Okay. Interesting topic. What type of RCBO must you install in the Netherlands in accordance with NEN 1010? Does it have to be 30 mA because you can touch the metal enclosure? Or can it be 100 mA or even 300 mA?
My gut feeling (and good morning to everyone, by the way) tells me that you should use a 30 mA RCBO. What’s your take on this?
My installation is connected to 300 mA. (Belgium).
I don’t have an RCD installed upstream of it. Only the circuits downstream of the MultiPlus have RCD protection. It couldn’t be any other way, because you’re only allowed to have four circuits behind a single RCD. Of course, the earth wire is properly connected to deal with earth-leakage faults. So how could the casing become live? How?
Hi. Thank you for your message. Is that in accordance with the regulations there?
On the Tweakers forum, they know all about consumer units — they’re all nerds who want to work exactly according to the (NEN) regulations.
In practice, however, 100 mA and 300 mA RCDs still trip undesirably with Victron inverters or standard solar inverters.
Here at home, with my ESS and the Multi RS 6000, I’ve only got a 25 A circuit breaker installed upstream, with no RCD, because of the possibility of the RCD tripping.
To comply with the NEN standards as much as possible without an RCD, the earth resistance needs to be very low — preferably below 2 ohms. It’s currently still 12 ohms; by driving in additional earth rods, I’m trying to bring it down to 3 ohms. I already have the rods ready to install.
Perhaps the earth resistance at your place is already very low (if the transformer in the street is nearby), possibly even below 1 ohm. But it’s also possible that, even with 16 metres of rods in the ground, the resistance won’t fall below 75 ohms.
These are practical examples — I’m an electrician.
Hi Huib. Yes, that’s correct. You may connect a maximum of four circuits to a single residual-current device (RCD). However, the residual-current circuit breaker with overcurrent protection (RCBO) I mentioned above is a combination of an RCD and a circuit breaker. So you would need one for each circuit.
Just as with a washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher and so on. They all have a yellow/green wire (PE), and of course an inverter must also be connected to the so-called protective earth. NEN 1010 states that all outgoing standard circuits must have 30 mA protection. This is because contact between a person and the equipment is possible, in which case either the RCD or the RCBO must trip.
For cable protection, you could also use 100 mA or 300 mA protection, for example, but that is too high to adequately protect a person.
And yes, we are of course talking about a worst-case scenario. It almost never happens, but that protection is there just in case.
If everything has to be RCD-protected under the regulations, why don’t they put an RCD in the neighbourhood distribution cabinet… But you know perfectly well that that wouldn’t be any use at all.
300 mA isn’t much use for personal protection either. By then, your pacemaker battery will have run flat anyway…
Personally, I can understand that people want to install everything in accordance with the regulations, especially when you’re doing it for someone else. Ultimately, you’re also responsible for your own work. I see plenty of mistakes too, and through this kind of communication I try to understand how people think and work.
At home, I’ve connected various inverters to 30 mA RCBOs. One is connected to a 100 mA RCBO, but I’ve never once had a problem with it tripping. The Victron inverters are also connected to 30 mA RCBOs, and so far I’ve never had a problem with them either.
And yes, if an insurer requires you to have a 32 kWh battery installed in accordance with PGS 37, then you’ll have to meet those requirements or accept that you won’t have any cover if something ever goes wrong.
Not all that long ago, for example, a washing-machine circuit didn’t have any residual-current protection at all, because it would trip too easily. I find it all rather “Rubber Tile Paradise”-ish, taking fuses and residual-current protection this far.
I’m also wondering about that 300 mA, simply because there are installers in the Netherlands who use such protective devices. So I wonder whether that’s actually permitted. Yeah, yeah — according to the rules 
You absolutely have to work safely. There’s no doubt about that. Yesterday, I had one of those “thank goodness I followed the rules” moments when I accidentally tried to saw into my upper thigh with my Stihl chainsaw. Luckily, this time I HAD put on my chainsaw trousers… Phew…
It has something to do with the trip time — how long it takes before the power is switched off; lower resistance means a faster trip time (duration)…
Or use a residual-current device.
And at 30 mA, you can still just about let go if you grab the live wire… the shock will certainly be severe.
I’ve been connected to 230 V plenty of times before… even as a child, back when residual-current circuit breakers didn’t exist at all. It definitely doesn’t feel nice, but it doesn’t frighten me. Do you know what really hurts… the spark from a Mercury outboard motor with Thunderbolt Ignition. That’s 40,000 V, and you certainly feel it if you touch the spark plug cap while the engine is running.
A good explanation can be found here.
Whether or not an RCD is needed depends on the earth resistance; the touch voltage must remain below 50 V in the event of a fault to the enclosure.
In practice, simply use a 300 mA RCD, but it remains unclear whether you need Type A or Type B!
Hey, quick question. You mentioned the ALAMAT tripping. Does that happen during a power cut, or when the mains power comes back on?
Hi Ron. Thanks for your contribution. Of course I know the video. Toby and I have already discussed his cabinet by email. It’s always nice to see people actively looking into how it’s supposed to work.
A couple of photos showing how I connected it.
I have the battery / off-grid changeover switch installed in the house’s consumer unit.
Hopefully this complies with the standard 
I’m still looking into how to switch everything off using an emergency button. I ordered this so that I can electrically switch off the circuit breaker.
For personal protection in the Netherlands, always use 30 mA only. You use 300 mA as the main protection for your installation or heavy industrial equipment, so it can serve as the main RCD upstream of several 30 mA RCDs protecting final circuits.
I personally have a 30 mA RCBO (three-phase B25) installed for the Victron system, with three 30 mA RCDs downstream, each protecting four circuits.
I’ve never had any problems with nuisance tripping.
The 300 mA is only there to ensure that the cabinet voltage of the MultiPlus can never exceed 50 V.
My earth resistance is 17 ohms, so in the event of a short circuit to the cabinet, the 25 A circuit breaker will never trip (a short circuit would only cause 13.5 A to flow).
So, in my situation, a fuse on the incoming supply alone is not permitted!!!
Now, if there is a fault to the cabinet, the incoming supply is disconnected at 300 mA, and with 17 ohms that results in a cabinet voltage of 5.1 V.
With 30 mA, you are no longer selective, and the RCD could also trip if there is an earth fault in your home installation.
But, more importantly, are you allowed to use a (cheap) Type A RCD, or does it have to be a Type B that also responds to DC leakage?
You may only use a Type A if you have a statement from Victron confirming that the DC leakage can never exceed 5 mA.
There is such a statement for the RS, but what about the MultiPlus II?
Hi Marc. Thank you for your message. That’s how I see it too, personally.
