Miele Fridge/Freezer keeps tripping RCD

Hi all,

We moved into our new home about a month ago and almost immediately started having a problem with a Safety Switch(RCD) tripping intermittently that was taking out the whole kitchen circuit.

We got the sparkys back to test things and they couldn't find any issues with either the appliances or the electicals. They said it might be the RCD but that this was a very very unlikely scenario. They replaced it and went on their way.

The tripping continued so we called them back, and they said we should try and plug/unplug appliances until we could isolated the appliance.

We quickly isolated it to the fridge. We bought a 2 new Miele side by side to take into the new place., one fridge and one fridge/freezer

We called Miele who said we should plug it into a separate circuit to prove it for sure before they would come out to look at it. So we did this also and whatever circuit we put the fridges on would trip. Then I separated the fridges onto separate circuits and they both started tripping. Which I thought was odd as i didn't expect both to be faulty.

We called Miele back and they scheduled a tech to come out, he did and tested the appliance and said everything was a/ok. The report he left behind says that Fridge freezer combination has:
The ECT of the of the fridge side is 0.16Ohms
the ECT (Earth continuity) of the fridge/freezer side is 0.03Ohms
Measured insulation with insulation tester 1000 volts DC was 54.4MOhms and 50.02MOhms respectively

According to the missus he was very rude to her and dismissive that it was a problem with the appliance, claiming that there was a problem with our electricals, regardless of the fact that we had isolated the issue to the fridge.

So we get the sparkys back in. They check everything and find no problem then methodically go through the circuit appliance by appliance and find that it is in fact the fridge. When the fridges are plugged in on their own with all other appliances disconnected it draws 28amp which puts it very close to the threshold of the 30amp circuit anything else on the circuit would then trip the circuit.

To be honest, I haven't noticed it tripping when we plug something else in. It tends to trip at random times.

The miele guys seem to be measuring impedance and the sparkys seem to be measuring current draw.

So very sorry for the long winded pre-amble but my question is.

Is there in fact a problem with the appliance, or is it that the circuit is not designed to handle the current that the fridge is drawing?

How do i tell what the peak load is that the fridge should draw?

I'm not getting anywhere with Miele blaming the electricals and the electricians blaming the appliance with us as piggy in the middle worrying about the circuit going out and our food defrosting every time we go out for the day.

Maybe the fridge should have its own circuit that way you can ensure that the draw is below the trip amount. I would think that the circuit should be designed to cope with the maximum draw that will be put on it by the appliances running on that circuit.

Not a sparky but can you not plug a toaster or some other high draw appliance on the same circuit as the fridge and see if it trips.

Good luck.

The fridge draws 28 amps ? Surely that must be surge when all components of the fridge go on at the exact same time.

If it regulary draws that much current, then I'd hate to see your power bill when it comes in.

Most power circuits in a house are run on a 16 amp circuit breaker anyway, which why you having a 30amp CB on a circuit makes me wonder.

What does it say in the manual for the current draw of the fridge ?