Repair 10A-15A Converter?

[rhills]

Hi all,

I've got a Jaycar 10A-15A converter + RCD that has died on me. The orange LED on the side lights up when you plug it in to the wall and switch it on, but the socket in the unit itself is dead and the RCD shows no sign of life: the test button doesn't work and the on/off switch doesn't seem to do anything.

We have already bought a replacement, but I suspect the RCD has died on this one and AFAICT, it wouldn't cost the earth to replace it. And I hate throwing stuff away, especially plastic stuff.

Is there any way to absolutely confirm it's the RCD? If so, what would be a good-quality-but-not-too-stupidly-expensive replacement for the one in it?

faulty-rcd-1.png (337.95 KiB) Viewed 2539 times

[reecho]

Something like this Rob??

https://www.sparkydirect.com.au/p/RCBM2 ... b-rcd.html

[rhills]

Thanks for the reply and link @reecho. I'd actually found that one already, thinking it looks like it'd work. Just need to be confident the specs are OK for the task (ie shutting down if something tries to pull more than 10A from the socket). If I believe Clipsal marketing, their gear is good quality. Unfortunately, shipping from sparkydirect adds nearly 30% to the cost so I might see what I can find at the local L&H. Again, I just need to be sure I get something with the right specs.

[rhills]

L&H have the same one but I'm not a sparky so I don't have a login to check the price.

I notice they have two different 10A units, one with a "rated fault current" of 10mA and the other 30mA. The one in my converter is 30mA, is that the best rating to get, or a "cheaper option"? Also, in the blurb about one of the RCDs I looked at, they talked about the difference between an electro-mechanical RCD and an Electronic RCD, suggesting the latter is better for "adverse conditions where vibration and environmental conditions affect electrical products".

[brendon_m]

I've found mm electrical to be cheaper than l&h for a lot of things so you should definitely see what they do them for if there is one near you

[brendon_m]

Also as long as you get one rated to 10a overcurrent then you should be good. Realistically the circuit breakers in you meter box is a 16A one and all the wiring in the house should be rated to carry that current. The "converter" is only there to hold back the individual outlet so the rest of the house can use power at the same time and you'll be less likely to trip the meter box rcd/circuit breaker.
The mA /rcd part of it should be fine regardless of the specs because if its Australian compliant it'll do the job of shutting off the power when you lick the plug.

[rhills]

Thanks @brendon_m,

I've found mm electrical to be cheaper than l&h for a lot of things so you should definitely see what they do them for if there is one near you

I'd not heard of mm electrical before and it turns out there's one lurking almost across the road from our local L&H in Rockingham so I'll check them out.

[jonescg]

L&H are great if you don't want to buy anything in a hurry, or at a good price...

[Bryce]

Hi there-a few quick answers as an electrician and trade teacher.
10mA is for medical area use.
Cheap RCDs are a matter of 'you get what you pay for' - have seen several failures (and recalls) of cheapies. Clipsal ones are quite good.
L&H not small customer oriented-they target large customers and only really look after them.
Cheers
Bryce

[rhills]

OK, I bought a replacement RCD today from MM Electrical at Rockingham. I bought a Clipsal RCBM210/30 240V/10A RCD and at $41.22, I thought I'd paid quite a lot for it until I saw the RRP on the Clipsal website. I know manufacturer RRPs are always a bit fantasy-land, but $182.20? I figured this must be for a pack of 5 but AFAICT from that site it's for a single unit!

Anyway, I was able to get it to fit into my 10A-15A converter with a bit of fiddling and the unit is now working again, so I've managed to repair it for half the cost of a replacement and hopefully have something that's more robust than the original as well. We'll see. I'll follow up with a separate post showing exactly what I did in case anyone else has one of these that fails.

[g4qber]

Perhaps best to go for a possible more quality product like the ampfibian mini at Bunnings ?
https://www.bunnings.com.au/ampfibian-1 ... i_p7050104

[rhills]

I agree @g4qber that looks a better option than the Jaycar one so a great suggestion for others following along.

For us, I already have the IP67 alternative that I bought as a replacement (Jaycar's one unfortunately) and now this one that I've repaired so I won't buy another unless my weatherproof one dies irrepairably.

[g4qber]

So @rhills do you have 2x 15 to 10 amp adaptors from jaycar.
One with the water resistant dribox enclosure?

[rhills]

Yes, that's right.
We use them for our motorhome now as we don't need one for the PHEV. We use your old Volt EVSE when we're out and about and the existing Mitsubishi EVSE stays at home plugged in to the 15A socket in the garage.