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HappyHippyDad

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Evening all...

I'm in two minds whether to post this but i've thought about it for a while and was hopeing someone could give me a very clear idea of how they would find the fault.

Lets say we have a ring. We test between N-E at the CU and find a poor IR reading, lets say 0Mohms, ie socket screw has gone through the neutral.

I break the ring somewhere in the house and then test both neutrals to see which side the fault is on.

I then break the ring between the CU and the already broken point (on the fault side) etc etc until I have found the fault.

This sounds very straight forward, but in practise it can be very difficult to know which sockets/FCU are actually on the faulty side once you have broken the ring as you have to completely guess at the layout of the ring.

The only way I could think of doing it would be to have a good idea of where all the sockets fed by the ring are in the first place, then break the ring, find the faulty side and then reconnect just the faulty side in the CU so that you know that any socket that is dead is not on the faulty side and can be discounted. Any socket that is live could be the culprit, and slowly break it down this way which will also give you a bit of a picture of the layout of the ring.

How do others do this?

Cheers..
 
Split the circuit. Energise the clear leg and go round with socket tester. All the "live" sockets can then be eliminated. Then split the fault leg and repeat.
 
Hi Steve, is this a real fault you have or just for arguments sake.?

Hi Dave..

Just for arguments sake.

I haven't had many faults to deal with and when I do, I have done as stated above, but I just wondered if thats how everyone does it. It looks like thats how Tel does it.
 
Yes split the circuit in half, as best as you can judge it, 0 meg ohm is going to be a dead short yes.? So not to hard to fault.
 
Split the circuit. Energise the clear leg and go round with socket tester. All the "live" sockets can then be eliminated. Then split the fault leg and repeat.

But if you energise the clear leg you can only do this for one break. All the dead sockets are culprits, but once you have split them again you cannot eliminate them as they will be 'dead' both sides of the second break.

So I thought it best to energise the faulty side, that way when I make the second break, I can still see live and dead sockets either side of the second break to eliminate further? But after that if the fault is not visible at the CU anymore then you cant do the 'live/dead' test to determine the layout any further, of course you could if the fault still shows at the CU.

With a small ring after a couple of breaks you may have found it, but larger rings would need more breaks!
 
But if you energise the clear leg you can only do this for one break. All the dead sockets are culprits, but once you have split them again you cannot eliminate them as they will be 'dead' both sides of the second break.

So I thought it best to energise the faulty side, that way when I make the second break, I can still see live and dead sockets either side of the second break to eliminate further? But after that if the fault is not visible at the CU anymore then you cant do the 'live/dead' test to determine the layout any further, of course you could if the fault still shows at the CU.

With a small ring after a couple of breaks you may have found it, but larger rings would need more breaks!

Easiest way is give Tel a couple of bottles of Gobhoblin and let him loose on the job with his tester & knife & fork. ;)
 
But if you energise the clear leg you can only do this for one break. All the dead sockets are culprits, but once you have split them again you cannot eliminate them as they will be 'dead' both sides of the second break.

So I thought it best to energise the faulty side, that way when I make the second break, I can still see live and dead sockets either side of the second break to eliminate further? But after that if the fault is not visible at the CU anymore then you cant do the 'live/dead' test to determine the layout any further, of course you could if the fault still shows at the CU.

With a small ring after a couple of breaks you may have found it, but larger rings would need more breaks!
the idea is you have aplit it down.

there are two ways to carry on from here.

1. move the break and power on

2. put tape on all good sockets and the connect socket backup and disconnect randomly one of the ones that was dead then deadtest.

depending on reading changes what happens next

keep splitting it down till you find it
 
As well as learning how to do this in a calm fashion, you need to be able to handle a difficult customer, looking over your shoulder and distracting you at the same time muttering about the escalating costs!
 
As well as learning how to do this in a calm fashion, you need to be able to handle a difficult customer, looking over your shoulder and distracting you at the same time muttering about the escalating costs!

This is where the Ball Gag, Gimp Mask, Hand Cuffs and Strait-Jacket all come into play .... and then if all else fails there's always the Chloroform.
 
One way I have tried that works for me is, draw basic floor plan of house, mark all sockets on plan, disconnect one end of ring from CU, connect all cables at other end together, do continuity test at each and all sockets,(N-E, L-E, L-N) note readings on plan, the higher the reading the further away from the CU, so you now know the route of the ring and at some point you will get no continuity on hopefully only one cable. Faulty point found.
 
I dont want to have a go at established members but this type of fault can be found without livening up any part of the circuit. You just need a continuity tester and an IR tester.

Do a long lead or R1+R2 test from one leg of the CU to all outlets to establish order of sockets (spurs can put you out a bit)
Split the ring at roughly half way and IR each side (both legs in CU disconnected and seperated). Then long lead or R1+R2 continuity from good side to all outlets. Those with continuity are on the good side, those without are on the bad IR side.
Split again and again until fault is found or faulty leg is found.
 
I am just itching for a fault to come my way now!! It's not going to stand a chance! :grin:
 
Easiest way is give Tel a couple of bottles of Gobhoblin and let him loose on the job with his tester & knife & fork. ;)

selling me short again geordie. 2 bottles for a radial, fairy snuff, but it requires 4 bottles for a RFC or 2 way lighting. 3 phase then it's time to splice the mainbrace with a few JDs.
 
A board I just changed today in that house that got turned into a cannabis factory, everything was good apart from a N-E fault on the ring, had to split it, I just removed a couple of sockets, managed to find the leg, just split it into two radials and have got to go back to resolve, but managed to get it all running again.
 
This is where the Ball Gag, Gimp Mask, Hand Cuffs and Strait-Jacket all come into play .... and then if all else fails there's always the Chloroform.

geordie. this is the wrong forum to post your sexual practices.
 

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