any electricians in the house.......?

Question

i baught a tredmill, but as soon as the motor starts running. it trips the electricity in the flat. i've returned it to the shop to get a new one send but it does the same thing. there is not alot of electrical equipment on in the flat at the moment. no big equipment besides the washer and fridge. please help, i need to lose a few pounds doing some work out.
thanx

Answer 1

try a different wall plug in location. too many things on one circuit will trip the breaker. your building could have crummy circuits, if so, get your money back and take up outdoor jogging, because there is no cure you can make on bad wiring.

Answer 2

If it's an RCD that is tripping, then there must be earth leakage in both the treadmills!! Two faulty in a row? It could also be that they are imported machines and both have their plugs wired up incorrectly, or have a similar fault in the internal wiring. Could also be any number of things too many to list here. Try the machine in a different socket, or try some thing else in the same socket, try and eliminate something. Unlikely to be an overload on such a machine even with the start current of the motor, these machines can run in banks of 10 or 12 on a ring circuit with no problems. (In a gym)

Answer 3

At startup the motor draws full load current, which may be more than the outlet is rated for. Most outlets are on a 15 amp breaker. Read the name plate and see what FLA is Full load amperage. When the breaker tripps does anything else go out? If so it is overloaded. Try a different outlet in another room. The reason being the breaker could be weak on that circuit if this works have the breaker replaced and retry.Your machine should not draw 15 amps.

Answer 4

Check the size of the fusee in the plug! It may be the wrong amp. If you divide wattage by voltage this will give you the fuse amp you need. To find out what fus is needed look at the wattage info on the equipment, IE a television may require 300 watts at 240 volt AC (alternative current) divide 300 by 240 = 1.25, this appliance would run happily on a 2 amp fuse but usually a 3 - 5 amp fuse is fitted. Common fuses are 3, 5, and 13amp. Otherwise get the electrical wiring in your flat checked out.

Hope this helps and have a nice day.

Answer 5

hi, unlikely that your treadmill is drawing too much current. if it is only tripping the circuit breaker that is protecting the ring main (sockets ) then it should be a 30A trip. if the trip is rated lower, i.e. 5A or 15A then you will need an electrician to verify if that particular socket outlet is actually on the ring, or an individually wired socket ( which may not have the correct wiring to carry any high load). an electric motor draws a high current for a few seconds while it is getting going, but once running it is only drawing a few amps. best idea is to try another socket, see if it works in someone elses house( if you have changed it for another one, then the chances of it tripping in another house is a 1,000,000 to one) if all this fails,call an electrician.

Answer 6

No-one else seems to have read the question which states that the electricity TRIPS the whole flat. So it's the RCD which is being affected. (That's a GFLI to you lot over the pond).

It could be that your RCD is over-sensitive and trips out at less than 30mA, or it's the fact that the starting of the motor is creating a (temporary) current imbablance between live & neutral of more than 30mA.

All you can do is get your RCD tested and if that is OK return the treadmill.

Answer 7

The treadmill motor is drawing too much power than what your circuit breaker can handle. There may be more things running on that same circuit that add up to more than the circuit is rated for. You can try a different outlet to see if that helps or not.

You would have to find out how much your circuit breaker is rated for and how much your treadmill is rated at to see if it is within the limits or not. If not, you would have to find a circuit that is rated high enough to plug it into or have the circuit upgraded to handle the extra load. Also, find what other electrical devices are on that circuit and try moving them to another, or powering them off when you're using your treadmill.

Answer 8

Sounds like overload. Do you know the wattage of the treadmill? What sort of circuit are you plugging it in to. Try the treadmill in a different socket and see what happens.. The only other thing is that if the treadmill is foreign made it might not be suitable lfor use here. The only other thing I can suggest to check it out is to try it in a different house, making sure you use a power 13amp socket. , not a lighting circuit socket. If it works OK there, then there is something wrong with the socket(s) in your place., which will need checking out.

Answer 9

you need to check the AMPS and then ensure it is plugged into a higher rated socket. if the fuse is tripping it is because:-
a) the appliance is rated at more than 13 amps
B) the appliance is not suitable for your power supply
C) the appliance is faulty
remember fuses are a safety device.. get someone qualified to have a look

Answer 10

Maybe your main breaker or fuse capacity isn't enough to handle the treadmill's initial power on load. Check with your electrician there. Try to turn on the treadmill without anyone stepping on it yet. When it is running then step onto it and do your workout. You can turn it off even while you're on it.