Under counter fridge earthing - Quick sanity check

[SparkyChick]

Morning all,

Did an EICR a couple of weeks ago and one of the things I commented on was the fact that the metal work of an undercounter fridge (the door hinge/skin mounting arrangements) did not have any continuity to the CPC of the circuit supplying it.

I can find no indication of it being a Class II appliance and this is backed up by the user manual I was able to find on-line which explicitly states the appliance should be earthed.

Today I'm doing the remedial work and obviously I'm going to need to investigate this lack of CPC continuity if it's 'a thing'

My sanity check question is am I correct in my assertion there should be continuity between the supply circuit CPC and the metal work that is accessible when the door is opened? I can find no reason in my head why that shouldn't be the case, but you guys may know otherwise.

Thanks

 

[westward10]

None if they were plugged in.

 

[SparkyChick]

Yes, it was with a wander lead from the ring final circuit (which I had already established had a perfectly acceptable CPC connection) and from the MET in the consumer unit.

Originally I was going to code it C2 as it has the potential for danger if there was a lack of earth continuity between the metal fittings and other exposed metal accessible to users. But there is absolutely no continuity between any of the exposed metalwork, nothing. When testing this with the wander lead I was concerned that the earth was missing completely and not being able to see the connections I was concerned.

However, since there is earth continuity to the chassis members which appear to provide strength to the appliance at the rear (I had to lie on the floor and reach under them to access with the kick boards removed), I'm happy the appliance is earthed as required by the manufacturer.

I did try continuity tests between the various exposed metal elements to try and establish whether it was just a poor connection on one or two, but as I say there is absolutely no continuity between them, not even to the skin of the appliance, so for me it's no code. All the controls are plastic, the only electrical component that is remotely accessible is the lamp in the fridge and that requires a tool to access it.

 

[bigspark17]

so if you weren't doing an isitee why were you checking earth continuity on a fridge plugged into a ring final? did you go around checking earth continuity on all portable appliance? did you price this per circuit, not questioning your very thourough technique atall btw

 

[SparkyChick]

Was going round anyway checking CPC continuity to metal fittings (which turned up a couple of issues like missing earth to a metal light fitting that simply had a bayonet cap which plugged into the existing pendant and a chocblock ceiling rose replacement in the lounge which robbed the metal switch plate of it's earth).

So when I hit the kitchen I checked the appliances where I couldn't access their final terminations. The hob, oven, boiler (checked that because it's connected using a plug and just wanted to make sure) and the under counter fridge and freezer.

 

[davesparks]

I don't think I've ever had a fridge with earth continuity to the hinges when I've Been doing portable appliance tests.

If you are really concerned then IR test the hinges to earth.

Remember that bonding metal parts which don't require it can make things more dangerous.

 

[Paul228]

Remember that bonding metal parts which don't require it can make things more dangerous.

I remember long protracted debates at collage about bonding.
Our lecturer believed bonding had the potential to create dangerous situations.

 

[davesparks]

I remember long protracted debates at collage about bonding.
Our lecturer believed bonding had the potential to create dangerous situations.

it does, it raises the potential of everything it is connected to under fault conditions to maintain as far as possible an equipotebtial zone. this is safer than allowing extraneous parts to sit at whatever potential, but isolated parts are safer if they remain isolated.