We have had a succession of complaints from contractors in relation to fires and near misses caused by one particular manufacturer’s RCDs.
It appears that, even in a no load situation, these units are subject to serious overheating on the incoming side and in the most serious incidence, the entire consumer unit melted and set alight the adjoining woodwork, which could have had serious consequences if the house had been occupied at the time, as the owner is confined to wheelchair, and would in all likelihood have been overcome by smoke inhalation before she could get to safety.
In all the incidents which have been reported to us we have not found one where the load was anywhere near the current carrying capacity of the RCD, and it appears that the fault must lie in the construction of the unit itself, or in the makeup of the insulating material used. In the case referred to above, a representative from the supplier has taken away the damaged consumer unit for examination by technical experts from the manufacturers.
Any contractors who have come across this problem should immediately get in touch with us, as the natural thing for any customer to do is blame the contractor, and, in the event of a serious fire, the liability of the contractor could be very substantial, even though a design fault in the unit, or a failure in the materials used, would be something totally outside the
control of the contractor.