RCD Safety Adaptor - New BUT Faulty - Can it be FIXED? 

Awesome fix Vince!!!! =D I would say its probably safe to use tbh! Because worst case that wire blows (due to higher current through it - less resistance) - meaning it would just stop latching if something went wrong there. What is important with safety devices is ensuring every other piece is assembled properly and there are no other issues that could crop up as a result of going in there. Thanks for the kind comments at the start there btw =D Very much appreciated, I am proud to consider you a friend too =D It is a shame RU-vid does seem to be going backwards in so many ways over the last few years. Just stick with it - I am sure you will pass 1 million subs soon!

I think it is still safe to use, you would have made the latch a bit weaker, so if anything you made it more sensitive to opening and breaking the circuit.

It's back! The beloved blue mat!

I agree with Chris. Your channel is my favorite when it comes to seeing so many items taken apart and as a bonus you are diagnosing and repairing most of them! Great work Vince, mate!

I love learning about how everyday objects works by watching you discover it yourself “live”! I’ve always wondered what these “reset/test” plugs did!

Measure the resistance of the wire that you removed to see what fraction of the overall resistance it is. If it is only a few percent then it may still be within manufacturing tolerances and still safe to use.

Thank you so much for the mention buddy ☺️ Fun fact - I cut through the wire on a hedge trimmer whilst trimming a hedge. I wish I had one of those at the time 😂

ALL HAIL THE BLUE MAT! Nice work as always Vince. Thanks for the video

Am always amazed at the lengths you will go to make a fix. Very educational and much appreciated. Thanks!

I don't expect that simple repair like this will be so interesting. Also blue mat is back - that's great.

Thank God the blue mat is back. The yellow one was burning my eyes.

The coil you have repaired is just an electro magnet that is energised as long as the current coils are balanced, since you have not messed with the current coils, (the current coils monitor the in coming current and the returning current which should be balanced, if and when you touch the live or neutral the current balance is out as there is now a leakage to earth, through your body or other means) and the monitoring circuit will de energise the electro magnet holding the output to the socket on so it stays live, if the balance goes of by 30mA (usually), then it "trips", I would say its safe to use as this coil has nothing to do with the operation of the tripping coils and monitoring circuit, As long as you have enough current flowing through the magnet coil to hold it on it should be fine, yes taking some of the windings off will increase the current through the coil but with the amount you removed it should be ok, it will also be DC and not 240 volt, it will probably be 12 or 24V, it needs to be DC to ensure the magnetic poles do not change, You have some patience, I would have just binned it hehe.

Hi Vince, probably others have already said this, but these work by comparing the current in the live line with the current in the neutral line. These values should be exactly the same, current out = current back. So if the circuit detects a difference in those currents, it trips the device and breaks the circuit. The reasoning is that if these values don't match, some current is flowing elsewhere, perhaps through a person to Earth. Your device would probably still be OK, as reducing turns on the coil will reduce its magnetic strength rather than increase it. However, more current would flow through the coil so I suppose it could get hot.

I agree with Chris, your channel is my favorite channel in RU-vid

Great investigative work there Vince

Nice fix Vince. Once again you found the fault. It was great to see how that works.

Great comments about clickbait and thumbnails Vince! Sends me away rather than drawing me in

Who wouldn't watch Vince's videos i always watch for entertainment you are on my top favourite channels as well! PS. Welcome back blue mat!

Return of the fabled blue mat lol and great video vince

I understand your point about RU-vid, but I would seriously miss your videos. I often play back some of your old ones while doing chores or attempting some of my own repairs.

Nice work! I've also had that happen where you think you've snagged the wire while unwinding and broke the coil yourself; but it was actually already broken there .

We always have our favourite RU-vidrs and always look forward to you next vid! Keep it up Vince

Great video! God bless you and yours! Praying for you!

Thanks Vince , enjoyed it

Brilliant as always. Well done 🎉

Well its evening as I'm watching this so I'll pause the video and get myself a nice beer! Hope the hangover goes away soon Vince.

Good job mate 👍

Your channel is my favorite no thinking needed

Morning Vince. I use the same one. With any power tools. Always good to test it. Press down the reset button, it should stay down. Then press the test button, it should pop the reset button up.

