is going on. If that RCBO I bought on 4 Apr starts tripping in a few more days (or sooner like shortly after posting this with my luck) with it now being on the heater circuit that was tripping then that may indicate something else is going on. But at this point in time, it sure appears 1 of the 2 new RCBOs I bought from HomePro on 4 Apr was defective/developed a defect. Time will tell.....

Edited April 12, 2012 by Pib

[Crossy]

Hopefully the new RCBO won't trip.

I'm not sure that the old one was actually faulty per-sé, remember that these things have tolerances in manufacture. The UK requirements are that an RCBO (or RCD) must not trip at 50% of its rating and it must trip at 100%. So your 10mA trip could operate anywhere between 5 and 10mA. The only way to find out exactly where it trips is with a ramp tester, not something that you find in the average tool box.

It was probably just a rather enthusiastic unit and when the shop sells it again (which they likely will) it will behave just fine.

[T_Dog]

I just may have a SquareD RCBO reliability problem also. Bought two SquareD 32A/10ma RCBOs at HomePro on 4 Apr 12 and installed the same day...easy enough installation...rerouting the neutral wires a little within the circuit box required a little work but still not hard The RCBOs were replacing two regular/non-RCBO SquareD 32A breakers which had never tripped. The RCBOs are for two identical Foger 6000W water heaters which draw around 27A in my two showers. After installing both RCBOs I turned each heater off and on numerous, numerous times....no problems. Since then they have been in regular use for actual showers.

No problems until 11 Apr/yesterday when I noticed the RCBO feeding master bedroom bathroom shower had tripped...figured that out when I got into the shower, turned the heater on, no hot water/no power to the heater. Went and turned the RCBO back on...took my shower...and turned the heater off and on numerous times in trying to get the RCBO to trip again...but it would not. Even took the case of the heater to look inside for any possible problems...looked good...put the cover back on...turned the heater on and off numerous times with no problems/no trips of the RCBO. I even did some additional testing of turning on and off certain high power devices around the house like the A/Cs, clothes dryer, washing machine, microwave, etc., to see if I could get the RCBO to trip due to surges/leakage current/etc....but neither RCBO would trip.

Then today/12 Apr around noon I looked at the circuit box and noticed the same RCBO was tripped again. Turned it back on, did the heater on and off thing again with no problem. But about 15 minutes later when neither of the heaters are in use, just watching TV and scratching my hear about the RCBO tripping, I heard the RCBO trip. I immediately flipped it back on and it didn't trip. At that point I decided I would do a test and swap the RCBOs, since the RCBO feeding my other shower heater had never tripped.

Ok, took about 10 minutes to do the swap, turned on both RCBOs and then went and turned both heaters on and off several times...no problems. But with the heaters now off and it's about 5 minutes later I'm looking at the circuit box and the RCBO feeding the heater in my second shower trips....the RCBO that had been tripping when hooked to the other heater. The other RCBO now feeding the other shower does not trip. So, it seems the one RCBO would trip while in the circuit of either heater; so far the other RCBO hasn't tripped regardless of which heater it's feeding. As FYI, I had used the RCBO Test button to test both RCBOs and they would trip...and I even made myself a little RCBO tester consisting of a 7W light bulb in a socket (would draw about 31ma at 225V ) and two leads...hooked one lead to ground and the other to Line and both RCBOs would trip...I just wanted to make sure the Test button was properly working. I really need to find a 3W bulb (13ma draw) or hook up the right sized resister if I want to test the RCBO closer to its actual tripping point of 10ma, but that's a future project.

Anyway, one RCBO trips in either heater circuit; one RCBO does not trip in either heater circuit. Both heaters are identical and to the best of my knowledge/testing they are on their own separate circuits with no other circuits tagged on. This indicates I probably have a faulty RCBO. I go off to HomePro and get the RCBO replaced since it was only 8 days old; they replaced it no problem. Brought it home, installed it, and so far it has not tripped nor has the other RCBO I bought on 4 Apr. Time will tell if it was just a faulty SquareD RCBO problem or someting else is going on. If that RCBO I bought on 4 Apr starts tripping in a few more days (or sooner like shortly after posting this with my luck) with it now being on the heater circuit that was tripping then that may indicate something else is going on. But at this point in time, it sure appears 1 of the 2 new RCBOs I bought from HomePro on 4 Apr was defective/developed a defect. Time will tell.....

Pib... Sorry to hear you are having the same experience I am having with these breakers. I have had two 16 amp RCBO's go bad after being in use for a while which HomePro replaced. Now I have a 20 amp RCBO that clicks off about once a week. No problems at all with the 32 amp RCBOs installed. I have used a ohm meter to check resistance to all reference points and things are quite fine. Like your situation, the problem follows the breaker if you move it into a different slot.

