some help explaining earth fault for fault finding project

[p11jor]

this is what i have down at the moment.......is there anything that you guys would add?

An earth fault is the most common fault in electrical circuits. An earth fault may consist of a circuit breaker tripping, a fuse blowing, or an RCD (neutral to earth) instantly or it may not re-engage.
The fix for this would be to do the half test method which is explained at the end of the index. The instrument I would use is an IR tester to find the fault or if there are any conductors touching. I could also utilise the switch wire on the lighting circuits for an earth fault.


cheers for any input

 

[malcolmsanford]

this is what i have down at the moment.......is there anything that you guys would add?

An earth fault is the most common fault in electrical circuits. An earth fault may consist of a circuit breaker tripping, a fuse blowing, or an RCD (neutral to earth) instantly or it may not re-engage. They are not faults but protection devices to clear the faults
The fix for this would be to do the half test method A what test????

which is explained at the end of the index. The instrument I would use is an IR tester to find the fault or if there are any conductors touching. Yes OK

I could also utilise the switch wire on the lighting circuits for an earth fault.That as lost me i'm afraid


cheers for any input

See above

 

[Engineer54]

Malcolm, you have the patience and calmness of a saint.... lol!!!

 

[p11jor]

See above

sorry, half test method : split the circuit and IR .....

ah yer your right on the fault protection, thankyou.

I could also utilise the switch wire on the lighting circuits for an earth fault.That as lost me i'm afraid....

me too........lecturer just had us put this in our notes.......

thanks for taking time to respond

 

[Richard Burns]

this is what i have down at the moment.......is there anything that you guys would add?

An earth fault is the most common fault in electrical circuits. An earth fault may consist of a circuit breaker tripping, a fuse blowing, or an RCD (neutral to earth) instantly or it may not re-engage.
The fix for this would be to do the half test method which is explained at the end of the index. The instrument I would use is an IR tester to find the fault or if there are any conductors touching. I could also utilise the switch wire on the lighting circuits for an earth fault.


cheers for any input

Consider what an earth fault is i.e. a fault to earth.
This is the fault you need to describe.
If conductors are touching then the resistance of the fault may be low enough to use continuity testing. Assuming the fault did not blow out.
Do not put down things that you do not understand to explain, better to use known information.
More information is better than cryptic short statements the, split the circuit and IR test between (which conductors?) to narrow down the fault, is better than "do half test method"

 

[telectrix]

perhaps he means that a earth fault could be on the switch wire, so you would have to operate the switch/es when testing so as to include the switch wire/s in the test.

 

[Darkwood]

this is what i have down at the moment.......is there anything that you guys would add?

An earth fault is the most common fault in electrical circuits. An earth fault may consist of a circuit breaker tripping, a fuse blowing, or an RCD (neutral to earth) instantly or it may not re-engage.
The fix for this would be to do the half test method which is explained at the end of the index. The instrument I would use is an IR tester to find the fault or if there are any conductors touching. I could also utilise the switch wire on the lighting circuits for an earth fault.


cheers for any input

It seems your understanding is a little misguided regarding earth faults, you seem to have a few basics in there but muddled up a bit giving a misleading paragraph.

Rcd's detect earth leakage commonly rated at 30mA they detect both leakage to earth from live or neutral.
I too havent got a clue what the half test method is you refer to unless you mean splitting a ring main in 2 to half the possibilities of where the fault is, im assuming this is been written for a project, homework etc so id stay away from abreviations like IR tester.... this could also mean other things (Insulation Resistance as you intend or Infra-Red as not intended) also it dosn't just test if conductors are touching it also tests for compromised insulation or Low insulation Readings which can give rise to leakage, lastly utilising the switch wire on lighting for an earth fault dosn't make sense to me, if you mean faults on switch wires can be easily detected by operating the switches while testing ; well it would be better written as ive have to give light (no pun intended) to what exactly you mean.

Hope this helps.... but no gold star for your attempt.

 

[p11jor]

could anyone be kind enough to write me a little sentence then please!!?

A earth fault is..................



thankyou

 

[Marvo]

Aw c'mon, you can't give up that easily.....surely?

 

[Darkwood]

Others may be kind enough but i wont be doing your homework for you.. its not what this site is about, the info you have been given above is plenty to pull what you require from, if you have other do your work you wont ever understand what its about and thats what the whole idea is.

 

[malcolmsanford]

A fault in an healthy circuit or appliance where a current flow from Live/Earth will occur at the point of fault

 

[ezzzekiel]

its called half lap method (splitting ring down for testing) dunno why.

an earth fault is a fault to earth wheres the confusion?

 

[GLENNSPARK]

It seems your understanding is a little misguided regarding earth faults, you seem to have a few basics in there but muddled up a bit giving a misleading paragraph.

Rcd's detect earth leakage commonly rated at 30mA they detect both leakage to earth from live or neutral.
I too havent got a clue what the half test method is you refer to unless you mean splitting a ring main in 2 to half the possibilities of where the fault is, im assuming this is been written for a project, homework etc so id stay away from abreviations like IR tester.... this could also mean other things (Insulation Resistance as you intend or Infra-Red as not intended) also it dosn't just test if conductors are touching it also tests for compromised insulation or Low insulation Readings which can give rise to leakage, lastly utilising the switch wire on lighting for an earth fault dosn't make sense to me, if you mean faults on switch wires can be easily detected by operating the switches while testing ; well it would be better written as ive have to give light (no pun intended) to what exactly you mean.

Hope this helps.... but no gold star for your attempt.

possibly both live conductors ..to earth....a "limited test"...to be agreed with the person ordering the test beforehand....and noted as such......

 

[Darkwood]

possibly both live conductors ..to earth....a "limited test"...to be agreed with the person ordering the test beforehand....and noted as such......

Sorry Glennspark; What are you pointing out here and with what in my post are you refering to, mine was written for someone who obviously is having trouble understanding the basics so kept it easy and simple.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Sorry Glennspark; What are you pointing out here and with what in my post are you refering to, mine was written for someone who obviously is having trouble understanding the basics so kept it easy and simple.

no probs Dark mate...