I've recently bought a secondhand vented Hoover tumble drier which was
working fine for a few weeks but last night it tripped the RCD switch.
I couldn't reset the switch until I had unplugged the tumble drier.
I've got the tumble drier in my living room temporarily venting through
a door until I make a hole in the wall in my utility room for the vent
pipe.
I later found by changing to a different socket in the living room it
worked ok.

Is there something wrong with the tumble drier or with this socket or
is there something different about the wiring in a kitchen/utility area
which means I shouldn't be using the drier in my living room?

wrote in message
ps.com...
I've recently bought a secondhand vented Hoover tumble drier which was
working fine for a few weeks but last night it tripped the RCD switch.
I couldn't reset the switch until I had unplugged the tumble drier.
I've got the tumble drier in my living room temporarily venting through
a door until I make a hole in the wall in my utility room for the vent
pipe.
I later found by changing to a different socket in the living room it
worked ok.

Is there something wrong with the tumble drier or with this socket or
is there something different about the wiring in a kitchen/utility area
which means I shouldn't be using the drier in my living room?

This could be down to a number of reasons, not necessarily limited to my
suggestions!

1 - Dryer has a fault, possibly Neutral to Earth, you moved it to plug it in
somewhere else, the fault is no longer apparent (moving it knocked something
inside)

2 - The dryer still has a fault, but the second socket is also faulty
(Disconnected earth possibly).

3 - The socket you are now using is not RCD protected (not likely as it is
in the same room)

4 - Your RCD is faulty and is temperamental, tripping when it shouldn't.

5 - You have other stuff in the house leaking current to earth, this dryer
has suppressors inside also leaking a little bit to earth, when you moved
the drier, something else in the house had stopped drawing power or had
tuned off (Fridge for example)

If you plug it back in the other socket, is it still tripping?


Sparks...
(Not an electrician)