Which Circuit

[NoSparks]

Given a standard house with say 30 sockets on 4 circuits what would you say is the most efficient way of determining which socket is on which circuit (ie how do you go about it?). Would you use the same techinque in an office block with say 200 sockets on say 6 circuits?

 

[Sparky Ninja]

Is the question here...

How do I decide how many circuits to install?

Or

How do I install the circuits to allow for simple point designation recognition?

 

[mogga]

IMO all new commercial should have circuits marked on points ( not seen it much in practice tho) You could use a fusefinder although practice using these adds to a more acurate find

 

[cornburn]

Given a standard house with say 30 sockets on 4 circuits what would you say is the most efficient way of determining which socket is on which circuit (ie how do you go about it?). Would you use the same techinque in an office block with say 200 sockets on say 6 circuits?

Turn a circuit off, use plug in socket tester to see which sockets are dead, turn circuit back on, check they're now live, repeat with next breaker. Hopefully it should be fairly obvious where they've "zoned" the different circuits.

 

[NoSparks]

Widdler - No the question is as written.

Mogga - Few offices would be classed as new. I'm interested in your fuse finder, what is it, how does it work, and do you have a manufacturer's name.?

Cornburn - yes I was hoping for somthing more efficient. In a house with 30 sockets and assuming say 40 sec for each socket and moving to the next, thats 20 minutes per MCB, so 1 hr and 20 mins just to establish which sockets on which circuit. It is the way I do it but am trying to find faster ways of completing a PIR. In an office of four floors and about 50 sockets per floor it took me about 5hs just to test each socket once, let alone determin which circuit it was on.

 

[dfitzplugs]

Test Equipment - multimeters, oscilloscopes, function generators, thermometers & electrical testers

There you go

 

[Sparky Ninja]

Widdler - No the question is as written..

There are 1001 ways of asking that question more clearly.

Fusefinders are inaccurate, but necessary if you are working solo.

 

[chris gray]

surely youd prove circuit theyre on when doing Zs ?

 

[NoSparks]

Chris, Yes but what is your approach? do you switch off all circuits except one and test all sockets to find which are connected and which aren't? (you can do Zs checking of those that are live which I assume is what you meant) or do you have all circuits connected and one disconnected? Both approaches seem to require re-visiting sockets to re-check them. I can't yet see a method that does not require visiting a socket more than once which is what I am aiming at.

(I'm working on a house with 28 circuits at the moment all but two are sockets, a mixture of radials and rings and no markings!)

http://www.electriciansforums.net/../members/dfitzplugs.htmlDfitzplugs, Thanks I am following that up.

Widdler, Yes the problem is when working solo. When my grandson helps we can just switch the circuits on and off until the relevent circuit is found.

 

[JUD]

I can't yet see a method that does not require visiting a socket more than once which is what I am aiming at.

Do you think this is actually possible to do without visiting each socket twice?

Surely you have to prove that all the sockets are working before you start trying to determine which circuits they are on.

I think cornburn's idea is the way to go. Either that or try a voltage detector pen thingy