RCD Test Button: Safe or Silent Destroyer?

Did you know that some RCBOs and RCDs only work in one direction? Power them in reverse; simply pressing the test button could destroy them! This wasn’t an issue in the past, but with modern electrical installations featuring battery storage and solar PV, power often flows in reverse.

We show you what happens!

#RCD #RCBO

[johnrogowtzow]

Devices and regs need amending, to many electronic devices, , we need to get back to basics, keep up the good work 👍❤,

[deang]

What you failed to do is demonstrate whether or not the RCD still operates as an RCD even though the test button functionality has been fried.

[craigS-mf]

Thanks for the smokey demonstration! So if the power was still coming from the mains at the same time rather than just the inverter side, would this still happen when the test button was pushed?

[anthonybragg]

I noticed Gary got Gordon to press the button Kill the oldens off first!! I can smell that smoking from here

[johnburns]

Does this top input range have also have a twin _comb_ busbar?

[rob]

I can't believe they have started putting electronics inside a crucial safety device.
No wonder it fails because of reverse input / output connection.
All that electronics are prone to failure. And if that big fat varistor fails, which is a matter of time, it will cause a massive short circuit, which will result in the main fuse before the meter to blow.
A safety device needs to be failsafe and reliable every time without causing additional fault to upstream devices.

[retrozmachine]

Safe to press? Yes. Even if the device goes bang, its perfectly safe to press. Silent destroyer? Not if this clip is anything to go by.

Press the button twice and confirm correct operation and everything will be OK. Remember the test button is not how the device will function in an actual fault. The test button will continue to impose fault current (simulation) even once the contacts have opened while the fault will be cleared in actual operation. Use of a neutral switching device should always be done unless there is a specific reliability case that demands neutral is not switched.

Nothing wrong with the concept of switching the test circuit with the main path of course.

[christastic]

Unidestructible RC Bang O❗️with built in buzzer ignition.

[rubosrex]

So, follow the manufacturer's instruction as labelled on the device in terms of input-output and theres nothing to worry about.

[animarkzero]

That should not happen to an RCD at all!
What a heap of cheap junk😬

[cybermarc]

Buy Hager, or ABB, stop playing with crap quality… you’ve wasted my time 🎉