RCD Randomly Tripping

[Echo the husky]

The G/Y looks like a join where they run out of length, then join to keep the machines running, the other wire was stripped to allow enough room in the sheath for the join. The factory is suppose to cut the join section out and discard but it must have got missed.

 

[Iggifer]

The G/Y looks like a join where they run out of length, then join to keep the machines running, the other wire was stripped to allow enough room in the sheath for the join. The factory is suppose to cut the join section out and discard but it must have got missed.

Yea the twist round the cpc is weird.No QC that day!

 

[scousespark]

I am expecting my new toy to arrive on Saturday and am excited to learn how to use it and then will test everything.

Read more: //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/rcd-randomly-tripping.465214/page-3#ixzz4INkbLRTM

I would suggest you get a book and read up on testing before you start using your 'new toy'. If testing an installation was simply a case of connect to the circuit, set the dial and press the right button, there would be no need for electricians to spend time (and a few hundred quid) on C&G courses.

I would recommend Practical Guide to Inspection, Testing and Certification of Electrical Installations by Chris Kitcher.

 

[JohnW2]

I would suggest you get a book and read up on testing before you start using your 'new toy'.

Good to see you. I trust all is well with you.

In general, I would certainly agree with you. However, if you read all of the recent parts of the thread, you will see that the main immediate thing that the OP wants to test is the IR of the piece of cable that he has (by a very logical and reasoned approach) identified as the cause of his RCD trips - which piece of cable he has now removed and replaced (with apparent resolution of the RCD tripping problem).

Kind Regards, John

 

[scousespark]

Hi John. I am well and happy birthday for the other day. I had read through this and my advice was based on Andrew saying he plans to test everything. It is vital he learns as much as he can before he starts testing.

 

[JohnW2]

Hi John. I am well and happy birthday for the other day. I had read through this and my advice was based on Andrew saying he plans to test everything. It is vital he learns as much as he can before he starts testing.

Thanks for the birthday wishes - I'm currently in the 5-week window during which, each year, I'm 'older' than my wife!

As for your comment, I suspect that the 'testing everything' to which Andrew referred was probably as part of his 'training' and quest for knowledge, rather than 'in anger' testing (after all, he seems to have located and cured the cause of his recent problem by systematic investigation). I don't know whether you have read all of this thread, but Andrew is not 'just a DIYer' ...

I left my full time job in the motor trade because I wanted to change my career and become qualified as an electrician. I find it very interesting and the more I learn makes me realise how very much more I still have to learn. With that in mind, if there are things I can do to try and find the fault myself, it will be another learning experience for me.

I am only armed with a multi-meter which is a pretty good one but I dont have proper electricians tools yet (still training)

He is now about to acquire his 'proper electricians' tools', and I imagine is keen to start 'playing' with them and learning whatever he does not already know about how/when/why to use them and how to interpret the results. There are obviously multiple ways to skin cats - I've never been anywhere near a C&G course, but I like to think that I have a reasonable idea about what I do with my test equipment.

Kind Regards, John

 

[scousespark]

I am struggling to see why recomending a text book and advising somebody to learn about testing before starting to use test equipment is not seen as good advice.

 

[JohnW2]

I am struggling to see why recomending a text book and advising somebody to learn about testing before starting to use test equipment is not seen as good advice.

I would also struggle to see why that would not be seen as good advice. However, what makes you think that someone training to be an electrician would not already have relevant books?

Your recommendation of a specific book could well be valuable to the OP if he is not already familiar with it, but the implication/tone of what you wrote was that you did not think/believe that he had any books or was doing any relevant reading.

Kind Regards, John

 

[deadshort]

I am struggling to see why recomending a text book and advising somebody to learn about testing before starting to use test equipment is not seen as good advice.

Yes,seems a good sensible advice. i would have taken the old fashioned approach and 'skinned' the suspect cable as opposed to the cat, to find the alleged cable fault and saved £150.

DS

 

[scousespark]

I am struggling to see why recomending a text book and advising somebody to learn about testing before starting to use test equipment is not seen as good advice.

I would also struggle to see why that would not be seen as good advice. However, what makes you think that someone training to be an electrician would not already have relevant books?

Your recommendation of a specific book could well be valuable to the OP if he is not already familiar with it, but the implication/tone of what you wrote was that you did not think/believe that he had any books or was doing any relevant reading.

Kind Regards, John

My original post was directed at Andrew and it may (or may not) be of any use to him.
He posted that he is switching from the motor trade to electrical installation - but doesn't say he is undergoing ay training. He did say his electrician compliments his work given he is not trained.
He has posted that he's done a lot of work on his own house, but is only now getting test kit after EFLI pointed him at the IR tester. That was why I recommended he learn about testing before he starts using the kit.

 

[deadshort]

Yes, i totally agree SS. It's not until he's fires 500v up bottom of a bit of expensive kit ! seems an expensive way to learn. However, Andrew seems to be sensible in his approach and will no doubt take your advice.

Regards,

DS

 

[JohnW2]

i would have taken the old fashioned approach and 'skinned' the suspect cable as opposed to the cat, to find the alleged cable fault and saved £150.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I got the impression that the solving of the OPs current problem and his acquisition of test equipment were largely unrelated - i.e. that he was going to get the test equipment fairly soon, anyway, but was stimulated to do it now, in case he didn't manage to diagnose and rectify the current fault without specialised test equipment. I would have thought that only a fool would spend £150 on test equipment (particularly if they didn't understand the purpose, or how to use it) if the only purpose were one-off use to deal with a specific current issue, and Andrew does not strike me as being any sort of fool.

As you know, as things turned out, his systematic approach seemingly enabled him to identify and rectify the current fault, but that might not have been the case.

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

He posted that he is switching from the motor trade to electrical installation - but doesn't say he is undergoing ay training....

I agree that he has not indicated the nature of the training, but as I quoted in my first response to you...

I am only armed with a multi-meter which is a pretty good one but I dont have proper electricians tools yet (still training)

IMO, one of the problems with current-day training (of any sort) of electricians (and other trades) is often that they do not learn enough about basic principles and hence are often taught (or otherwise learn) on almost a 'cookbook' basis. Once one understands the underlying principles, topics such as how/why/when to use test equipment (and how to interpret the results) will largely become self-evident, and gaining detailed knowledge about those specific issues becomes much easier. Hence, IF I believed that there were a need (and I doubt that there is), I would be recommending that Andrew obtains, and becomes familiar with, reading material relating to those underlying basic principles before launching into trying to ('really') understand a specialised topic (and book) about testing.

Whatever, we are all agreed that Andrew requires adequate knowledge, in an academic as well as practical sense, but everything he has written suggests to me that he is well aware of that, and is taking steps to further that goal.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

He may come back and ask.

He may even try Google.
https://www.google.com/#q=how+to+use+an+insulation+resistance+tester

 

[scousespark]

Seriously??
I made a suggestion, which would apply to ANYBODY who is starting out testing, where I advised Andrew reads up on testing before he 'plays with his new toy' (and I use that phrase just about every time I get something new so it's not an insult). I also recommended a book, of which I have a copy, as a good source of information.