ir tests?

[ukpablo]

hi,

im getting assessed on fri, have done first cu change, all works ok, all results are good, but i have a few queries if anybody can help?

the house only has one ring for house. all r1+r2 results are good, however with the ir test, im a lil up against the wall.

on the ring is underfloor heating tapped with no fcu.

outside lights with pir is also tapped but with fcu.

fridge is intergrated with fcu but cannot reach 20 a plate without removing fridge.

lights for kitchen units tapped from ring into fcu, then into transformer(selv).

Do i have to remove all loads to do 500 v IR?

Or can i just join L/N together against earth? And at what voltage?


Same for light cct, only one for whole house.

Strip light in garage.

Selv shaver point in bathroom.

Ext fan in attic in bathroom

Striplight in attic.

3 x dimmers for lights in various rooms

selv lighting in bedroom fixed to wardrobes

Again, do i do it by the book, remove all fittings, remove all bulbs, bypass dimmers, get in attic, disconnect fan, disconnect shaver skt?

Also what voltage to test??

Any advice would be appreciated as if i were to do it like that it would take forever, and make a mess of ceiling in kitchen, bathroom etc?

 

[Jay Sparks]

The regs say you can connect L/N together and test to earth. You would have to make a note of this on your test sheet about equipment that is vulnerable to test i.e dimmers etc and that you cant discconect the fridge as its intergrated. You would still do it at 500v dc. The selv ones you need to test at 250v dc, not sure if you can get around this test, would like to see what other people say on it. Your under floor heating should really be on an fcu because if owt gos wrong, how do they isolate it? It should have some way of turning it on/off, so if you turn it off you can test upto that point. I dont think the under floor heating is part of thr fixed wireing but then Ive not had much to do with it.

Hope this helps abit.

 

[trebor]

hi,

im getting assessed on fri, have done first cu change, all works ok, all results are good, but i have a few queries if anybody can help?

the house only has one ring for house. all r1+r2 results are good, however with the ir test, im a lil up against the wall.

on the ring is underfloor heating tapped with no fcu.

outside lights with pir is also tapped but with fcu.

fridge is intergrated with fcu but cannot reach 20 a plate without removing fridge.

lights for kitchen units tapped from ring into fcu, then into transformer(selv).

Do i have to remove all loads to do 500 v IR?

Or can i just join L/N together against earth? And at what voltage?


Same for light cct, only one for whole house.

Strip light in garage.

Selv shaver point in bathroom.

Ext fan in attic in bathroom

Striplight in attic.

3 x dimmers for lights in various rooms

selv lighting in bedroom fixed to wardrobes

Again, do i do it by the book, remove all fittings, remove all bulbs, bypass dimmers, get in attic, disconnect fan, disconnect shaver skt?

Also what voltage to test??

Any advice would be appreciated as if i were to do it like that it would take forever, and make a mess of ceiling in kitchen, bathroom etc?

i/r correct as jaysparks says, the regs say if it is not practical or possible to remove all load or voltage sensitive devices then method 2 can be used which is line and neutral joined and test to earth, test voltage 500V dc, LIM will marked in the live/live box on the schedule of tests

 

[ukpablo]

thats great, however does removing the load mean switching off at spur ok or removing cables from transformers etc. also removing underfloor heating from control unit? will this be damaged at 500v? i assume it will?!

also cooker cct, tested up to isolation switch with ir test, could not remove connections from back of oven as too heavy to move on my own. is this ok?

i know i am prob just panicking, but dont want to look an idiot on assesment!

also lighting cct, alot of selv associated, so just test at 250v?



these are the only tests outstanding and as its my house, can do anytime before fri.

thanks.

 

[sparkylad]

Hi ukpablo , if its your house then make sure you let the assesor know you were not responsible for all the dodgy installation work----must say though it doesnt reflect too well on you does it---Ah well good luck all the same-----by the way I would do R2 tests on the appliances you cant isolate or access for testing.

 

[ian]

Must admit, if I am filling in an EIC for a CU change, I would disconnect all loads and to the L-N test. (I would only join L-N together if doing a PIR then test the C.U)

You need to remember that you are not responsible for every outgoing circuit; you are only responsible for the CU change. But you cannot connect any circuit that are dangerous. So you need to look at that long list and decide whats dangerous.

 

[ukpablo]

all good comments, i will disconnect underfloor heating unit i think, isolate all fcu on all associated eqpt, and disconnect selv, unplug all sockets and test at 500 v with line and neutral connected together. add this on test cert.
All wiring looked good, all ccts have cpc and sleeved correctly.
same on lighting cct too. remove bulbs, disconnect selv and test at 500v in same way.

I will put LIM in line to line column on cert, add comments. As long as i can justify to assessor what my actions are, and quote the regs where it states u can do this, then i should be covered.

Any comments appreciated.

 

[AIM]

Is it an Initial Verification of a new installation? If so LIM is not a good idea. OK for PIR.

Is there any way you can overcome LIM issues for your assessment?

I'm only playing devils advocate with the assessor on this one!

 

[Sintra]

Agreed no limitations are permitted on an EIC.

 

[ukpablo]

it is a new cu change. the house only has 1 ring cct, 1 light cct.

As listed in original post, it may be difficult to remove all loads, selv etc, ie integrated fridge is on fcu, but cannot access 20a plate without removing fridge, underfloor heating control unit tapped from ring, no fcu, undercabinet lights tapped from ring on fcu.

should i just disconnect all? V time consuming! surely u would not do this on every job. Means climbing in loft, etc.

Basically, what would u do???.....looking for Suggestions!

Im not being lazy, just seems v long winded, but if that is what is required, then so be it???

 

[ukpablo]

Anybody!!!....lol

 

[Sintra]

I would test between L & N joined to E at 500V but when filling in results would have N/A in Line/Line column as its single phase.
N/T in Line/Neutral column as this has not been tested.
Results recorded in other 2 columns.
Fill in the extent of installation box with CU change only etc. and note that method 2 IR tests have been carried out and why.
Then fill in comments on existing installation.

 

[ukpablo]

thanks sintra

 

[ukpablo]

disconnected everything in the end, shot 500v through it and all ok. would not do this every day, as took me ages. Thanks for input folks, much appreciated, lets just hope assesment goes well tomorrow??

 

[m4tty]

Good luck mate