Nuevo 2006 master switch

Is this the type of control panel with switches that are a combination of a switch and a circuit breaker? If so, we know from previous threads here that the switch/breakers are prone to failure as they age.

I don't have a circuit diagram for a 2006 Nuevo to hand, but from memory there is no relay involved - the switch/breaker itself has an adequate current rating not to need one. And although I'm not too familiar with that type of breaker, I don't think any power at all should be needed to reset one - IIRC the reset mechanism is entirely mechanical and requires no voltage at all to be present to reset. So low output from the charger should have no effect, I would have thought.

terry678 wrote:
so am I right in thinking that you think it could be a purely mechanical intermittent failure of the switch itself?

It's difficult to tell at a distance, and I'm a bit puzzled that it behaves normally when not on EHU. An alternative explanation is that EHU is causing a large current to flow somewhere, which is close to the current limit of the breaker but not enough to trip it consistently.

I think you can probably rule that out because the breaker is (from memory) rated at 10A or higher. Anything taking almost 10A all the time that EHU is connected would probably be getting Very Hot Indeed, I would think, and you would probably notice that.

It's been a while since the last thread on the subject, but I think that one referred to the breaker not latching properly, which sounds similar to yours?

More testing is needed, really. If you can pop the switch/breaker out of the panel than you may be able to remove the terminals and substitute in a meter to measure current flow - though it may actually be simpler to do that elsewhere in the circuitry - for example on the output of the charger.

One word of warning: I believe that it's quite easy to split the face of the control panel if trying to prise the switch out, because of the way that they are secured from the rear, so I would advise caution there or you could end with something that looks bad cosmetically.