TonyM58

now theres a thought.....what would be the point in taking Zs measurements in domestic premises when the 17th edition kicks in. Everything will be on RCDs (pretty much most of the time)

So as long as the Ze is less than the magic 1,666 ohms (which it almost certainly will be) what would be the point (or relevance) of the Zs measurement?


Discuss please!

Cirrus

he he good point Tony - hadn't thought of that

Minky

Supposing Disconnection times still have to be met then Zs measurements are the very least you can do before even considering testing the RCD.Lets face it without a path to earth,what good is an RCD!!.Having had no chance of reviewing 17th edition,i would assume that 0.4secs would still apply to socket outlets supplying portable appliances,and that no other factors require to be taken into consideration.Earth loop is also a fundemental test to establish the condition of all installation wiring.When looking at a commercial or industrial installation Zs is of greater significance as loading factors/fluctuating impedance/noisey paths to earth and ambient temperature all greatly alter a good reading on one day and a bad one the next.After thats all said and done,although it isnt the hardest test to do,it certainly can be one of the more awkward.

TonyM58

Minky, thanks for the reply

Of course disconnection times still have to met, but because all circuits are going to be on 30ma rcd anyway, the only disconnection times that matter will be 200ms at IdeltaN and 40Ms at 5IdeltaN. The RCD is always gonna go before the MCB.

The Ze would still be measured/established, and R1/R2 would still be measured. The RCD tests would confirm a path back to earth of less than 1,666 ohms - so even if the Zs reading was taken, it would be completely irrelevant, because the MCB would NEVER trip under a fault to earth condtion. Even a Type B requires 3 to 5 times In before it blows, and the RCD would be gone long before that happened.

of course it will be relevant for commercial/industrial but that's why i mentioned domestic in my question! Even commercial/industrial most 13a sockets (and 16A BS4343) will be on an RCD anyway, so the same will apply

good to dicuss it though!

Oh, and another thought, because the circuits will on RCD's then the Zs measurements would have to be done on the 'low current no trip loop' setting on modern meters, so its not as if we would even be able to 'stress' the circuit by pulling 23A as with the normal Zs tests. In fact the 5IdeltaN RCD test will be the highest fault current applied to the circuits, and then only 150mA!!

Girlyspark

Another spark I know recently had his annual assessment with the NIC. They found a socket in a house where the Zs was too high and failed him because of this - even though there was an RCD in place as well protecting the circuit.

TonyM58

Girlyspark,

really intrigued and interested by that one!

been scratching the old grey matter to think WHY the NIC inspector would have failed him/her.

All I can think of is:-

The NIC inspector took a Zs reading that was SIGNIFICANTLY different to that which the sparks entered onto the certs, ( suggesting the reading was falsified or not taken correctly)

OR


The socket was on a VERY long spur (such as taken to an outside building) and the Ib was such that the circuit would fail on V drop - i.e. should have used 4mm instead of 2.5 (Table 7.1 in the OSGis always a good 'quick' design guide!)

OR

It was a TT system, the socket was upstairs (ie not reasonably expected to feed equipment outdoors) and the NIC inspector was invoking the 'should be on min 100mA trip) reg.

OR the sparks had lots of 'iffy' areas on the inspection and any combination of the above 'finalised' the failure!

Just interested, that's all! Be good to find out more, such as did the sparks install one socket as a spur? Was a complete ring/radial installed and only one socket failed?

good to talk!

regards

tony

Girlyspark

Hi Tony!

The socket was 0.5 over the max in the Regs - not sure how much higher it was than the one he put down on his certificate. The work he had done was change of board at the property only, and in reality he probably didn't measure at every single socket and missed a high reading on this one - probably just a loose terminal!

It wouldn't have been a long spur and it wasn't a TT system.

The inspection at that property was fine otherwise, but the spark failed at the inspection at another property also (no main bond in place - he had written a warning letter saying it was dangerous but shouldn't have changed the board unless customer agreed to having bond put in too!). However, the inspector did say that the revisit would need to go to not only the place with the bond, but also the place where the Zs reading was high at one socket.

Watcha reckon then? Do you think insisting on revisiting the socket with the high Zs was reasonable (it was RCD protected).

And a query for you in light of this discussion - if you find a property where Zs is too high, is it sufficient to ensure RCD protection on the circuit, thus ensuring disconnection time, or do you need to make further attempts to lower the Zs (improvement on Ze by adding earth stake even if not a TT system, upgrading size of conductors etc?).

Minky

Girlyspark:-
Sounds to me the spark was asking to be failed!.
Regarding your query of high Zs for individual circuits,an attempt can be made to :-

1. Connect a 4mm earth or 2.5 mm earth if mechanically protected to other paths of earth e.g. water pipes,or structural steelwork,if applicable.Before doing so continuity to earth must be checked.
2. Assuming circuit conductors can be increased,i.e pulling new through conduit.
3. Further enquiry of protective device,different values for B curve than C curve,D curve.

I would not attempt to add an earth rod as previously mentioned for obvious reasons,best discussed in another topic forum.

TonyM58

Girlyspark,

I agree with Minky, an earth spike isnt the answer.

Bottom line is it must be established WHY the Zs is too high

We all know Zs = Ze + (R1 + R2) so, either Ze is too high, and if its a TNS or TNCS and outside 0.8 or 0.35 ohms then i would address this with the DNO. If the Ze is ok, then logically R1+R2 is too high (assuming all connections are good etc). This is quite simply down to cable length being to long, or cable CSA being too small.

But back to my original discussion. The answer to a circuit which has a Zs which fails to meet the disconnection time is supplementary protect with an RCD. Under the 17th virtually all domestic circuits will be on RCCB / RCBO, so what difference will the Zs reading make!!

Girlyspark

Hee hee - nicely brought round back to the start!

To your original question - I read the other day that RCDs have a 7% failure rate. So I suppose even if RCD protected, if the Zs indicates that disconnection time will still be met if the RCD fails, then it is reassuring.

Belt and braces!