Every time Vince says "energise" you take a drink

hi vince yes it will be safe to use i had the same thing with a lawnmower motor unraveld 360 degree of copper wire and resoldered jobs a gooden. nice job vice you cracked it👌

Great video Vince

I enjoyed watching the repair, but I would not use it in that condition just to be safe. I completely agree with your reasoning on why you will not be using it.

In my opinion the windings only make a magnetic field to hold the latch down, it’s driven off of a maybe 5-12v so it has nothing to do with the safety side as that is being monitored though 1 current, and 2 leakage to ground anything above 30ma (approx) is all it takes to trip, I have a Lidl mains tester to make sure the wiring to the socket is good and when you press test it trips the house RCD, also has leds to indicate correct wiring and that it’s in the right place. Vince it will be fine, there’s probably a 10% tolerance or so on the relay from manufacturing well done great fix

Great fix Vince, always satisfying to see what actually failed even if it wont be used. I don't think you have made it unsafe in fact I think it would be safer now as that coil will now generate a weaker magnetic field resulting in it unlatching more easily. I own a multi function tester which can test RCD's, this allows you to test how fast the RCD trips in the event of a fault and at what fault current it tripped at to see if it is within specification. Under the UK wiring regulations an RCD can take up to 300ms to trip at 1 times its rated current or 40ms at 5 times its rated current. In your consumer unit (fusebox) if you have RCD's fitted their rated current will mostly likely be 30mA, the RCD in the video is a 30mA RCD. No issue with using an RCD on top of an RCD other than it will be a race between the two as to which trips fastest, just because they are both rated the same does not mean they will trip at the same time due to manufacturing tolerances and other external factors. This is why on fixed installations if two RCD's are connected together one is time delayed so it guarantees one trips before the other. In 2015 it became mandatory to fit RCD's in domestic dwellings to socket circuits in the UK but that does not mean there are still not tens of thousands of properties still not protected. If the installation was designed before this regulation came into effect and is in a safe working order an electrician cannot force you to fit an RCD only recommend it. If they were designing and installing a new circuit then an RCD would need to be fitted to comply with the regulations. Same goes for metal consumer units to replace plastic and many other changes to the UK wiring regulations.

Another great video! 🙏🏼 ❤

Great video as always Vince. Personally I would have cut off the beginning few inches and tested the coild there first, because thats where it seamed worse-for-wear. Just because you can't see a break, doesn't mean there isn't one. Thats why we use DMM's etc

I all was watch to the end love you video learned so much from your videos

Glad to see the blue Mat back🎉🎉🎉

I've never seen such a thing.. very interesting 👍 Repaired safety items are always a hard decision. On the one hand you could replace the coil to be even more confident. But maybe only use it for minor things (like a lawnmower) and not for somethere where you might come in more direct contact to a live wire (e.g. drilling, water works, ...).

Well done, good decision don't use, was just for fun, nice one Vince.

I would say it safe to use and better then factory Now Vince as in fact it was a manufacturing fault in the first place that it didn't work in the first place so well done

It'll be absolutely fine to use, the coil is only for an electromagnet which is deigned to fail safe, all you have done is slightly reduce the EMF generated

I look forward to all your videos have watched everyone

Great video!! I would still use, if the coil blows again it would just trip/unlatch.

Nice fix

Nice find! thumbsd up

Hi Vince, The only way you could use that device , is to first test it with a RCD tester to make sure it trips within the specified times for that device with the correct trip current.

I don't pay any attention to clickbait titles. Never have. I watch videos which are good, i can usually tell a minute or two in. Your videos are good so i watch them, The end!

theyll be massive factors of tolerance Vince both in the unit and through the supply voltage, I would be happy to use that.

Nice fix. On the positive side, if the coil burns out in use the device will go dead, so the protection it gives won't be compromised. On the negative side though, the shortened coil will draw extra current and might overheat in use. I wouldn't use it.

I’m no expert but if you did a safety test on it that would prove you have fixed it to within manufacturing tolerance 👍🏻

That was quite interesting mate. Nice to here Zs pronounced correctly as well :)

The RU-vid issues are why I support you via Patron, Hopefully we keep youtube financially viable for you as your job, and buy all the broken items we love seeing you fix on your "Blue" mat 😂

Would have been interesting maybe if you measured on both ends of the broken wire that you unravelled. But I think the RCD device is still safe to use. Only way to find out is to test it lab style. Another great fix, Vince!

Congrats Vince, you're officially in the big league, because you have scammers posing as you in the comments! Nice fix!

