insulation resistance test

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i've just done a IR test on a ring & light circuit in my shed/gym, i had the tester set to 500v but i'm getting a low reading of 43 Mohm's on the ring and 105 Mohm's on the lights between live/live. is this acceptable?
 
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Figures are higher than the minimum required by BS7671:2008.

You don't need a C&G 2392 to be able to carry out an IR test and understand the result.
 
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You can measure between phase and neutral (remembering phase and neutral are both live conductors) ;)
 
thanks gary i've found the table in the regs, i've not done much testing outside of college and was expecting to see >500.
 
i've not been in there for a few weeks so nothing has been running, damp probably is the problem cheers.
 
New bone dry circuits can give >500M (indeed over 2G).

Once in service, the humidity of the building, its construction, and any local factors can swing results all over the place. IR can be low from metal work below dew point in winter exposed to high humidity & high after a long dry spell in summer. Same applies to circuits in a damp solid brick wall with leaking roof in that area, compared to comparatively dry cavity brick wall without leaking roof in another area.


Everything should be unplugged (500V across filter networks).
Neons & fluorescents should be out of circuit.

If you find condensing humidity (gym) is a problem, consider 1) insulation 2) radiant heating 3) ventilation - balancing the latter two.
 
Ah, hate touchpads.

Bad terminations can cause reduce IR, particularly when combined with condensing humidity and 500V (tracking). Loose terminations can cause insulation breakdown, however air is a brilliant insulator (unfortunately).

An IR test is pretty useless without visual inspection.
You can have insulation falling off cable, but IR fine as air insulates.
 

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