Funny story

[journey123]

So I live in a rented house in Bangkok and we have electrical problems with 2 particular wall sockets whereby if you plug more than one thing in the whole thing trips out. In fact sometimes even plugging one thing in does it to. I'm not talking high powered industrial sized equipment I'm talking about things like a toaster and a microwave. Works fine in other sockets in house just not in these particular 2 sockets.

Anyway the landlord got some guy to come out who I think claims to be an electrician but honestly I have my doubts after his diagnosis which came about after his investigation of absolutely nothing, he walked in, checked nothing, did nothing except tell me his solution. His solution is basically to not plug them in, he has said everything will be fine if you don't plug them in. Apparently my toaster and microwave use too much electricity and that is the problem.

[Rob13]

It's good you got a professional opinion on that matter.

[pgrahmm]

What size is the circuit breaker?

[HooHaa]

toasters and microwave use alot of power most microwaves are 600 to 1500 watts. toaster in the 800 -1500 range, especially cheap or older models

kitchen appliances are some of the biggest power drawing things in the house.

[thaiduncankk]

I use an extension lead for a convection oven/microwave/toaster/slow cooker/kettle.

It is, however, normally impossible to use two things at the same time, without the extension lead cutting out, the minute I put two things on together.

I have just learned to live with it, and use one at a time. I have to work out timings for using one item at a time when cooking a meal that needs one or more appliance.

[journey123]

What size is the circuit breaker?

The whole thing is pretty old, it is set to 15 mA

[journey123]

I use an extension lead for a convection oven/microwave/toaster/slow cooker/kettle.

It is, however, normally impossible to use two things at the same time, without the extension lead cutting out, the minute I put two things on together.

I have just learned to live with it, and use one at a time. I have to work out timings for using one item at a time when cooking a meal that needs one or more appliance.

That's basically the same as me but it only seems to be happening at these 2 particular sockets in kitchen area when I cook. I moved the extension lead I use in kitchen into the living room to try the socket there with kitchen appliances and everything worked fine at least that time anyway, might try it again to double check. There is another socket in living room with TV, cable box, modem, dvd player and phone all plugged in together with no problem.

[sipi]

What size is the circuit breaker?

photo (2).JPG

The whole thing is pretty old, it is set to 15 mA

That is an RCD, or Earth leakage breaker; not a circuit breaker. It basically stops you from getting electrocuted.

Are the other circuits also on a RCD? This thing tripping could actually be saving your life.

[journey123]

What size is the circuit breaker?

photo (2).JPG

The whole thing is pretty old, it is set to 15 mA

That is an RCD, or Earth leakage breaker; not a circuit breaker. It basically stops you from getting electrocuted.

Are the other circuits also on a RCD? This thing tripping could actually be saving your life.

Not sure, here is a picture of the whole unit

[CharlieH]

Electrical forum my be helpful....

MOVED

[Paul944]

At least the cleaning lady is smart and stays far away from the brakers

Current is supposed to flow from the live wire back trough the neutral wire. You kan have a current leak going from the live wire to the earth. Our planet is considered a big neutral for electric appliances. The safe-t-cut unit checks if all the current flows back over the neutral wire. If the leak current exceeds 15 mA it will trip. Leakage current can kill you by electrocution or can cause fire by overheating something.

Not all wall sockets will be using the safe-t-cut unit. If it trips a pragmatic solution is to use another wall socket that does not trip the unit. To be safe you better check if those appliances are safe. Some high power appliances trigger the RCD and are normally connected to a wall socket without RCD. If the appliances have a metal housing a good earth connection ( 3 wire wall socket) is required to prevent electrocution if it becomes defective.

In the Netherlands the default maximum leak current is 30 mA. You could switch from 15 mA to 25 mA and see it still trips.

The diagnosis of the thai guy is correct. He could have been a little more helpfull by checking if your appliances are safe.

[bankruatsteve]

What is "tripping out" when you plug in the microwave/toaster? One of the over-voltage breakers (the box on the right of your photo) or the RCD (the box on the left of your photo)? Does it trip instantly or after the while?

[StreetCowboy]

Doesn't plugging a microwave and a toaster into the same socket count as arson?

[Lannig]

What is "tripping out" when you plug in the microwave/toaster? One of the over-voltage breakers (the box on the right of your photo) or the RCD (the box on the left of your photo)? Does it trip instantly or after the while?

That's what I'd have asked too.

However, I suspect that the breakers on the right protect again over-current (i.e. short circuits or something draining too much current for the installation) not over-voltage.

[bankruatsteve]

What is "tripping out" when you plug in the microwave/toaster? One of the over-voltage breakers (the box on the right of your photo) or the RCD (the box on the left of your photo)? Does it trip instantly or after the while?

That's what I'd have asked too.

However, I suspect that the breakers on the right protect again over-current (i.e. short circuits or something draining too much current for the installation) not over-voltage.

Right - over current. Not sure where that came from.