As I have said before, these breakers are not worth the cost. For the amount you pay, they should be reliable for a twenty year run.

[Pib]

Hopefully the new RCBO won't trip.

I'm not sure that the old one was actually faulty per-sé, remember that these things have tolerances in manufacture. The UK requirements are that an RCBO (or RCD) must not trip at 50% of its rating and it must trip at 100%. So your 10mA trip could operate anywhere between 5 and 10mA. The only way to find out exactly where it trips is with a ramp tester, not something that you find in the average tool box.

It was probably just a rather enthusiastic unit and when the shop sells it again (which they likely will) it will behave just fine.

I hope the replacement/new RCBO fixes the problem. It's been about 21 hours since installing the replacement yesterday afternoon and it hasn't trip yet...nor has the other RCBO which has been in both heater circuits and never tripped. I still got one thing I want to check in the attic in regards to an elecrtrical outlet installed a few years ago to power some satellite dish equipment...I want to see if they tapped into one of the heater circuits. I can't check simply by cutting off breakers to the probable lines (done that already) because the only thing currently powered by that outlet is a C/KU bank multi-switch which "switches and supplements" the 13/18V DC from the settop boxes to the LNBs on the dish...even if the multiswitch power supply would be unplugged the multiswitch would conintue to work properly/feed a good signal to all my settop boxes as long as enough of the 13/18V from the boxes is reaching the multiswitch/LNB....so, I will need to do a visual inspection to see which line was tapped into. But even if they did tap into one of the heater circuits/feed wires then why did the RCBO also trip when moved to the other heater circuit....plus I've also done a bunch of settop boxes turn off and on's to see if maybe something might show up...like trip a RCBO. Yeap, just an outside change...plus I need to install a better surge protected power strip for the multiswitch DC power adapter to help with some lightning storm protection a little more...will probably do the attic thing tomorrow morning when it's cooler....I would cook myself if I went up in the attic area in the afternoon with this 90F+ degree weather we are having.

After reading up on RCBO some more, how various amperage levels can affect the body and having this tripping problem, if I had it to do over I think I would look harder for some 30ma RCBOs that fit my box, but I only found 10ma versions at HomePro and even Global had some SquareD RCBO last weekend but they were 10ma versions also. But that is water under the bridge for now....keeping my fingers crossed the replacement RCBO fixed my problem but I won't feel really confident it has until I get about two weeks of no trips....then I could possibly feel happier I do have 10ma RCBOs vs 30ma RCBOs due to the added safety factor. We'll see.

[Pib]

Pib... Sorry to hear you are having the same experience I am having with these breakers. I have had two 16 amp RCBO's go bad after being in use for a while which HomePro replaced. Now I have a 20 amp RCBO that clicks off about once a week. No problems at all with the 32 amp RCBOs installed. I have used a ohm meter to check resistance to all reference points and things are quite fine. Like your situation, the problem follows the breaker if you move it into a different slot.

As I have said before, these breakers are not worth the cost. For the amount you pay, they should be reliable for a twenty year run.

T_Dog, These SquareD RCBOs are indeed pricey. And I could be wrong but when I went back to HomePro to get the replacement RCBO I actually went to the electrical section to grab the replacement myself and take it back to Customer Exchanges & Refunds, and it looked like the price had increased from 1,595 baht to 1,795 baht since I bought mine on 4 Apr.

And on the one I returned I placed a small black dot in the upper left hand corner of the bar code label on the RCBO itself. I did this to see on my next trip to HomePro in a few days if that RCBO just happened to be put back in stock....at this particular HomePro they usually leave the CB/RCBO cabinet unlocked so a person can actually grap their own CB/RCBO...plus it seems they only carry approx 2 SquareD RCBOs in each overcurrent amperage range which will make my returned RCBO easy to find if it was put back and not rebought yet. But hopefully they did not put it back in stock because I heard the customer service rep use the Thai word for "damaged" when they were writing up their return paperwork.

In closing, I sure hope I don't have the problems you are having with your RCBOs. I may add one or two more 16/20A RCBOs...one in a bathroom and one for an outdoor circuit, but for right now I'll wait and see how my current RCBOs work out and also see if I can find some cheaper/suitable substitutes for SquareD RCBOs.

[T_Dog]

I am two weeks into no problems so I am hopeful Pib! Good call on marking the units, and I had not realized the price had increased again. I bought my first one for 1350 baht about a 9 months ago when we brought power into the property.

