Why does washing machine trip rcd

Unplug your motor from its electrical connectors to see if the washing machine still trips the power off, then replace the part if the test is successful. The drain pump is faulty The drain pump drains the water out of your washing machine.

The circuit breaker will trip: If there is a leak and the water runs onto the drain pump's coil. If the pump itself is leaking. If the drain pump has a short circuit. Your washing machine has a leak If the appliance is leaking water, it is very likely that the circuit breaker will trip at some point.

The wiring is damaged The electrical wires which connect all the main elements in the appliance all have lugs or connectors at the end which may be defective. The door safety lock is stuck Your appliance trips the electric once the door is closed and the safety latch or door lock is stuck and cannot be closed or opened after this power cut. Your washing machine could then be tripping off the power for several reasons: If you put too much washing powder in your machine during a wash, the foam may overflow and get into the door lock.

It could be that you have a short circuit in the terminal block the door lock connector of your washing machine. The motor is failing The motor enables the drum to rotate. Water leakage that runs onto the washing machine's motor and trips the power off. Maybe my thoughts are just off track. I generally use GFCI breakers for most applications that are anywhere near accessible grounds that one might be able to touch while at risk from leakage current. Certain direct wired motor circuits would be exceptions.

This is accommodated in the code. The dish washer, garbage disposal, toe-kick heater blower, and anything else powered from below the sink are on GFCI circuits.

A review of my breaker arrangement label shows that every circuit in the kitchen is on GFCI except the induction cooktop, induction wok, and wall ovens. I would have to reread the kitchen part of code to be clear whether I was conforming or being cautious. However in the version of the NEC relevant at the time, which I no longer have, I think GFCI wasn't required above some height such as six feet, and I think the refrigerator receptacle is lower than that.

Wire size is a subject that occupies a large portion of the National Electrical Code, and its counterpart NEC Handbook that anyone thinking of messing with his house wiring should have handy and study.

My kitchen is at least 50 ft from the relevant breaker box, and my reno involved adding conduit fed wireways into the basement to avoid a horrible thicket of Romex on beams and joists.

Generally, I wired each circuit that handled a significant portion of its rated current one step higher in wire gauge for the path from breaker box to the interface with the drop from the walls above. So for this circuit, 12 AWG would likely have been used. The drop to the washer receptacle is 12 AWG Romex. So in most cases somewhat influenced by temperature , the washer circuit should be 20A using 12 AWG cable, but I don't think that there is any prohibition against a 15A circuit for this case, so long as the washer is the only device on the circuit.

I would read that part of the code before doing anything, of course. In regards to bonding the washer to water pipe what gauge wire would appropriate? I've seen very heavy gauge wire used to ground the panel and jump water meters and pressure regulators.

The wire size for this purpose has two drivers: Actual likely current before a circuit breaker disconnects, and resistance to damage failure. Hence for the latter driver the 6 AWG solid conductor used in swimming pool area bonding to avoid hazard currents in the microamperes. Breaker boxes need to bond the neutral to various grounding schemes as well as to the utility drop. So their grounding wire sizes depend on various factors.

To the point: While a 14 AWG conductor would be sufficient, I would probably use 12 or 10 AWG, and given potential motion and movement, use green insulated stranded with crimp devices on the ends. One end might be a screw hole lug for attachment by a washer panel screw; the other might be a crimp sleeve that would fit into a grounding clamp that fit the target water pipe. You should use a proper ratcheting crimp tool for most crimp applications. The driving factor on the circuit size would be the appliance draw in this case.

The code also does not say "dedicated circuit"- that is from the appliance manufacturer. They recognize that the load of a washer is higher than 'typical outlets" so they don't want to share. Modern washers do have heaters - so they take some power. So they would both operate on 15 amp circuits. I think most installs will be 20 amp. Mine is. I recently installed this type of breaker for my entire house. I had 2 issues that I encountered that were both my fault.

If your main panel is a SquareD QO with plug-on-neutral design, then you probably don't have to worry about wrong wiring. If you have just a QO panel, then check the pigtail and neutral wire for the breaker to make sure they are connected properly and snug. The 2nd issue I ran into was I had an outlet that has the ground wire almost touching the hot side when the outlet is pushed in to the box, wires got jammed together and pushing on each other.

So I'd check that wire connection to the receptacle to make sure no wire is connecting. Also, if you use this dual function breaker, you can't use a GFCI outlet in top of it, they won't work together.

Hope it helps. Just got this reply from amtek. The apologized for the delay - said the request got lost in the holiday rush. Since we don't know the source of the noise if that is what is tripping them , I don't know if these filters would be effective. It would be fun to try - but since my Samsung is working just fine as opposed to the GE. I would go with the S In case there are any other laypeople out there following this thread, just wanted to provide another update.