Keep it up Vince your videos are awesome. Personally I hate all of the push on RU-vid for shorts and the recommendations are dodgy now but I tend to watch videos/channels that I search for. I came across your channel after watching stevfixstix (probably misspelled that) after searching for videos for fixing Dymo label machines and Steve was fixing a load of them. Glad I found both channels!!

Well I watched to the end and very much enjoyed it Vince, thank you! I'd have never thought to unwind that coil like that, but that's why I don't have a fix it channel and you do! 😁 On the subject of RU-vid here's my take as a content creator: Yes, I agree, it's a race to the bottom! I'm a toy reviewer (but I have some other projects coming up) and I've been doing it since mid 2020. I started on a group channel but went out on my own last year. I don't do it for money (nowhere near enough subscribers!) I just do it for fun. I mainly review Transformers and Jurassic World figures and there are a lot of channels covering these. However, and it's a big however, most of the big channels get their review samples sent to them for free. I don't, I have to pay for mine, so my USP is that I can be 100% honest about the figure I'm reviewing; if I like it, I'll say, if I don't, I'll say! And people like that! Because I buy my figures people know that I'm not just saying a figure is fantastic because I got it for free. And I think this is a big issue with YT; there are too many people getting stuff for nothing and are giving positive reviews that no-one really trusts what reviewers say anymore. Many of the Transformers reviewers I used to trust I don't now because I've reviewed the same item and found issues that they seemed to have overlooked or ignored, possibly to ensure their supply doesn't dry up. But that's just a theory! Sorry for the long comment, hope you found it useful or interesting though! I loom forward to seeing how that drill turns out! Cheers!

I would consider it safe to use for myself but would not let anyone else use it. The only thing that may happen is the coil may get a little bit hotter when in use and may burnout causing it to go open which would shut it off anyway. I thought the wire at the beginning looked messed up, I would have tried cutting that bit off to see if continuity was back at that point.

I have exactly the same plug from 20 years ago but mine is bright orange has never let me Down touchwood these are brilliant

it will be safe to use as you have removed a bit from the magnet coil so you have actually made it more sensitive and will turn off faster than normal if something were to short out😊 so it's actually safer than before, you can't overload it as much anymore😊😅

In my personal view as electrician I don't see a problem in the coil because it's not the primary safety device the primary safety device is the Arc and the RCD tripping when there's a fault current the quickest way to to do that is to do a CPC test or doing insulation resistance test to make sure that it is possible but you can also do a PAT test as well to double check everything but in my view you should be fine always get it Pat tested and checked by a qualified electrician put a sticker on it the cost you about £5 for a PAT test

Nice one Vince. I expect the thicker wire on the end was to take the strain off of the finer wire. That’s done in a lot of transformers. Well done finding the break. I doubt what you have taken off would affect the operation of it although I would err on the side of safety and ditch it. Nice of Chris to send you some things to play with and his channel is also great. I agree that the click bait stuff and all of these shorts are really dragging RU-vid down but I’m sure we can rise above it. Cheers Graham

I'd use that, something like a garden tool doesn't need to remain energized 24/7 so you could unplug the RCD afterwards.

@16'06" you say "It doesn't look healthy at all" . I'll bet that if you checked that first 2 or 3 turns for continuity you would find it open circuit (merely lacquered wire twisted together and a new layer of lacquer holding it together). I note that John Beach suggested in the comments that it's probably "a production joint where they changed a spool of wire on the winding of coil at the factory..."

Its safe to use its only the magnetic coil. But i understand your concern love you channel :)

the man !!

Usually when I come across an electrical device that I've deemed unsafe for operation, a smash it and toss it. Maybe your next video can be a short of the Rolls running it over!

It's just an electro magnet, it would still be 100% safe to use. With the less windings on the coil, it would be even more sensitive to electrical faults in your circuit. To an effect you've made it even safer to use.

Vince wonderful repair! Personal opinion, and completely based off repairing relays and having no knowledge of the circuity of you're RCD, the purpose of that coil is to develop the magnetic field to "latch" (as you rightly stated). Has no affect on mains which should be on a separate circuit path to load/output. I believe you're safe. Now if it were other components or the mechanical pieces, I would have a much greater reservation. That all being said, no harm in ever being too safe. On a similar note, small wall wart power supplies, like the one I took part on my rockeroo video, I would never repair and reuse especially when they are cheap and a dime a dozen.

nice fault finding Vince :) personally I would of already plugged it in and tested it as the wife would be mowing the lawn :)

Thanks!

