Dead short between line and neutral- RFC

[pencilpusher]

I am getting a dead short between line and neutral on an IR test on a RFC. The second RFC is giving 0.30 M Ohms!!

I have removed all loads as far as I can see including a TV amp in the loft (although there is no seperate power feed to it).

I have split the ring but its not easy to work out where the next point on the ring is. I have left and right sockets not up and down.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks PP

 

[DaveyD]

Just in case have you linked lives and tested against cpc?

 

[the pict]

Something is still plugged in, one that caught me was a ambi pure behind a curtain no lead to give it away, Oh and another was a wardrobe light.
pict

 

[pencilpusher]

I unplugged everything and turned off what i could not unplug. There are some sockets that I cannot get to to pull the plug but can turn the sockets off. Would this still affect results?

 

[Octopus]

If there's no power going into the TV amp in the loft, there will be an amp sited somewhere else, probably close to a TV.

 

[pencilpusher]

If there's no power going into the TV amp in the loft, there will be an amp sited somewhere else, probably close to a TV.

Absolutely but I have pulled everything out by TV's.

 

[pencilpusher]

My thoughts are that if I had a dead short becuase of a nail through cable etc, it would trip the CB?

 

[telectrix]

link L and N and test to E. job done.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Are there any fused spurs hidden way for intruder alarms/central heating etc, any pond pumps outside, any outside lighting connected in, or any grid switches for appliances, or any sockets in kitchen cupboards or behind kickboards.

I agree that a nail in a cable giving you low ins res would trip the circuit.

Cheers.........Howard

 

[pencilpusher]

This my own house and I have tried to be as thorough as I can in removing all loads. It is the original installation as I have been here since new. Lights are on lighting circuits, there is no garden power anywhere, intruder alarn is spurred but I disconnected the spur. It is driving me nuts but I suspect I have missed something on each ring but I cannot for the life of me think where. I will link lives tomorrow and test to earth as Telectrix has suggested. If I get poor results on that test I will be reporting back. Thanks all. PP

 

[Octopus]

May be you should split the ring and see if you can narrow down the "fault".

Recently I installed a brand new socket which had a low IR!

 

[pencilpusher]

May be you should split the ring and see if you can narrow down the "fault".

Recently I installed a brand new socket which had a low IR!

Thanks Murdoch. I have attempted that but was losing the light so will try again tomorrow. I have left/right rings (lucky me eh!?) so not as easy for me to follow routes. When I did try this, I was getting good results from one leg so went to next socket (as best you can when it's left/right), I was expecting good results from one leg and poor from the other only to get poor going both ways. Yes, I had split the ring at the CU initially. Pain in the a*se.

 

[Richard]

From what you've described i'd definatly say theres a load on there somewhere. Any neons??

 

[pencilpusher]

No neons that I have ever seen in here but who knows what they have hidden somewhere?

 

[WDMDL]

You say dead short... do you mean it shows up as 0.00 Megohms?
Continuity test instead, see what the resistance L-N is, that will give a better clue as to what the rogue load is.
Expect 40-60 Ohms for a 60W filament lamp... a couple of hundred Ohms for a small transformer in a TV aerial amp etc.
Think plug in smellys are about 20KOhms.

Simon.