New thickness planer tripping electrics

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AndyBell

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13 Dec 2021
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Location
Leeds, UK
Hi all,

First post apart from my new member intro.

My father and I have been making things for the last year or so and have decided to invest in a thickness planer, unfortunately we've opted for a bit of an unknown brand (Vevor) and have run into an issue with it.

As soon as it's switched on it trips the sockets in the garage. We run other things in there perfectly fine, such as a table saw and a mitre saw. This thickness planer just trips every time it's switched on. It does have a UK plug on it. I'm no expert with electrics though unfortunately.

I've attached pics of the garage electrics and the planer details.

Any help would be much appreciated.

TIA Andy.
 

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Thank for the reply. I presume you mean something along the lines of a Makita when you say goodun?!
 
An MCB , the black switches, trip on overload, the red rcd trips on earth leakage. Try checking the plug for loose wires then call seller.
 
Thanks, think it's just going back as there are a couple of other niggles with it as well.

Thanks for the replies.
 
at 2000watts it shouldn'trip anything.....
thats the same wattage as a decent 9" grinder.....
Save up a little longer and buy from a better maker.....
if u look on here there's always a few machines for sale.....that and facebook.....
unless it's local dont bother with ebay.....
u need to drive a used one before u part with cash....as long as the bearing aren't noisy.....blade can be resharpened for not a lot of money......
u dont have to buy new.....
 
If was was running perfectly for the previous owner then I suspect you need a 16 amp ELCB . I had to put in a dedicated 16 amp circuit for my two Scheppach P/Ts. Worth checking.
 
Whilst 2000w should be fine, is that what the motor produces or consumes. I believe P1 and P2 are the correct terms and the ratio between the two is the efficiency. An expert will advise. What I do know is that the start up load of the motor can be far higher and trip your consumer unit. Your breakers a B rated. I've C rated in all of the garage/worshop circuits and have no issues. It would be worth swapping them over.

Colin
 
I read that you say you are sending it back so you may not want to do any more.
It would be diagnostic / interesting to know if it was tripping the 16amp MCB (the middle black ‘switch’) or the RCD (extreme right) …..they have different functions and are tripped by different ‘faults’.
 
This happened to me years ago when I had a Fox thicknesser and what I read up at the time it was due to a power surge on start up.

I was advised to change the MCB to a 16 amp to compensate and it worked fine.

I’m no spark and had a separate fuse box in the garage therefore if you are considering trying this I would consult a qualified electrician, again worked fine for me without any problems at all.
 
If the trip is instantaneous, it is probably a fault. If there is a slight delay, could be a start-up power surge.
 
Electric motors have inrush currents on starting 6-10 times the running current. 2000w = running ~9A so start current could easily be 60A+ "B" rated breakers trip at 3-5 times rated current "C" type breakers at 5-10 times. Get a sparks in and ask to have your B breaker changed to a C breaker. It isn't necessarily a straight swap because the circuits must be tested to ensure a l-n fault will trip still trip the breaker.
 
Bit of a turn of events.....the company accepted the return without any issues and processed the refund to the card which has been received. We then contacted them about returning the machine but they don't want it back. They said to just keep it.

So will try swapping out the MCB and taking it from there.
 
I've C rated in all of the garage/worshop circuits and have no issues. It would be worth swapping them over.
You cannot just swap out a type B MCB for a type C without measuring your circuit impedances because a type C requires a lot more current to disconnect and therefore your circuit impedances need to be low enough to allow this level of current to flow under fault conditions.

Just remember that there have been people who never knew they had any issues with an installation until something went wrong at which point they never will know because they got electrocuted.
 
You cannot just swap out a type B MCB for a type C without measuring your circuit impedances because a type C requires a lot more current to disconnect and therefore your circuit impedances need to be low enough to allow this level of current to flow under fault conditions.

Just remember that there have been people who never knew they had any issues with an installation until something went wrong at which point they never will know because they got electrocuted.
The workshop/garage went up in 2018 whilst current [no pun intended] regs have been in force. From the outset it was known I would need two consumer units in parallel and type C breakers would be needed in the workshop consumer unit. I wired everything back to this location and then had the electrician check everything, connect up and subsequently sign off the works. I take electrics seriously, partly an inheritance from my father who worked for the CEGB.

Colin
 
Had similar problem with an old distribution box in my shed. 40Amp Breaker for large motor kept tripping. Got some advice and they pointed out the breaker may have become weak due to age. Replaced box and new breakers as the ones that were fitted are obsolete but had to go with C type 32amp for the starting surge as its a big single phase motor. Have a C type 15amp dedicated circuit for a 200amp arc welder as well as it kept tripping. Everything else is B type.
You could get the planer tested. It may be something very simple. Check the motor is running free by trying to turn the blades by hand with the power off!!!
If it trips imediately it does sound like a wiring short as at 2000w shouldnt overload a 16amp circuit (aprox 10amp although don't know the starting surge) Might be worth checking the plug wiring or replacing it if its sealed plug.
Alasdair
 
Hi,
just thought I'd give it another go, unplugged everything from the circuit and it worked.....turned it off tried again and it tripped the MCB. Same again when I tried again, sometimes it works and sometimes it trips.....

Any idea what that could be?


Thanks.
 

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