Random dishwasher questions probably for sparkys

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karlcole

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Hi all my father in law is having a issue with his NEFF dishwasher. Every-time he runs a cycle it trips his RCD he leaves it a minute resets the RCD and then the cycle finishes fine. Weve told him a million times he needs to get this checked but after phoning a local domestic repairer he was told its not worth the cost of fixing and to keep doing it as it wont cause any damage. Is this correct or is it more serious than hes been told? im completely aware tripping the electrics is obviously a problem but not sure if i am under/over reacting
 
Not an electrician, but constant tripping of RCD indicates something is wrong with the appliance. The RCD however is doing a very good job.
 
At what point in the cycle does the breaker trip, is it always at the same point?
May sound daft but is he also running other appliances while he's doing the washing? Our house has a weird wiring set up, if you have the washer, kettle and any other appliance on something generally trips with overcurrent on breaker.
My point is it may not be an issue with the washer, it could be when the drum initially starts spinning (it consumes a higher current on start up) it trips the breaker, specially if it's already near the current limit due to other appliances being on.
If it isn't something daft like the above I agree with LT, replace it asap as it could escalate very quickly and without warning.
 
He says its at different points in the cycle. It was running fine for the 1st year he was in his new house he was going to bin and replace but with the 'specialist' saying it was fine hes kept it :S
 
It all depends on the age and model the dishwasher is. I have a strong suspision what is causing this, but would ideally need to at least know it's age (if you look at the rating plate thats either stuck to the side of the dishwasher door, or press stamped into the top edge you will find the model and fd number....they will tell me all I would need to know about it).
I wouldnt be using it until it's fixed as you wouldnt want to risk doing further damage primarily to the electronics.
Without being rude to anyone, I wouldn't pay much attention to uninformed guesses, and whilst distance diagnosis isn't ideal I suspect I would be in the right area with fault and costs.
Oh yes, I've been a white good appliance engineer for 34 yrs, and still doing it:(
 
Bunkermagnet said:
It all depends on the age and model the dishwasher is. I have a strong suspision what is causing this, but would ideally need to at least know it's age (if you look at the rating plate thats either stuck to the side of the dishwasher door, or press stamped into the top edge you will find the model and fd number....they will tell me all I would need to know about it).
I wouldnt be using it until it's fixed as you wouldnt want to risk doing further damage primarily to the electronics.
Without being rude to anyone, I wouldn't pay much attention to uninformed guesses, and whilst distance diagnosis isn't ideal I suspect I would be in the right area with fault and costs.
Oh yes, I've been a white good appliance engineer for 34 yrs, and still doing it:(
Click to expand...

I bow to your greater knowledge :D
Was just trying to point out how some people can jump to the wrong conclusion, simple tests can sometimes find a simple solution.
Point in case, I was at the in laws last christmas and they asked me to have a look at the dishwasher which hadn't worked for a few weeks. Turned out to be one of the gangs on a double socket which was playing up, they were about to buy a new dishwasher as well (gutted cos we'd have inherited their old one).
Oh yes, I've been a service engineer for 17 years (studied electrical engineering at college) and still doing it ;)
 
I understand your point perfectly:) Unfortunately the world and his oyster can be appliance specialists on the net, as it's "only" and washing machine, dishwasher etc. I am probably sure you get similar expieriences in your field of expertise too:)
 
Beezerk said:
May sound daft but is he also running other appliances while he's doing the washing? Our house has a weird wiring set up, if you have the washer, kettle and any other appliance on something generally trips with overcurrent on breaker.
My point is it may not be an issue with the washer, it could be when the drum initially starts spinning (it consumes a higher current on start up) it trips the breaker, specially if it's already near the current limit due to other appliances being on.
Click to expand...

Overcurrent will not trip an RCD! Overcurrent will trip an MCB/blow a fuse. Mis-information at its finest!

Bunkermagnet said:
Without being rude to anyone, I wouldn't pay much attention to uninformed guesses, and whilst distance diagnosis isn't ideal I suspect I would be in the right area with fault and costs.
Oh yes, I've been a white good appliance engineer for 34 yrs, and still doing it:(
Click to expand...

^^^^^^
This
 
Beezerk said:
I bow to your greater knowledge :D
Was just trying to point out how some people can jump to the wrong conclusion, simple tests can sometimes find a simple solution.
Point in case, I was at the in laws last christmas and they asked me to have a look at the dishwasher which hadn't worked for a few weeks. Turned out to be one of the gangs on a double socket which was playing up, they were about to buy a new dishwasher as well (gutted cos we'd have inherited their old one).
Oh yes, I've been a service engineer for 17 years (studied electrical engineering at college) and still doing it ;)
Click to expand...

Then you should know that overcurrent will not trip a Residual Current Device
 
As Craigg points out if the RCD is tripping it is not an overload problem but an Earth leakage problem. Possibly caused by a Neutral to Earth fault in the element. However if the RCD trips at various times during the wash cycle it could be anything.
As the engineer said (since full size dishwashers can be picked up for under £190) its just not economical to repair.

Electrician. 35yrs:thup:
 
Fade and Die said:
As Craigg points out if the RCD is tripping it is not an overload problem but an Earth leakage problem. Possibly caused by a Neutral to Earth fault in the element. However if the RCD trips at various times during the wash cycle it could be anything.
As the engineer said (since full size dishwashers can be picked up for under £190) its just not economical to repair.

Electrician. 35yrs:thup:
Click to expand...

If it were an Indeshit or something just as bad, I would agree. However Neff are the built in only arm of the Siemens group which also has Bosch. You won't get another comparible integrated dishwasher for £190..... not unless it's one of those Chinese ones you get in an Xmas cracker:)
 
Bunkermagnet said:
If it were an Indeshit or something just as bad, I would agree. However Neff are the built in only arm of the Siemens group which also has Bosch. You won't get another comparible integrated dishwasher for £190..... not unless it's one of those Chinese ones you get in an Xmas cracker:)
Click to expand...

Not sure if it is integrated but you are right NEFF are very good. OP doesn't say how old it is, if its only a few years old then maybe try to repair but if not maybe get a cheap baumatic or indesit or something for less than £190 that will give you 5 years service?

Just to add every Bosch appliance i've ever had has been rubbish!
Washing machine boiled clothes
Fridge freezer problems with stat
Induction Hob cracked!
 
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Bunkermagnet said:
Unfortunately the world and his oyster can be appliance specialists on the net, as it's "only" and washing machine, dishwasher etc. I am probably sure you get similar expieriences in your field of expertise too:)
Click to expand...

I'm lucky as I don't get it as much as I imagine you do. I work in a factory based environment on high volume cnc machinery so most of them don't have a clue what they are looking at. We do have the odd machine operator who thinks he's the dogs because he once wired a plug on his mums tv but they quickly get shot down :D

Anyway, what do you think it is?
 
As The Gove famously said.... we have had enough of experts :) So I would ignore all the good advice from the sparkys and buy a new one or ask your brickie to fix it :whistle:

<just another electronics engg by training>
 
Beezerk said:
Woah cool yer jets mate and stop shouting :ears:
Of course that's right, I was assuming he was using the term RCD as a generalisation for "trip switches" or whatever people say.
Click to expand...



Not shouting (Capital letters is widely accepted as shouting I believe on forums)
Not sure how an RCD can be generalized into anything really, it's a Residual Current Device, but hey ho, if it helps you out of a hole. ;)
 
IMG_5407.jpgIMG_5407.jpg
Rick Shiels posted this on twitter earlier,after his dishwasher caught fire yesterday.
Luckily no one was injured.
 
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