OP
Engineer54
In respect to the above posts,, I never take the earth from a property out to an external area, garage shed etc. even though as you say a good Zs from a TN system is a lot better than a high Zs on a TT.. the taking of one earth potential ( the house) to an external area such as the garage can cause (and I have seen it) a potential diffrence..
my main aim when wireing to out buildings is keeping any fault current/ voltage below 50v and appropreate disconection times. Ive seen lost neutrals on PME systems where outhouse neutrals and earths have become live to the surounding earth... would hate to step out that hot tub bare foot onto tera firma.. but hey thats me.. and I know this argument has been done to death, but ive seen the consequences of taking earths from diffrent areas and felt the potential diffrence!!!! :rolleyes4:
im not starting an argument... its just what i feel,, and as long as we are safe and follow the regs,, then we all win!!
I would just love to hear your argument for leaving a TN-S earth behind, in favour of a crap UK TT Ra value??
I'm not getting into the PME argument here, but i sorely disbelief you've seen a full broken neutral, if you have you are amongst the very few that have!! I have a very good friend that has just retired from your area's DNO, he's been with them and the old Regional leccy boards since leaving school, and retired as a Regional Manager. .....He has only known of 3 such instances in all that time, all were tripped out by there protection relays...
As for the ''hot tub'' senerio, you make allowances/provisions in your earthing arrangements when this is a factor in your installation. The truth is here though, how many hot tubs have you seen in the back yards of housing estates, ...not many i would think. Common as muck mind in Cyprus among the Brits...lol!! Now think about it, ..what do you think would be needed if a house owner foolishly locates a hot tub on his lawn, and not on a substantial base, patio, or Decking??
One last thing, in certain parts of Essex, i would agree with you, using a rod, because in those area's that i know of, i know that i can get better than a TN-S earth, with a couple of rods coupled together. lol!!! Yes, i know Essex very well!! lol!!