Our power supply is quite ragged here with a lot of switching transients and outages. We have had two sessions that lasted several hours where the voltage dropped to 40-60 volts and stayed there. It was enough to keep some lights going and my MacBook charger was fine with it. I watched my voltmeter swing all over the place those two times. It could be that the circuitry inside those RCBO's was not designed for all the transients and other possibilities you might see. I worked in the military electronics industry before I retired and in one case our equipment was failing in Australia on a regular basis. Once we set up a storage oscilloscope there we found 4000 volt transients coming down the 240 volt line on a regular basis. Tough to design for that, and maybe these RCBOs are in the same boat. I am not planning on buying any more RCBOs but will replace them as long as HomePro obliges.

[Crossy]

I just ramp tested two of my 3 Square-D 10mA RCBOs. One tripped at 7mA the other at 6mA so they are tending to the enthusiastic end.

Whilst it's worrying that we have two members with what appear to be overly trigger-happy RCBOs I would be a lot more worried if they didn't trip when they were supposed to (when the Test button is pressed).

If you have the facilities to do a 500V insulation test (L&N shorted, test to E) the results may lead to a leaky appliance.

[Pib]

I sure don't have the equipment to do such a test. With your tests showing trips at 6 & 7ma for the two 10ma RCBOs (but still within their 5 to 10ma limits), it makes me wish even more I could have found some 30ma RCBOs which would probably test to trip in the 15 to 25ma range which is still well within the safe zone....seems RCBO manufacturers want to stay away from the 10ma or 30ma upper limit probably to ensure they comply with standards and avoid law suits--understandable. I hope to confirm over the coming days that the only appliance on heater circuits is the heaters themselves; my testing to date has indicated such but as I mentioned I need to look at one outlet in the attic yet.

Just as FYI, although the SquareD QOvs series RCBO...the series we are talking about...comes with a very clear set of installation instructions with pictures for dummies, to date, I haven't been able to find the same instructions on the internet/any of the Schneider/SquareD web sites; however, I did find this one for the SquareD QOE series which is very similar but also includes a Flying Earth lead versus just the Neutral Flying lead for the QOvs series. If just disregarding the Flying Earth lead reference it's basically the instructions enclosed for the QOvs series RCBOs we are talking about....may be helpful to others reading this thread. See this Link

And just for another FYI, I did find on the Thailand Schneider Electric Industries web site a combination Thai and English Q&A document which talked about wiring-up a SquareD circuit box and a SquareD QO series RCBO. See this Link...the last picture in the link clearly shows how to hook up a QOvs series RCBO...shows it more clearly than the instructions that came with the RCBO I think. Once again, just FYI.

In closing, I'm now at approx the 29 hour point since replacing that tripping RCBO and the replacement hasn't tripped yet...keeping my fingers crossed the RCBO I took back to HomePro was indeed just a rather enthusiastic RCBO....but at the price of these 10ma RCBOs I wish their enthusiasm (accuracy/precision) was in the 8 to 10ma range.

[Pib]

OK, the morning of 14 Apr and still no trip. But the purpose of this post is just to say I did the visit to the attic this morning to see if that outlet I mentioned earlier was hooked to either of heater lines and it's not. It sure appears the heater lines are a straight shot from the main circuit box to the heaters...only the heaters on their individual circuits. Coming hours/days/weeks will tell me more...hopefully it was just a overly enthusiast 10ma RCBO.

[electau]

Most complaints of nuisance tripping in not faulty equipment is it is the RCD doing the job it is intended to do, trip on excess leakage current.

An RCD must NOT trip at less than 50% of its rated current in mA, it must trip at between 50% and 100% of rated current in mA.

A 10mA RCD must trip in less than 0.04secs and a 30ma RCD must trip in less than 0.3/0.2 secs.

In practice under a sensitivity test an RCD will trip at approx 70% of rated current in mA and at about 20 to 30mS for a 30mA unit and less than that for a 10mA unit.

Standing leakage current should not exceed 30% of the rated current in mA. In practice the continuous standing leakage current should be less than 1mA on an individual circuit if possible.

In practice very few RCDs are actually faulty.

RCDs can only be fully tested using a suitable instruments for current /time and sensitivity.

The test button tests the operation of the RCD inself, it does not confirm earth continuity.

[T_Dog]

electau... All good information, but as I stated in my original post, the failures are quite real. Taken out of the load center, they are VERY difficult to arm to the on position. The folks at HomePro could not get them to arm at all. These are real failures, not an application problem.

[electau]

electau... All good information, but as I stated in my original post, the failures are quite real. Taken out of the load center, they are VERY difficult to arm to the on position. The folks at HomePro could not get them to arm at all. These are real failures, not an application problem.

One question, where are the RCDs made? Do they have any compliance standards marked on or engraved on them?

