Megger 1553 error, what's the problem?

[VoltzElectrical]

Testing a lighting circuit today in a house. R1 R2 fluctuating readings, so tighten up earths in ceiling rose terminal and get a steady 0.36 ohms.

Power up and on no trip setting (RCBO) the meter gets half way through the test then bleeps and says ERR.

I'm at a loss now, any ideas people?

Thanks in advance.

Oh, and I checked the manual but no clue there. And if there was no earth, the test wouldn't even have started.

One, thing, the lamps were left in, but would that make a difference?

 

[skydog23]

lean something new everyday, thanks for that
I just rather the adding the R1+R2 to the Ze. Ive never been a fan of trip lock type of functions personally. Cold/dead testing circuits individually first can elevate errors if some of the circuits are energised.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

lean something new everyday, thanks for that
I just rather the adding the R1+R2 to the Ze. Ive never been a fan of trip lock type of functions personally. Cold/dead testing circuits individually first can elevate errors if some of the circuits are energised.

dont understand what you are getting at here.
i think you need to go look at the sequence of tests before posting anything else...

 

[skydog23]

The op is powering up the circuit and testing with the trip function.
He's done his R1,R2.
And he's testing with trip lock now, and getting err,
This is a live test,
I'm not sure if all circuits are on or just the lighting.
People connect all sorts of things to all sorts of circuits, before we get involved with trying to sort out issues. Once live they can play havoc to other circuits. Why would a lighting circuit be any different ?
There's not enough information here for me to give a true diagnosis, just throwing some ideas into post.
I'm not wanting this post end up straying from the original problem into a bicker between two other members,
Just contribute some knowledge instead of picking people up on protocol.
Would you pick members up on spelling if the post were educational ?

 

[VoltzElectrical]

I'm thinking it's noise on the circuit somewhere, all other circuits on, smoke detectors and lamps on the circuit being tested.

Think I will google it or call megger next.

Thanks guys.

 

[Jdsparky]

It is 'noise' on the circuit as I had it a while back a couple of times, once on a lighting circuit with a dimmer on it and once on a boiler circuit, I think I linked through the dimmer and it gave me a reading then, the boiler I was going back next day anyway so tried again and it gave me a reading that time although I had already written down calculation value anyway.

 

[tony mc]

IMO if it were noise on the system then the noise icon would be displayed on the screen.

If the message is only err I would be inclined to think it was a connection issue which the instrument is detecting I often have problems on lighting ccts when performing the No trip function it takes a long time and the slightest movement on the probe can cause problems IMO.

Sometimes I get the err message sometimes a trip message but the MCB & RCD have not tripped!

The info re the dimmer switches is good as again they can cause havoc with the No trip mode on EFLI testing!

I would link out the line & CPC at the end of the cct and at the CU do a HI loop 2 lead test.

Lets us know the outcome!

 

[MeggerTSG]

Testing a lighting circuit today in a house. R1 R2 fluctuating readings, so tighten up earths in ceiling rose terminal and get a steady 0.36 ohms.

Power up and on no trip setting (RCBO) the meter gets half way through the test then bleeps and says ERR.

I'm at a loss now, any ideas people?

Thanks in advance.

Oh, and I checked the manual but no clue there. And if there was no earth, the test wouldn't even have started.

One, thing, the lamps were left in, but would that make a difference?

Hi VoltzElectrical
Sometime during the no trip loop test the MFT1553 may come up with an error that seems to indicate ERP or ErR. Generally the error is trP which indicates either a momentary disconnection of the earth testlead or an intermittent cpc during the no trip test. The tester simply ‘thinks’ it has tripped the power.
Occasionally when connecting the cpc conductors in a terminal the screw can grip only one of the conductor properly resulting in a poor earth connection that happily passes the R1 +R2 test due to the 200mA continuity test current. The no trip test is only 15mA
Kind Regards
Megger Technical Support.