Clothes dryer heating element earth leakage issue! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: AmmoJammo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 06:56:04 am
content: We have a clothes dryer, that the element leaks to earth... but only as it heats up.Its a tube style element, with the actual element wound inside, I assume surrounded by ceramic powder?Cold, I measured 10 meg from live to earth, but as the element heated up, it tripped the rcd, at which point, it measured 15k...Why is it so!Thanks!

author: Richard Head
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 07:01:03 am
content: Forget about a multimeter for isolation tests. The test voltage is way too low.Use a megger set to 500V and you'll almost certainly see a much lower leakage resistance.

author: AmmoJammo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 07:01:51 am
content: Quote from: Richard Head on April 22, 2016, 07:01:03 amWhy is there leakage?Why is it greater when its hot?

author: Richard Head
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 07:35:33 am
content: Without opening it up I would have to speculate why it's leaking the earth.Possibly due to moisture absorbtion. (most likely)Possibly mechanical contact due to poor manufacturing.Possibly a lightning induced transient caused an internal arc (which partially healed itself).

author: AmmoJammo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 09:56:09 am
content: Would the element be hygroscopic?This is (I believe) a brand new element, that's been in storage for years and has only just been put in to service.

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 10:19:01 am
content: Buy a new element.

author: ozwolf
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 10:47:55 am
content: So, here's a story for you, but try it out at your own risk.It is likely to have some moisture inside. Many years ago, my father in law lent me a hotplate with a single element. This hotplate had been in the cupboard for a few years. I plugged it in and it immediately tripped the RCD.I went to a repair shop to buy a new element and the guy behind the counter said to hook up to a non-RCD protected power source, and run it red hot for about 10 minutes to drive out any moisture.It's worked perfectly on any RCD protected circuit since then.Ozwolf

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 10:54:51 am
content: Happens every time I clean the hob. One of the plates will trip the RCD so I stick a hair dryer on it for 5 minutes, let it rest and another 5 minutes and it's OK.

author: HackedFridgeMagnet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 10:58:47 am
content: Quote from: RGB255_0_0 on April 22, 2016, 10:54:51 amWhy are they called Hobs?

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 11:15:14 am
content: Quote from: HackedFridgeMagnet on April 22, 2016, 10:58:47 amI've never thought about that! Goooooogle tells us:1.Britisha cooking appliance, or the flat top part of a cooker, with hotplates or burners.a flat metal shelf at the side of a fireplace, having its surface level with the top of the grate and used especially for heating pans.2.a machine tool used for cutting gears or screw threads.3.a peg or pin used as a mark in throwing games.Originlate 16th century (in sense 3): alteration of hub. Sense 1, ‘metal shelf by a fireplace’, dates from the late 17th century.Which does make sense. What do you all it down under?

author: AmmoJammo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 11:22:56 am
content: Quote from: ozwolf on April 22, 2016, 10:47:55 amI was going to run it off four 24volt transformers in series, so its isolated, and at a lower power, for a few hours, to hopefully dry the moisture outBut! I wasn't sure if this was even a thing, or if something else could have gone strangely wrong..

author: Richard Head
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 12:23:40 pm
content: Just place it in the oven for a few hours at 100 Deg C. That should drive off all moisture. No need for transformers etc.

author: HackedFridgeMagnet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 01:36:47 pm
content: I call it hotplates or stove.But I've seen switches marked "Hob" and knowing they were for the hotplates I initially thought it was a spelling mistake.

author: AmmoJammo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 01:41:48 pm
content: Quote from: Richard Head on April 22, 2016, 12:23:40 pmThe elements are all the way at work, and I'm too lazy to remove them from the dryer and bring them home! (long story...)

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 01:45:07 pm
content: Quote from: HackedFridgeMagnet on April 22, 2016, 10:58:47 amNo idea. I guess it's a colloquial term. Not in the same way as "hoover" is used. I just had to Google cooker hob and got 3.8m results. The hob and cooker are often run on separate circuits here so using cooker and hob can remove some ambiguity on the consumer unit.

author: Delta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 03:07:22 pm
content: Quote from: RGB255_0_0 on April 22, 2016, 01:45:07 pmHob = hobOven = ovenCooker= Hob and oven in one unit.{/PedanticSparkyMode]

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 03:12:09 pm
content: Quote from: Delta on April 22, 2016, 03:07:22 pm/grill

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2016, 03:14:14 pm
content: Quote from: Richard Head on April 22, 2016, 12:23:40 pm30 minutes at 200°C worked for me several times.