Hey all,

 

So I am looking for a bit of advice, as the title suggests I have been experiencing issues with the geyser tripping the Earth leakage when it rains - this is not a new issue, I have been experiencing this issue since last year before I had the inverters & solar.

 

I have a flat concrete roof and my geyser sits on my roof as per the below picture:

 

Circled in green is where the conduit carrying the power cables goes into the waterproofing & wall.

I had my waterproofing redone earlier this year and was thinking maybe by some luck that would resolve the tripping issue - alas with the heavy rain we had in Joburg earlier today the Earth Leakage has once again tripped and this leads to basically everything in the house being turned off which is extremely frustrating.

 

Previously I was able to narrow it down by slowly turning off each circuit breaker when it rains and discovered that if the geyser circuit breaker is off when there is some heavy rain then the earth leakage does not trip - this was tried and tested multiple times and confirmed to be effective.

 

So does anyone have any ideas what could be the possible cause of the EL tripping when there is heavy rain and the geyser circuit breaker is up?

I replaced the geyser element a few months ago as I wanted to move to a smaller 2KW element. There is some protection over the geyser to help stop the rain from falling directly onto it.

 

In light rain everything is fine, it only seems to occur when the rain is heavy / a lot of water is falling quickly.

I am open to suggestions, I really just need to get this fixed now once and for all.

1 hour ago, PsyCLown said:

Hey all,

 

So I am looking for a bit of advice, as the title suggests I have been experiencing issues with the geyser tripping the Earth leakage when it rains - this is not a new issue, I have been experiencing this issue since last year before I had the inverters & solar.

 

I have a flat concrete roof and my geyser sits on my roof as per the below picture:

 

Circled in green is where the conduit carrying the power cables goes into the waterproofing & wall.

I had my waterproofing redone earlier this year and was thinking maybe by some luck that would resolve the tripping issue - alas with the heavy rain we had in Joburg earlier today the Earth Leakage has once again tripped and this leads to basically everything in the house being turned off which is extremely frustrating.

 

Previously I was able to narrow it down by slowly turning off each circuit breaker when it rains and discovered that if the geyser circuit breaker is off when there is some heavy rain then the earth leakage does not trip - this was tried and tested multiple times and confirmed to be effective.

 

So does anyone have any ideas what could be the possible cause of the EL tripping when there is heavy rain and the geyser circuit breaker is up?

I replaced the geyser element a few months ago as I wanted to move to a smaller 2KW element. There is some protection over the geyser to help stop the rain from falling directly onto it.

 

In light rain everything is fine, it only seems to occur when the rain is heavy / a lot of water is falling quickly.

I am open to suggestions, I really just need to get this fixed now once and for all.

This calls for a step by step approach. First you measure from DB when it has tripped. Disconnect the L and N. It should confirm with a below 2M ohm between geyser L or N and E. Then zoom in on the connection box on the side of the geyser. Look for moisture and pull the thermostat off the element. Measure the same 2 wires in the DB to E. 

You are free to msg me when you at it and you can supply readings. 

To much to type for all possibilities. 

Edited October 16, 20232 yr by Scorp007

So this is a bit of a thread necro, although I figured I might as well share some feedback.

I think it was around November last year, when my geyser decided to give up and it burst / rusted through.

Insurance sorted me out with a new geyser and because my geyser isolator was not a weather proof one, I got an electrician out to sort that out (via insurance) and since the new geyser and water proof isolator I no longer seem to experience the EL tripping when it rains and the geyser is on!

 

Whether water was getting inside the previous isolator box or whether the geyser having a bit of a hole forming was the cause, I am not 100% sure as I do not think there was water getting inside the isolator box based on the previous position but I could be wrong.