lighting

[The apprentice]

Hi there i went to a job guys kitchen light was not working no voltage at switch what so ever the circuit breaker was on the unprotected side of the distribution board i accidentally touched the com wire to the earth and a big spark happened and tripped the breaker never had that before in my life any ideas ?

 

[ChrisElectrical88]

What does it matter if the lighting circuit had no RCD protection. I bet 90% of houses wired pre 2008 have no RCD protectionto domestic lighting circuits. Doesn’t make the person who wired it a cowboy.

 

[Vortigern]

So @The apprentice you got an intermittent reading of 168v between L and the conduit. What do you make of that? What do you think has occurred? First if the conduit/wiring has been installed properly there will be a fly lead from each connector box to earth. Normally if you test between L-E would you expect there to be a voltage reading, and if so what voltage would you expect? I am guessing that the system is T-N-CS?

 

[The apprentice]

ok understand i got some stuff wrong thankyou for the help i really do appreciate it
[automerge]1590409047[/automerge]

What does it matter if the lighting circuit had no RCD protection. I bet 90% of houses wired pre 2008 have no RCD protectionto domestic lighting circuits. Doesn’t make the person who wired it a cowboy.

when it’s a split rcd board? indicates it’s bn left like that for a reason

 

[FatAlan]

the circuit breaker was on unprotected side of rcd some cow boy was in before me i really do appreciate all the comments just not opening a can of worms and would rather find the joint box and just re wire the kitchen light

What’s wrong with the MCB for the lighting circuit being non RCD protected? Maybe if a recent installation and contrary to current regs but most older installations won’t have RCD protection ...certainly for lights.

 

[ipf]

when it’s a split rcd board? indicates it’s bn left like that for a reason

Only if the regulations required it to be when it was installed.
Lighting and many other circuits were accepted as non rcd protected. Hence the split boards. When was the circuit installed?

 

[FatAlan]

Has the fault been fixed and are you going back? It’s very easy to jump in quick and make assumptions, been there and done it. Stick to the basics, SAFE ISOLATION, it’s drummed into you for a reason. Good luck

 

[telectrix]

had a similar near miss the other week. working on a lighting circuit, i asked the client (who was a mate) to switch off the lighting MCB, which he went downstairs to do. started on the job and got a tingle off a conductor.
"did you switch it off?"

"yes i turned off the RCD"

split board. RCD on sockets alone.

my fault, should have checked.

 

[Pete999]

had a similar near miss the other week. working on a lighting circuit, i asked the client (who was a mate) to switch off the lighting MCB, which he went downstairs to do. started on the job and got a tingle off a conductor.
"did you switch it off?"

"yes i turned off the RCD"

split board. RCD on sockets alone.

my fault, should have checked.

Donut, , , ,

 

[pc1966]

Almost a fried doughnut!

 

[ipf]

Almost a fried doughnut!

Certainly a jammy one!

 

[Pete999]

Certainly a jammy one!

Certainly a jammy one!

Or a ring one depending on your thoughts