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- 27 Jan 2008
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I don't have an earth rod testing rig and I would not think many electricians own one it's not a bit of kit used very much.
In my own home I would not be too worried but for a club house with children then really do need to cross the t's and dot the i's and so you really need the paperwork to show all testing has been completed.
I am sure the Scouting organisation has rules. I know my son was asked to give a copy of his insurance and they stipulated the value when doing work for a charity.
Doing the work is all well and good but once completed then you will need an Electrical Installation Condition Report which should show the value of the earth rod.
When I worked for a gas receiving station with no power we had to hire the test set to measure earth rod resistance in all my 40 years as an electrician I have only seen three. One I used a lot at the gas receiving station, one was part of the top of range Robin test set and one was used in Algeria to test the earth for cathodic protection on a pipe line.
So it may take a little phoning around to find some one who can inspect and test where there is no electricity board earth to compare the readings with. In the main we use a loop impedance tester and the house earth is compared with the electricity board earth but you don't have this option.
Clearly the RCD will also need testing but nearly every electrician has a RCD tester but earth rod testers are quite rare.
I think one could build a tester it is a Wheatstone bridge in essence and one compares three earth rods and one moves the centre one and from that you calculate the resistance of the rod to earth.
In the main a 1.2 meter earth rod hammered into the ground will give you the 200Ω or less required and for my house I would not worry I would just hammer it in and cross my fingers. But since you have children involved I think you need that document to show it is A OK.
In my own home I would not be too worried but for a club house with children then really do need to cross the t's and dot the i's and so you really need the paperwork to show all testing has been completed.
I am sure the Scouting organisation has rules. I know my son was asked to give a copy of his insurance and they stipulated the value when doing work for a charity.
Doing the work is all well and good but once completed then you will need an Electrical Installation Condition Report which should show the value of the earth rod.
When I worked for a gas receiving station with no power we had to hire the test set to measure earth rod resistance in all my 40 years as an electrician I have only seen three. One I used a lot at the gas receiving station, one was part of the top of range Robin test set and one was used in Algeria to test the earth for cathodic protection on a pipe line.
So it may take a little phoning around to find some one who can inspect and test where there is no electricity board earth to compare the readings with. In the main we use a loop impedance tester and the house earth is compared with the electricity board earth but you don't have this option.
Clearly the RCD will also need testing but nearly every electrician has a RCD tester but earth rod testers are quite rare.
I think one could build a tester it is a Wheatstone bridge in essence and one compares three earth rods and one moves the centre one and from that you calculate the resistance of the rod to earth.
In the main a 1.2 meter earth rod hammered into the ground will give you the 200Ω or less required and for my house I would not worry I would just hammer it in and cross my fingers. But since you have children involved I think you need that document to show it is A OK.