The point one is making here is are they genuine Schneider products? There have been fake products on the market, eg. some MCBs that have been made in China.

The genuine RCDs will have a serial number on them.

The RCDs you have seem to be of faulty manufacture and that is typical of fake products.

Schneider Thailand can verify if they are genuine or not.

[electau]

Indicators that a product may be non compliant.

No certification marks.

Plugs that are difficult to insert ito socket outlets.

Switches that are difficult to activate.

Products that break during installation.

Poor installation advice.

Incorrect spelling on product, packaging or instructions.

Edited April 16, 2012 by electau

[T_Dog]

electau... All good information, but as I stated in my original post, the failures are quite real. Taken out of the load center, they are VERY difficult to arm to the on position. The folks at HomePro could not get them to arm at all. These are real failures, not an application problem.

One question, where are the RCDs made? Do they have any compliance standards marked on or engraved on them?

The point one is making here is are they genuine Schneider products? There have been fake products on the market, eg. some MCBs that have been made in China.

The genuine RCDs will have a serial number on them.

The RCDs you have seem to be of faulty manufacture and that is typical of fake products.

Schneider Thailand can verify if they are genuine or not.

Pretty sure they are genuine as they have the hologram label and a serial number. Made in India if I remember right. I have seen some fake standard breakers up here in a small hardware store and there is no hologram label and the rivets are obviously different than the genuine products.

[Pib]

Well, woke up this morning and that new/replacement 32A/10ma RCBO I got on 12 Apr and I talked about a few posts back was tripped. And it's on the bathroom heater circuit that has not been turned on since I did some turn off/on tests right after installing the RCBO a few days ago. Apparently the RCBO tripped while we were all asleep.

The other RCBO, one of the two I originally bought on 4 Apr which had never tripped and which I moved to the other heater/circuit that was having the nuisance trips has still not tripped. Now it trips if I press the Test button or when I put my 7W bulb across the Live output to Earth ground...this 7W bulb draws 31ma. I'm glad to see that it's tripping before the 40am point where many studies indicate damage to the ol' body/heart can occur. Right now I don't have a lower wattage bulb type hookup or resistor to see what lower ma level it will actually begin to trip at and even that wouldn't tell me what current leakage currents which may already be there.

So, it took almost 4 days before this brand new/replacement RCBO to trip....trip when the heater is not in use...hasn't been turned on for days.

Although I know RCBOs are supposed to be built to deal with some power line surges/spikes I'm beginning to think that power surges/spikes are causing these nuisance trips...and a 10ma RCBO is just too sensitive for my electical conditions. When ever the power goes off for a partial second to few seconds (like they are switching/balancing loads in our part of Bangkok) that will always cause our Microwave clock to lose its time setting and we need to reset the time...time on the Microwave was OK this morning. And of course some surges/spikes can be in the milliseconds ballpark with high amp equipment turning off & on, lightning storms, etc.

Man, this is frustrating especially since the SquareD RCBOs cost so much.

[electau]

When you purchase the RCDs they should be packaged individually in a box of 10. There will be information on the box/ package giving information on the product as well as information engraved into the product.

[Crossy]

Nuisance trips are, well, a nuisance. In this case since they are on a water heater there's no real issue, it's not like it's your freezer.

Consider the choice, either have a trip that opens occasionally for no apparent reason or have no earth leakage protection when you accidentally connect yourself to the supply.

I know what I would rather have

[Pib]

They were sold in individual boxes...all three I've had. I still have both boxes for the last two. Both the RCBO themselves and their boxes look original to me...nothing obvious to indicate a fake...I doubt they are fake.

Although they are Square D RCBOs, according to the labeling on the RCBO and their boxes the RCBOs are actually Made in Hungrary. On the box it says in bold upper case letters, "SQUARE D COMPANY UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED" and then right below that in smaller case letters it says, "Made in HUNGARY." And if I remember right that same labeling was on the RCBO's themselves. Don't know if Hungray manufacturers have a good or bad reputation for manufacturing quality products.

But in today's world many, many companies outsource manufacturing of their products to other companies/countries which is OK-fine as long as the product is manufactured to the quality control standards and specifications of the brand name company. Kinda like how Apple products like IPads/IPhones, which have a high quality reputation, are actually Made in China.

I'll continue to log the RCBO trips, when they occurred, what the electrical conditions & loads in the house were at the time, etc., to see if I can possibly narrow the problem down. I'm still thinking at this point in time these 10ma RCBOs are just too sensitive for my electrical conditions since Thailand electrical power (even power in Bangkok) ain't got a reputation for being the cleanest (spikes/surges)/most stable.