It seemed (at one stage) that if I didnt have the van sitting on its back wall the RCD (safety switch) would pop every time it rained due to water in the airconditioner. It follows that when this unit was operating the "tank" or whatever filled up and pop no 240V!! Not happy, bloody thing had no way to drain other than tilting the van back at a crazy 3 to 5 degrees from horizontal.
So, being the intrepid electrician old fart that I am, I got out the old tools, sprayed them with WD40 to get them working again and started to isolate the air con.
I am using a double pole 16amp circuit breaker for both active and neutral in a standard DIN rail switch box and will wire it up like I would a house. As soon as I cut that wire to the aircon BINGO!!! no more issues (mind you, finding the correct wire in that birds nest was another can of worms). The van was built with only ONE RCBO which serviced all the AC circuits, my next step is to separate all the GPOs as well on one CB. I can not understand (other than cost) why the main switch, RCD and circuit breaker are all the same item, at least have the GPOs separated from the aircon!!
Just as a by the by, there is a neat little AC amp/volt meter (3 pole DIN rail) on ebay for $16 that will get a place in the box as well..
Safe travels
__________________
P B Crockart EX RAAF Electrician,
Aircraft Avionics tech. Senior high school teacher.
have just been through this with my electrician, with the added complication of a hardwired inverter. We started off with a pair of RCB0s one either side of the inverter, but after significant testing, we found that was of little value.
We now have a simple circuit breaker either side of the inverter, then from there we feed to the van through an RVD. There is an MEN link on the output from the inverter.
I do not pretend to understand the how and why of 240V wiring, but I watched the testing the man who knows did, and I now feel comfortable that we have a safe installation.
We now have the added benefit of the setup being certified as well, but it was an expensive bit of paper.
We now have a simple circuit breaker either side of the inverter, then from there we feed to the van through an RVD. There is an MEN link on the output from the inverter.
HI Plendo
I am note sure just what you mean by" either side'
Do you mean you have a DC breaker on the DC input & a double pole AC breaker on the output of the inverter??
OR
do you mean you have two single pole breakers, one on each leg of the inverter output??
Sorry Peter, I did not explain very well, and it is not surprising you are confused.
What I should have said is I have a simple circuit breaker on the AC input to the INVERTER CHARGER, and a simple circuit breaker on the AC output from the INVERTER Charger protecting the wiring before it feeds in to an RVD which protects all the appliances and power points in the van.
Sorry Peter, I did not explain very well, and it is not surprising you are confused.
What I should have said is I have a simple circuit breaker on the AC input to the INVERTER CHARGER, and a simple circuit breaker on the AC output from the INVERTER Charger protecting the wiring before it feeds in to an RVD which protects all the appliances and power points in the van.
On the DC side we have a simple 150A marine fuse.
HI Plendo
Thanks
Those words"INVERTER CHARGER" does have important significance to the whole post
You probably have mentioned your set up elsewhere, but without checking, back I have problems trying to remember just what everyone has.
Do air conditioners have to rcd protected ? Especially when hard wired . I can see the safety with power points .
-- Edited by Aus-Kiwi on Monday 21st of July 2014 12:14:07 AM
Hi
In this case it was just as well one was fitted
If it had not been a damaged Air con would no doubt have resulted
PeterQ
I do agree with PeterQ on this one, its a pain in the bum when it keeps popping BUT the RCBO is there to protect us from issues just like this one cant imagine the damage if the aircon motor dropped to a dead earth by poling or a bearing... fire fire and more fire.
What I have difficulty with is why the aircon isnt drained better, and why the terminals are so close to a wet area and at least no silastic?? nevermind that circuit is now in my control.
Safe travels
__________________
P B Crockart EX RAAF Electrician,
Aircraft Avionics tech. Senior high school teacher.
I have the RCBO as the main switch and distributed from there, cheap and nasty but it will work well as there is only the aircon (now through a double pole CB) and the GPOs (hard off the RCBO) in the van. ALL 240V stuff is wired to plugs hence GPOs except the aircon. Thats how I isolated the fault to the aircon, even the HWS is on a plug.
Cheers Peter Safe travels
__________________
P B Crockart EX RAAF Electrician,
Aircraft Avionics tech. Senior high school teacher.
Issue can be in wet humid conditions they will trip .. It's best to have separate circuits so you don't loose lights etc at night or at any inconvenient time. Good earths are so important ..
