Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 28, 2009 3:59 pm Hi We recently moved into our newly built house and just noticed if we put on the dishwasher and then use the electric kettle the circuit trips out! We did used to have a similar problem, which we assumed was overload on the circuit in our last house but as it was 30 years old we just assumed it probably hadnt been wired with dishwashers in mind! Is this something that should be happening in a brand new house? It seems that every single power point inthe kitchen (including the fridge) is on the same circuit, so we couldnt even plug the kettle in somewhere else. Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 3Apr 28, 2009 4:25 pm Sorry to have confused the issue by mentioning our 30 year old house with the same problem - that was actually a house we had 2 years ago and it was definitely a different kettle! We had several kettles at that house and always the circuit problem, just assumed it was overload. We use the current kettle all the time and seems fine (except when the dishwasher in the new home is on)..... and we only bought it about 3 months ago..... The kettle never trips the circuit when used by itself or when other appliances are on (except the dishwasher). Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 4Apr 28, 2009 4:39 pm It sounds like an overload issue. Maybe your builder/electrician was stingy with the number of circuits put in. Geoff - Decophile. Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 5Apr 28, 2009 5:53 pm We had the same problem in our old house - the dishwasher, fridge, microwave, washing machine, dryer and kettle were all on the one circuit (smart design - NOT!). Turning on the kettle when more than three other appliances were running resulted in a burnt-out fuse every time. *sigh* We've had one problem in the new place - the microwave and toaster were on at the same time and something kept tripping the circuit breaker. Turned out a sultana stuck in the toaster was causing the problem.... I doubt you have a sultana in the kettle , but maybe it IS faulty? Can you borrow another kettle and test it out? Otherwise, I'd bet on the wiring... uh-oh. Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 6Apr 28, 2009 6:35 pm Is that the safety switch tripping? Is the spout pointing in the direction of the electrical outlet? Dampness can trip a safety switch. Your circuit breaker should be rated 20 amps which means it will handle 4.8 kilowatts (20a x 240v = 4,800 watts = 4.8 kilowatts). If your kettle is say 2 kW and dishwasher say 2.5kW it's OK. Check the plate on each appliance on the circuit and check the circuit breaker rating. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 7Apr 28, 2009 9:24 pm If the kettle doesn't trip with other appliances, could the dishwasher be faulty? What happens if you use the dishwasher and a toaster? Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 8Jul 19, 2009 4:24 pm Thanks very much for the replies. It has tripped with just the kettle and dishwasher going, and also with just the kettle and microwave going, and also with just the microwave and dishwasher going. So I guess I can rule out a faulty appliance (unless there are TWO). The kettle spout isn't near the power point either (re steam issue) Yes the kettle is marked 2200W - 2400W, the microwave only 1100W and the dishwasher was over 2000W. It's not the safety switch itself that is cutting out, it seems to be the actual circuit breaker for one circuit. It seems to be a 10 amp circuit. I am thinking this is just completely inadequate for the kitchen?? I guess I cannot really get this fixed unless at my expense as it's not a 'fault' as such, just really really crap. Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 9Jul 19, 2009 5:06 pm Builders never give a flying F about circuit loads because it's not something that anyone ever pays any attention to. Everyone is usually far too concerned with ridiculous fluff issues like the colour of their kitchen kickboard It's part of the "keep 'em busy with bull s -h -i -t -e" policy. Overloaded kitchen circuits are a classic problem. The cheapest solution is usually to get another circuit put in so you'll have one or two extra powerpoints on a different circuit to all the fixed devices such as the hotplates, oven, fridge etc. Cost a few hundred dollars. 10amps for a kitchen is just ridiculous. is the stove/oven on a different circuit or is that part of the 10amps ? edit: By the way, you can't just stick a 20 amp fuse in a 10 amp circuit. If the circuit is designed for 10 amps then that's what it is - the fuse is just the "safety valve". Put in a 20 amp fuse and the circuit may stop tripping, but you also risk melting the wiring and setting your house on fire. Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 10Jul 20, 2009 10:27 am Cabinfever is quite correct. In our electrical diagram, we have all the powerpoints shown, but no indication is given of how many circuits will supply the power points through the house, and whether good decisions will be made so there will be separate circuits for high current drawing areas. But, where I work renovations have just been completed, including rewiring the entire electrical system, including lighting and heaters (tens of thousands of dollars). It would appear that no one sat down and calculated total currents. So far, we have blown a fuse on the power pole on the street, and turning the heater on where I work tripped the circuit with the PA system. It would not have taken much to ask what load would be placed on each GPO and to plan accordingly, but this is not how some in the industry work. Pfiff Finally making progress again, with a clothesline (yippee) and some much needed little things being attended to over the holidays. 40 C on New Year's eve? We love our a/c! Re: dishwasher and kettle trip circuit 11Sep 11, 2009 11:39 pm Thanks very much for the further info. Cabinfever, thank goodness the oven itself is on its own circuit (stove is gas). But with dishwasher, rangehood, and ALL powerpoints (including fridge, and kettle, and knowing most modern kitchens breadmaker, electric rice cooker, food processor etc etc!) on the one circuit I can't believe how they thought it could ever work. The dumb thing is that I think it's the only 10amp fuse in the whole place! (others are bigger) Thanks for saying about the 20 amp fuse not being able to be put in. That did cross my mind and I thought it probably would be a bad idea. I thought all the electrical circuits would have the same capacity wire , but I guess not??? Geees Soooooo annoying!!! We picked up so many problems during the building but it seems whatever we didnt minutely scrutinise was stuffed up! It's not like it was a cheap exercise I am installing a new Bosch SMU4HTS01A built under dushwasher. I have 2 questions. What is the function of the metal strip about 500mm long x 60mm wide the tell you to… 0 2696 I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 9872 OK it's been a little while! I've been busy getting time where I can to work on this. I started by grading a pad (borrowing a… 26 19966 |