Paying for an electrician

[lmckoy]

We've recently had new tenants move into our house in Auckland, and they just purchased a fridge off of Trade Me that keeps tripping the fuse to the kitchen - a friend of mine (with an electrical background) popped in to check out what's going on, and has said that the fridge is an older model, so will have earthing problems, and that a new fuse would need to be installed that can cope with this fridge. We renovated the house four years ago, putting in new wiring, a new fusebox etc, and have never had an issue until now. We're looking at getting an electrician in to double check and provide a quote, but we want to know:
a) is putting a new fuse in to cope with an old appliance what should be done, or should they find another fridge/way around the problem?
b) who should pay for it if so?

We want to be good landlords here but don't want to make changes to the house that aren't necessary, so hopefully someone can answer this question, and apologies if I've got the wrong forum!

[Learning]

The circuit should be 10amp. What else is on the cricut? Toaster, microwave? If everything else on the circuit is off or unplugged and the fridge is still tripping the fridge is faulty and should be repaired or replaced.

[Beano]

The circuit should be 10amp. What else is on the cricut? Toaster, microwave? If everything else on the circuit is off or unplugged and the fridge is still tripping the fridge is faulty and should be repaired or replaced.

It must be catching .
I had the same problem yesterday
I tried the above then got a service man in ...fridge faulty...new one being delivered on Tuesday

[Chewbucca]

Hi there, sparky here. It will be the Residual Current Device (RCD) at the switchboard that is tripping. Not the Fuse. The RCD is there to measure the Earth Leakage Current. With older appliances, parts and insulation get worn, hence, current starts to flow in the earth, hence earth leakage. Changing the fuse will not get rid of your problems. Effectively, the fridge is at fault and the RCD is doing its job, protecting the user from getting a zap. There are rules on selling second hand electrical appliances on Trademe that not many people know about. See link. https://help.trademe.co.nz/hc/en-us/...ctrical-safety I suspect that if the appliance was tested to ASNZS 5761 it would have failed, thus should not have been sold in the first place.

[Chewbucca]

or it could be blowing the fuse (they call it a phase to earth fault) which will be drawing hundreds of Amps, in which a bigger fuse wouldn't make any difference. Again, the fridge is at fault and would be picked up if it was tested.

[Beano]

Yes that is what my sparky said too.
He said the fridge is dangerous and he cut the plug off so it cannot be sold.
The fridge is 13 years old .
Your advice confirms my sparky comments too.

[Beano]

We've recently had new tenants move into our house in Auckland, and they just purchased a fridge off of Trade Me that keeps tripping the fuse to the kitchen - a friend of mine (with an electrical background) popped in to check out what's going on, and has said that the fridge is an older model, so will have earthing problems, and that a new fuse would need to be installed that can cope with this fridge. We renovated the house four years ago, putting in new wiring, a new fusebox etc, and have never had an issue until now. We're looking at getting an electrician in to double check and provide a quote, but we want to know:
a) is putting a new fuse in to cope with an old appliance what should be done, or should they find another fridge/way around the problem?
b) who should pay for it if so?

We want to be good landlords here but don't want to make changes to the house that aren't necessary, so hopefully someone can answer this question, and apologies if I've got the wrong forum!

Two sparkies both with the same advice.
Buying second-hand without an electrician check is very risky and dangerous.
Luckily you had your property electrical upgraded so the fault was highlighted.

[lmckoy]

Thanks for all the information - there was definitely an issue with the fridge, but now we're being told that the oven was put onto its own RCD, which the electrician says is not NZ practice and also part of the problem (even though there's never been an issue in the five years since installation). Rang the original electrician to discuss this and he disagreed, so curious if Chewbucca can give an answer here too?

[Chewbucca]

Hi Imckoy, ASNZS3000:2018 details the electrical wiring standard that we sparky's work to in NZ and sign of certificates to. RCD's are mandated in this standard, but Oven's (and a few other things) are exempt for being on an RCD. Just because ovens are exempt, doesn't mean that you can't put an Oven on an RCD. Ovens are exempt because of the leakage current the element is allowed. I don't know how technical to go but here it goes. An RCD that is rated for 30milliAmps leakage current will generally trip if it senses leakage current of between 15milliamps - 25milliamps. Oven Elements are allowed to leak current of up to 23milliamps. New oven elements will leak less current and over time as insulation breaks down, will leak more which is why you probably never had any issues until now. If the Oven is on its own Fuse, I would be inclined to get the original sparky to remove the oven circuit off the RCD as its not mandated in the New Zealand Wiring Rules. Hope this helps.