Nice

It might not get a lot of views but it got a thumbs up from me!

10:25:

its always interesting Vince and i dont know how a rcd works

excellent fix! great fault finding. i agree, that would be a lasting fix, but i would also never use that device or give it to anyone. Clap

it's like a professor Layton puzzle❤️

I really like the mechanism which prevents you from just holding down the button. I think we all know there are plenty of people who, when a safety device trips, would just hold down the button to keep it going. Nice that they prevented that (though perhaps a bit silly in this application).

Nice 😃

I use these for when I have fixed something I'd rather trip that unit rather than the house, or plugged something in that I think is sketchy at least the consumer unit isn't going to trip so they are good to have around, I'm thinking of changing my plugs in my workshop to these sockets built in

The more turns in the coil would create a stronger magnetic field, so fewer turns means a lower magnetic field. If anything, it would trip more easily so I think it would be safe but as you say it is a safety device and there are almost certainly tolerances which have to be adhered to. Let's face it, If they could make it with less wire they would. Interesting fix.

i'm sure if you plug it into a serge protecter power bar it would be fine cause the serge protector would kick in if it were to blow.nice vid

I believe 100% that it would be fine to use as is, however; legal liability would fall on your shoulders and not on the manufacturer once you have opened the case (and certainly after you have modified the original design).

I think it is safe to use because it is just for the magnet that holds it open if it fails again it shut it off :) or if it trigger it will shutdown even faster (a millisecond or so faster) :)

Great Video Vince! And Great Job on rewinding that coil! Totally agree with you that RU-vid is hard to get going. I've made quite a few video's as you already know. Some I feel are really good but only seem to get a handful of views but all the comments seem to be positive! at least I've broken the 1k subscribers now :)

i'd make a shrine for some items you've fixed but won't use/sell it would look nice on a shelf

i think that coil is just for electromagnetic lock -unlock and resistance of it doesn't change it's duty.it will get a little more power for working so device is still safe to use.

20 or 30 loops won't make a big difference but you could just connect 2 wires and insulate the connection and it would work like new ;)

I would say that taking that length of wire off would make the electromagnet weaker. So it will be slightly easier to trip. The only thing that the electromagnet controls is the latching. So even if the coil did burn out it would just unlatch and you would end up with the RCD in the same state as at the start of the video.

I notice a lot of comments about coil resistance being affected (which of course it is), but i've not seen anything mentioned about the coil impedance, after all this is an inductor that is operating at AC voltage. Personally I wouldn't trust it not to overheat.

The blue mark on the winding tape probably means knackered but sell to the UK anyway.

Joined the big boys watch club... first mechanical chronograph on way ^-^ and its a panda O.o am now going to focus on Seiko as my intention is to Pokemon them as I have 6109, 6309, 6349, 7009, 7019, 7S26, 8V20, 5M83, NH35, NH36, VK63, VR43, VD53, VD57, V657 plus a ton of lesser Seiko quartz analogue plus an original pair of Pulsar solar's from the eighties... quite a lot of Seikoery.

vince nice job but idk, tbh about safety part. But when i vaped and did my own coils 1-2 wraps at about 1/4 inch round would change my ohms (increase or decrease by .20/.25 ohms) thats about 1 inch of wire... no idea if it stacks to make a difference tho.

It could be the flattened wire could have been touching itself or broke somewhere , you can also find out the wire size and how many wraps and re do the entire coil

Well diagnosed. Reducing the number of turns weakens the holding force (credit to Defpom) so you could argue the result is safer (a loose sense of the word), but more likely to trip inadvertently. There are coil winders available (which will also count turns, see David Tipton and M Caldera) but that, and electrical testing, is an expensive, time-consuming pastime.

I have a masterplug extension that I’ve had this problem with since day one! Takes me 20/30 times pressing reset to get it working. Probably from the same faulty batch! Drives me crazy

How did you get your silicone pad to lay flat? I've had mine a week and it's still not touching the bench everywhere.

It's safe all the windings will do is not let the magnetics hold the breaker down, Now if you had added too much wire that would be a problem then it could technically hold the connection way past its typical open-closed breaking point. To break the connection.

I have had a couple of these that seem to had failed with age rather than use, like they have failed their use by date, they were definitely not knocked about.