Soldering iron tripping RCD

[Whiskers]

I was just about to unsolder my motor to test it on another speed control when as soon as I touched the iron to the joint the RCD in my house tripped. I reset it and it tripped again this time as soon as I switched the iron on. The thing is it only does it in the socket with the cooker switch not any of the other sockets. Do I need to bin it and get a new one?

[Cardnim]

If your cooker is on (even in a standby mode) then the amps draw across the fuse of both your cooker and soldering iron will cause the RCB to kick in.

What W is your iron?

[Whiskers]

Its a 40w iron but iv'e just tried it in a couple of other sockets and it trips in them as well. Its just weird how it doesn't do it in a certain socket even thought they should all be on the same circuit as the house was rewired only last year!

Also its not tripping the cooker circuit its tripping the RCD for five circuits

[Cardnim]

Hmmm, if its happening on switches other than your cooker then thats weird.
Rather than jump to the worst case scenario and say something is wrong with your house electrics, its more likely that something is wrong with the iron itself (a dodgy cable could short out sometimes, but not others, giving the impression that it works in some sockets, not others)

Question: Do I understand you right that your cooker AND other sockets are going to the same fuse/RCB?!

[Whiskers]

Originally Posted by Cardnim

Hmmm, if its happening on switches other than your cooker then thats weird.
Rather than jump to the worst case scenario and say something is wrong with your house electrics, its more likely that something is wrong with the iron itself (a dodgy cable could short out sometimes, but not others, giving the impression that it works in some sockets, not others)

Question: Do I understand you right that your cooker AND other sockets are going to the same fuse/RCB?!

No separate fuses same RCD (residual current device)

[Cardnim]

Ahh right, no worries.
As long as they arent all going into one RCB (circuit breaker)!

p.s. weird to have an RCD in a house. Maybe its standard now, I cant keep up with all the building regs, but when I was studying, an RCD was to stop people from getting electrocuted and thats its only use.

Anyways... back to the soldering iron. I'd look for a fault with the iron itself.
Can you plug in your kettle to the same socket as the iron is tripping out on? Turn the kettle on - this is a fairly high drain and if it doesnt trip out, then its the iron.