There's never going to be a perfect solution but there does need to be a less complex solution than there is. I feel like BIG BUSINESS is trying to pull a fast one with the new 18th edition regs, they are trying to shift responsibility for their sometimes obvious poor standards onto the little man at the bottom of the food chain. It's pretty obvious that insurance companies are trying to get out of paying for damage caused by products that quite frankly should not be in peoples homes in the first place.

I presume the consumer unit is plastic and you can rip the tin foil cover off to get to the main switch if you need to. Be really careful where the foil goes - if any tears off and drops in the box it could be 'fun' in a bang sort of way. The DC link values of capacitance and voltage, do not result in smooth dc values < 10 mA, being imposed on the AC pulsed wave form.

Type F RCD Risks:

The term general purpose relating to Type AC devices should not be taken out of context i.e. it is the most basic RCD, suitable for detecting a simple full sine wave residual current at 50Hz. I agree with you on that one, as electricians we have very little control over what will eventually be connected to an installation that we have installed. So question one does it pass when tested with a RCD tester? If so what makes you think it is faulty? I am sure the one in my old house was tripping due to surges when a neighbour was welding. Two identical RCD's would hold for 18 months without a problem, then trip for seeming no reason for couple of weeks, then again two years no tripping. For the person who asked about Smartmeter, yes one fitted in last year and quite close to CU (2 meters?). Though similar episode of nuisance tripping preceded its installation and went away of its own. What are you thinking about this?

If you’re not sure about quantities, sizes or have any other questions about your electrical wholesale products, our Electrical2Go sales team will be more than happy to help. Give them a call now on 01424 220384. KEY FEATURES Type A Prices: As with any component, normal competitive / market forces apply. A substantial increase in UK demand for a particular product, will normally result in a reduction in unit price, providing the demand does no exceed the availability. You might ask "Why are Type AC RCDs still referred to in the 18th Edition of BS7671, when most installations should be using Type A devices as a minimum requirement?"Memshield 2 – These are also a commercial breaker and come in types B,C & D. These also will fit into all Memera 2000 range boards. but mounted above the old Wylex fuse boxes, however done before the rules changed as to electrical equipment in the control of an ordinary person. But still today we have isolators before the CU to comply with HSE rules an live working, so not sure if we can still mount SPD or RCD in separate box before or after main CU?

The older RCD does seem to be affected by spikes, so likely a SPD would stop it, but a consumer unit is a type tested distribution unit, and to retain the type testing only items recommended by the manufacturer can be used, even if they seem to fit. Circuit feeding a single-phase micro-wave oven with inverter-controlled output to the magnetron. A fault on the output side of the bridge rectifier will produce a pulsed fault current (If fig 1), generated at the supply frequency. For applications using single phase inverters for speed control (washing machines, GSHPs etc ), the design characteristics of a single-phase inverter will determine if it is safe to use Type A RCDs upstream. Type F RCDs cannot provide protection in circuits where there is a requirement to detect smooth DC residual currents, or if the motor frequency can be reduced to zero or the inverter switching frequency is >1kHz. If any of the above conditions apply, Type B RCDs must be used.The primary principle of an RCD is to protect the persons using the installation, if manufactures are going to be allowed to make equipment that is going to end up in peoples homes then British Standards must make it compulsory for manufactures to state in bold writing how that equipment will affect an installation where RCD's are present, it's already common practice for many manufactures to state what the maximum protective device is to be used with their equipment, so make it their responsibility. This is explained in Chapter 12, 13 and Chapter 30. The Electrician is responsible, not the Technical committee, to make the decision on which device is appropriate for the installation. For existing installations, problems associated with the following may indicate that Type F is required in place of Type A: The MR 30 is one of their most popular products. The Memshield 2 MR30 RCBO Pod is a residual current operated circuit breaker that can be added to any standard 1 pole or 1 pole + N Eaton MCB. It is a Miniature Circuit Breaker with the function of a Residual Current Circuit Breaker and is fully compliant with IEC 61009. Type F RCDs are not designed to detect smooth dc residual currents. They will still trip within safe limits with < 10 mA smooth dc superimposed on a 50Hz pulsed residual current.