I finally had the service tech from the appliance come out to look at my new, replacement washer that still trips the circuit and he said that nothing is wrong with the machine.

I'm wondering if it would make sense for the service tech to actually observe a load of laundry go through so he could see what is happening when the machine trips the circuit. My next step is to hire an electrician who can hopefully help me resolve this issue so I can wash laundry without having the machine cut off once or twice per cycle.

So Frustrating! Wish I could help more. The Electrician may not, but may not have a solution if it is the washer. We are having this same issue right now in our new build but it is a Maytag. Same thing, electrician says nothing is wrong and we have someone booked to look at the washer on Tuesday! Please help! This might be a bit nuanced re NFPA 70, but I wonder whether one could be compliant by using a dedicated "motor" circuit no receptacle outlets with flex between the box and the washer, and a plain breaker.

I would first buy one of those filters Robert Gann found and experiment as that would be the approach requiring the least amount of my time, but for an electrically informed DIY-er with time available a dedicated "motor" circuit might be less expensive to incorporate.

In any case, whether adopting filtering, or having to spend time with a series of "investigators," one is using up resources that are entirely due to inadequate filtering in the washer. Maybe replacement with a Speed Queen will solve the problem -- another expensive experiment. Of course, since you are defeating the purpose of the code - to protect you - you are loosing that protection. If that does not work, probably this would not work. I don't know why it would unless the hardwired version provides some filtering the non-hardwired version does not.

I can't see why it would electrically. Maybe using shielded cable from the washer to the wall would help?? If you were to do something like this, you need to be careful about wiring and connections. You can't run Romex or armored cable into the washer and you can't run flex through the walls. So you'll have to make some connections. They need to be done correctly. And by the way - I'm not a licensed Electrician - I'm an EE and not a licensed one, so this is just friendly advice, not authoritative.

Check with local code or an Electrician. This is very interpretation based Probably, if required, it has an integrated one. But it is an interesting experiment. If I was desperate, I might try this before putting on the filter discussed.

Putting in the filter is going to require adding boxes and stuff anyway. That's what did it for me after weeks of jacking around with all other suggestions. Sight may be being lost of the issue here -- washer motor control generated high frequency noise interfering with the breaker behavior. One can filter the noise or one can use a breaker not affected by it.

I haven't investigated the exact wording of the code it may depend on which year's code is applicable to see what wiggle room is potentially available. You are absolutely correct kaseki. I solved my problem by replacing my new GE both of them with a Samsung.

But I had the benefit if great Lowes customer service that allowed me to return it them. I suspect joeb managed to find a GFIC plug that is not susceptible to the noise from his washer.

I would love to see somebody try the filters - I would do it - but since my Samsung is not tripping the GFI - I can't. I simply ran across an article that stated there were issues with using the 2 GFCI's in the same circuit. So me not wanting to go with a plain breaker if I didn't have to, installed a GE 20 amp AFCI breaker and the machine has ran like a champ since. I have a conventional not AFCI breaker in my system. General Reasons Normally when a fuse or RCD trips and the appliance is the issue it will be as a result of either a dead short or earth leakage and it will happen every time the product is switched on.

Dampness One to watch for in colder weather most often or, in unheated areas such as garages, outdoor buildings, huts and even conservatories etc is dampness. Fuse Trips As Soon As The Washing Machine Is Switched On If the fuse goes as soon as the washing machine is connected and power is applied then the first go-to thing to look at is obviously the plug wiring if applicable and the cable looks okay.

Power Blows When The Program Is Started This is almost invariably caused by a faulty component however, depending one what machine it is the diagnosis can change. The things energised when a normal wash cycle is engaged are: Mains power switch as detailed above Door lock Inlet water valve Motor Heating element As you can see, by following the path that the elements or components above are the most likely causes for a trip or blown fuse if it is doing this after the program is selected and started.

How To Test Components Once you work out the likely suspects that may be the problem it is time to then look at each component in turn. The first thing though is to stay safe! My comments Subscribe RSS. Andrew Moore 2 years 5 months. Reply Quote. Vadim 2 years 8 months. Pay 2 years 9 months.

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It does sound reasonable that its the element. A megger test, or an insulation resistance test should confirm this, once confirmed, a replacement part will repair it.

Obviously refit in the reverse order, being careful to remember what the order is. Posted: April I had the same problem with my 12 year old W The YouTube videos on how to remove the front panel and replacing the element were easy to follow. Fix Your Stuff Community Store.