what causes earth leakage?

[ExArmy]

testing a house today before I put RCD protection on it and i got 300mA earth leakage. appox 100mA from the sockets, 180mA on the downstairs lighting circuit, then 20 odd mA accross the rest of the circuits.

I had a poke around the downstairs lighting circuit, couldn't see anything obvious, did R2 tests at all points (OK), did IR test and it was in the region of 650MΩ L-N, L-E and N-E.

as for the sockets, 2 chest freezers that are older then me are the cause of 50mA between them, rest is unnacounted for?

what causes this?

 

[telectrix]

all meters will go that high if you've got a tall pair of steps.

 

[kung]

i think the answer lies in a piece of toast. have you noticed, every time you drop a piece of toast, it always lands butter side down.

If i drop toast it dont even reach the ground before the dog has it !

 

[kung]

And how many meters go that high? I suspected it was 650Ohms not MegOhms.

mine goes to 897 MegOhms but it is 3 Meggers tied together with an elastic band and the probes glued together to split the load !

 

[topquark]

mine goes to 897 MegOhms but it is 3 Meggers tied together with an elastic band and the probes glued together to split the load !

Nurse, don't let that man ever do any design work!

 

[kung]

Yer got the idea patiented

 

[telectrix]

mine goes to 897 MegOhms but it is 3 Meggers tied together with an elastic band and the probes glued together to split the load !

i hope you used super conductive araldite

 

[telectrix]

Nurse, don't let that man ever do any design work!

now then. kung has just come up with a design idea for simultaneous IR testing of 3 phase installations, he's just got to get the probes at the right angle. 120deg. apart.

 

[kung]

Was thinking a 12inch wood screw ! or one of the mrs ear rings ! saves bending !

 

[topquark]

now then. kung has just come up with a design idea for simultaneous IR testing of 3 phase installations, he's just got to get the probes at the right angle. 120deg. apart.

Looks just like a flux capacitor

 

[kung]

Complete with the Don King hair !

 

[telectrix]

who's don king? has he got a brother, Wan?

 

[kung]

He was that Mike Tysons promoter with the steel wool hair ! ear come to think of it his hair was at 120deg mabe thats the answer to the probe spacing design problem ! just employ him as an apprentice and glue the probes to his hair and wala ! he can hold the Meggers and just walk foward for the 3ph test !

 

[telectrix]

i remember him. thought it was christopher lloyd in back to the furniture

 

[kung]

 

[telectrix]

if you look at the plan view of the starship enterprise, you can see that the whole ship is a giant flux capacitor. no wonder the romulans never caught up with them.