Electrical Testing

Ele ctrical installation te sting should only be carrie d out by qualifie d profe ssional e le ctricians, with the re le vant e quipm e nt - the following te sts cannot othe rwise be carrie d out. The te st proce dure s outline d in this page are base d on a ne w dom e stic dwe lling with all e le ctrical e quipm e nt in place .

The te st proce dure s are ge ne rally split up into two bands, 'De ad te sting' and 'Live te sting'. De ad te sting is, as it sounds, pe rform e d on the circuits whe n the y are de -e ne rgize d, and form the initial te sting of the circuits. The se te sts will outline the insulation re sistance of the ne w circuits, and the continuity of the ring circuits. IMPO R TANT: O N EXISTING INSTALLATIO NS, ENSUR E ALL EQ UIPMENT IS UNPLUGGED FR O M THE C IR C UITS, the se te sts produce high voltage s and will dam age som e e quipm e nt. Any apparatus plugge d into a circuit that is be ing te ste d will also cause poor re adings. Tip: e nsure all ne on's are re m ove d or isolate d be fore com m e ncing te sting, as the se will m ak e te st re sults appe ar low during insulation re sistance te sting. Live te sting is the n pe rform e d on the circuits once the re sults of the de ad te sts have be e n re corde d as satisfactory, and once the installation has be e n put back toge the r following the de ad te sting.

The table be low indicate s the orde r that te sts should be carrie d out.

Test order (Dead test)

Type of test Ring Circuit loop

Reading Measured in
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(Dead test) 1 (Dead test) 2 (Dead test) 3 (Live test) 4 (Live test) 5 (Live test) 6 (Live test) 7

Ring Circuit loop Impedance Circuit loop Impedance Insulation Resistance Polarity Earth Loop Impedance Prospective Short Circuit Current (PSC) RCD testing (if applicable)

Ohms using 'mega' (set on ohm) Ohms using 'mega' (set on ohm) Meg Ohms using 'mega' (set on 500v) Martindale or Earth loop impedance meter Earth loop impedance tester PSC Tester (may be included in Earth loop tester) RCD tester

1. Ring Circuit Loop Test

(dead test)

R e ason for the te st: R ing C ircuit loop te sting e nsure s that any ring circuits wire d in the installation are actually a ring circuit and not form ing a radial, or 'figure of e ight loops'. R e sults re corde d as R 1, R n, R 2. (one re sult for e ach core of a 3 core cable in a ring circuit) 1. First ope n the e nds of the ring circuit at the consum e r unit, (for all conductors).

2. C onne ct the live of one e nd of the ring to the ne utral of the othe r e nd of the ring and te st be twe e n the live and ne utral re m aining. This te sts the cable s in the ring in a double loop form at, to e nsure the conductors form a ring without figure of e ights. Pe rform this te st using a m e ga in Me g O hm s.

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3. O n com ple tion of this te st, re m ove the link and proce e d to te st live to live , ne utral to ne utral, e arth to e arth. R e cord the se re sults in O hm s.

2. Circuit Loop Test (dead test)

R e ason for the te st: C ircuit loop te sting e nsure s that any circuit wire d in the installation are actually containing cable s that conduct one e nd of the cable to the othe r, without a huge re sistance in its path. R e sult re corde d as R 1+ R 2 1. First ope n the e nds of the circuit at the consum e r unit, (for all conductors).

2. (To re cord R 1+R 2) C onne ct the live e nd of the cable to the te ste r, the n conne ct the ne utral to the te ste r. Ensure that at the e nd of the circuit (ie , at the furthe st sock e t) that you short out the live and ne utral conductors. Pe rform this te st using a 'm e ga' in O hm s. This re sult is R 1+R 2. 2a. (To re cord R 2) To provide an accurate R 2 re sult, inste ad of conne cting the ne utral conductor to the te ste r, conne ct the te ste r to a long pie ce of cable with a k nown re sistance , the n conne ct the othe r e nd of this cable to the live of the furthe st sock e t in this circuit. The re ading you achie ve m ust the n have the re sistance of the 'k nown re sistance cable ' de ducte d.

