ELCB Tripping?

I am going to take a quick guess here and suggest the problem is your using SMPS instead of LED Driver concurrently with 30mA sensitivity for your ELCB.

The reason is SMPS Drivers will regulate the voltage but will not supply a constant current, perhaps it's why the tripping only takes place after toggling the switch rather than immediately after staring your circuit.

I would suggest trying 100mA sensitivity first and see if that takes care of it, but unless your circuit is non-experimental. I would go with changing from SMPS to LED-Driver.

All Strip Led lights that i have seen are designed to have constant voltage drive, therefore normal smps is ok. Using constant current LED drive would be wrong. From your data, the loading is already quite high and the tripping occur when you turn on. This looks very much like start up surge current. Some poorly designed smps has very high start up surge current. So 42 A plus a little more surge current will cause tripping. Solution, use another mcb to reduce current, or insert a series anti surge current realtor to the input to smps.

LEDs are current driven devices, SMPS will be fine but will require adding a resistor to regulate the current, otherwise your LED's will not function properly with respect to time as temp. rises.

Changing the ELCB from 63A to the next step (80A) is unacceptable.

If you decide the inrush of your PS is the issue, then you must separate the LED from the other lighting loads. If your MCB is 200% your rated load you will risk failed tripping on your lighting loads when needed. Typically the Lighting circuits are grounded by the lights frame which takes care of currents like 35mA, if your ELCB has 100mA sensitivity, this will interrupt any reasonable leaks, otherwise, 35mA is likely to be the problem for the tripping.

If your lighting loads are fluorescent, then I can tell you I am certain your problem is the ELCB sensitivity, because fluorescent light produces harmonics that will cause your interrupting devices to trip at 35mA sensitivity.

Please, Check your wires for current carrying capacity. If any wire gets heated up, replace it.

Is it tripping on over current or earth leakage?

You have to know what is actually happening before trying to remedy.

All connected to one 63A breaker? No branch circuits? What is the conductor size?

Hi Wal,

Voted you a GA based on asking the obvious - is this an earth leakage problem or an over current problem?

Regarding the use of earth leakage devices - these are installed primarily to protect the user against dangerous leakage voltages occurring on an electrical circuit and the normal leakage current value of the breaker installed in domestic applications would be 30mA.

Raising the earth leakage trip value to 100mA or more, basically defeats the purpose of the earth leakage breaker in the domestic application and will allow dangerous leakage to occur before interrupting the supply. This won't remove the problem but may remove the user!

I am aware that higher value earth leakage devices are used in industrial applications.

Earth leakage breakers are available in two formats - those with over-current protection and those without. In SA the breaker handle colour normally indicates which version you have with a white handle (lever) indicating over-current protection and a green handle indicating an isolator with no over-current protection. Both versions would be rated to trip if the earth leakage exceeds the rating of 30mA.

My suggestion to Senthilnair is examine the earth leakage breaker to determine which version is installed (check the label) and, secondly, monitor the current being drawn by the circuits when the trip occurs. As the other posters have indicated, rapid switching of a load that has a high inrush current will lead to a sustained inrush current which will result in an overload trip. Lastly, an insulation test would indicate if there is, in fact, and insulation breakdown (or other fault) which would lead to an earth leakage trip.

If you have an earth leakage clamp meter (a clamp/tong tester with a low range allowing measurement of mA) tester you could connect this around the cables on the load side of the earth leakage breaker and be able to 'see' the unbalance in the circuit i.e. what goes out on the live should be equal (within the 30mA allowed by the breaker) otherwise you have a leakage problem.

Hope this is of assistance to you!

Regards, Keith

Hi Senthilinair,

Curiosity: Could you be using a Lutron Lighting Control panel with remote controllers and with a internal LV dimmer circuit for your LED?

I had one installation that sounds almost word for word your problems and it was related to the dimming circuitry for the LED portion of the panel-- I had multiple dimmable circuits under control with low voltage and 220 in the panel on 32A circuit--- Neither Lutron nor I could make it work. I did a work around by putting the LV dimming circuit on its own mains circuit breaker.

Expat 07

The problem seems to be due to leakage currents from the trigger electronic circuits of the LED Lighting. Pl. try a hi-sensitivity ELCB that are specifically made for such applications, in which case, you can still stick to 30mA sensitivity of the ELCB.

nothing is reason for your tripping except below reason: It is due to leakage betweeen strip and alu body used as heat sink. Use a Mica sheet between Alu body and strip An ELCB will not trip on even short circuited.

The reason it tripped, Boss, is because there is an imbalance between live and neutral in excess of 30mA. Something connected onto the circuit is faulty, and you'd do best to find it and replace it before it replaces someone who becomes inadvertently connected to it.

Are we talking an ELCB are an RCD. If its an old voltage operated ELCB that operates when it senses volts on the earth even a neighbours house can cause you a problem.

Assume its an RCD where there has to be a balance - 1A down the live must return as 1A up the neutral. A 30mA device will trip at a 30mA difference.

Are you sure the harmonics return by the earth???

Try unpluging a few other things live the TV, computers etc - anything with a filter on the circuit. These devices cause leakage and can take you close to the operating figure of the RCD. Now try your light.

Do a 30mA test on the RCD.

If the fault is still there bin the light. Your RCD is trying to tell you something.