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For e x am ple re sult = 4ohm s, Known cable re sistance is 1.2 ohm s, the re fore 4ohm s 1.2 ohm s = 2.8ohm s (the actual re sult of R 2)

3. Insulation Resistance Test (dead test)

W AR NING : ENSUR E NO APPAR ATUS IS C O NNEC TED TO THE C IR C UIT TO BE TESTED!!

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R e ason for the te st: To e nsure the insulation of the cable has not be e n dam age d, and has no faults pre se nt. R e sults re corde d in Me g O hm s C onne ct the te st probe s to the live and ne utral of the cable that re quire s te sting, the n te st!! R e pe at the proce dure be twe e n the live and e arth, and the ne utral and e arth. Note s: Ne on's will cause false re adings, as will e m e rge ncy or discharge lighting, so e nsure the se are all disconne cte d prior to com m e ncing te sts.

4. Polarity Testing

(live test)

R e ason for this te st: to e nsure apparatus conne cte d to the circuit is conne cte d corre ctly, and doe s not be com e dam age d. R e sults shown by indicators on te ste r. Plug in te ste r, and e nsure the polarity is corre ct according to the charts on the te st instrum e nt. (Varie s from te ste r to te ste r)

5. Earth Loop Impedance Test

(live test)

R e ason for te st: To e nsure the re sistance of the e arth cable is not so high as to pre ve nt it from work ing corre ctly in the e ve nt of a fault. Ple ase note the chart be low, which is inte nde d as a guide for the Max im um Earth Loop Im pe dance pe rm itte d by the curre nt re gulations. To pe rform the te st plug in the instrum e nt, se t the range to the lowe st se tting first and pre ss te st, the n re cord the re sult (if ove r range turn the te ste rs range up to the ne x t se tting and re pe at the te st) .

MCB Rating 6
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Type Type Type 1 B 2 MCB MCB MCB 8.0 4.56 6.4

Type Type D C&3 MCB MCB 3.2 1.6

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10 16 20 32 40 63

4.8 3.0 2.9 1.5 1.2 0.76

2.74 1.7 1.36 0.85 0.68 0.43

3.84 2.4 1.92 1.2 0.96 0.6

1.92 1.2 0.96 0.6 0.48 0.3

0.96 0.6 0.48 0.3 0.24 0.15

BR EAKER S DIFFER ING FR O M THO SE SHO W N- ie .5 & 30am p (C rabtre e C 50) AR E NO T THE SAME R EADINGS AS INDIC ATED. Allows for both 0.4 & 5.0 se cond disconne ction tim e s. Base d on 230volt syste m . These values are Zs values found in tables 41B1, 41B2 & 41D of the regs.

6. Prospective Short Circuit Test

(live test)

R e ason for the te st: To e nsure that in the e ve nt of a short circuit, the cable te ste d can carry e nough fault curre nt, to trip the MC B or blow a fuse , as quick ly as possible (and within the state d re gulation guide line tim e s of 0.4 se conds for sock e t outle ts (portable e quipm e nt) and 5 se conds for fix e d e quipm e nt). Plug in the te st e quipm e nt and pre ss te st, the highe r the re sult the be tte r. R e sult should be re corde d in hunde rds of am ps.

7. Residual Current Device Test

(live test)

R e ason for the te st: To e nsure that the R C Ds installe d will trip fast e nough in the e ve nt of a fault, to pre ve nt e le ctrocution. Plug in te st e quipm e nt (se t at the rating of the R C D), and se t the te st at 0.5 of the R C D's rate d tripping curre nt - the R C D m ust not trip out.

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R e pe at the te st at the rate d tripping curre nt of the R C D, the de vice should trip out in around 0.3 of a se cond. R e pe at the te st again, se tting the te st at 5 tim e s the rating of the R C D, the R C D m ust trip faste r than the last re sult (e ve n though only slightly). For full de tails on tripping tim e s, re fe r to the 16th Edition of the IEE wiring re gulations.

Hope fully the se note s will form part of a use ful re fe re nce , if you have any com m e nts or sugge stions on this page , ple ase e -m ail us he re Dire ct!!

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