How to isolate an earth leakage problem

[ians]

Step 1 : switch off the main switch, earth leakage unit and all the circuit breakers, unplug everything and switch off isolators (stoves, pool, geyser, etc)

Step 2 : switch on the earth leakage unit first then switch on the main switch, if the earth leakage trips chances are you have a neutral fault, you need to call an electrician. If the earth leakage unit stays up/on go to step 3

Step 3 : Switch on one circuit breaker at a time and wait a second or 2 as you switch them on, if the earth leakage trips as you switch on a circuit breaker, leave the circuit breaker down/off and move to the next circuit breaker, if the rest of the circuit breakers are reset without tripping the earth leakage unit then you have identified the circuit then you can start plugging appliance back in and switching on isolators, you will find some appliance don't work, you will need to get an electrician to trace the fault. If all the circuit breakers reset without tripping the earth leakage unit, then go to step 4

Step 4 : Start plugging in appliances and switch on isolators one at a time until the cable/ appliance trips the earth leakage, unplug the appliance which trips the earth leakage and leave it unplugged, you have identified the problem, you don't need to call an electrician, just replace the appliance, if you switch on the pool isolator and it trips the earth leakage you know it is the pool causing the problem.

Note!!!!
This is a very basic explanation of what might be causing the earth leakage unit trip and if in doubt call your local electrician.
Finding an "electrician" capable of tracing faults could be just as tricky as the fault itself

[Dave A]

How to reset a tripped earth leakage unit

We get many calls where "the earth leakage unit won't reset". In trying to talk a client through identifying the problem, we also cover this issue:

With some earth leakage units, resetting a tripped earth leakage unit is as simple as flicking up the switch.

However, with some earth leakage units, you must first flip the switch down completely before flipping the switch back up.

[Sparks]

Eish, you got no idea how many times I rode out to a site because they did not listen when I explained that over the phone

[Leecatt]

Eish, you got no idea how many times I rode out to a site because they did not listen when I explained that over the phone

Easy money...

[Leecatt]

Step 1 : switch off the main switch, earth leakage unit and all the circuit breakers, unplug everything and switch off isolators (stoves, pool, geyser, etc)

Step 2 : switch on the earth leakage unit first then switch on the main switch, if the earth leakage trips chances are you have a neutral fault, you need to call an electrician. If the earth leakage unit stays up/on go to step 3

Step 3 : Switch on one circuit breaker at a time and wait a second or 2 as you switch them on, if the earth leakage trips as you switch on a circuit breaker, leave the circuit breaker down/off and move to the next circuit breaker, if the rest of the circuit breakers are reset without tripping the earth leakage unit then you have identified the circuit then you can start plugging appliance back in and switching on isolators, you will find some appliance don't work, you will need to get an electrician to trace the fault. If all the circuit breakers reset without tripping the earth leakage unit, then go to step 4

Step 4 : Start plugging in appliances and switch on isolators one at a time until the cable/ appliance trips the earth leakage, unplug the appliance which trips the earth leakage and leave it unplugged, you have identified the problem, you don't need to call an electrician, just replace the appliance, if you switch on the pool isolator and it trips the earth leakage you know it is the pool causing the problem.

Note!!!!
This is a very basic explanation of what might be causing the earth leakage unit trip and if in doubt call your local electrician.
Finding an "electrician" capable of tracing faults could be just as tricky as the fault itself

Something I found helpful, as I work alone, is to turn on the TV loud when doing step 4. As you are plugging in the appliances you will hear the TV go of when you plug in the faulty appliance.

[Goobie]

A little bit off topic

Do lighting circuits need to be fed through the earth leakage breaker?

I noticed that all my lighting breakers were fed directly from the mains breaker, thus bypassing the earth leakage breaker. Out of interest I moved it from the mains to the earth leakage breaker to see what happens. There is now one of the lighting circuits that trip the earth leakage. I know which rooms the affected circuit supply power to, but how do I pinpoint the exact light, do I take the bulb out, or disconnect the wiring one room after another until the tripping stops?

Thank you

[Sparks]

If one of those fittings is an outside light, you can start by checking for water ingress. if there are no outside lights on that circuit or they are all watertight, the next most probable cause would be a fluorescent, you would need to disconnect both live and neutral wires from the fitting to eliminate it. After that you can disconnect any ceiling fans. If that does not solve the problem you need to systematically disconnect all the fittings one by one unless work has been done to the circuit in which case you can start there after checking the first three most probable causes.Lights are not required by law to be wired through the earth leakage unit unless there is a ceiling fan on the circuit. that is because all motors must have earth leakage protection as they are prone to earth faults. One drop of water is enough to trip an earth leakage unit.

[AndyD]

To be honest I'd say that when looking for an earth leakage fault there's no substitute for using test equipment. The elimination method can be inaccurate and misleading.

Example if you have a circuit with 2 appliances plugged in. Appliance 1 has 29mA of leakage, Appliance 2 has 3mA of leakage. If both appliances are plugged in together your 30mA eatrh leakage will trip. If either appliance is unplugged the earth leakage breaker should hold. Clearly one of the appliances is faulty but by unplugging things randomly you're not guaranteed to localise the fault.

It's worth remembering the earth on a circuit is dual purpose, it's functional as well as protective. Many electronic appliances use the earth to sink surge voltages using surge protectors. These surge protector networks are connected to the earth and the often have an acceptable amount of standing leakage. If you have ten or more PC's plugged in it's possible for the leakage current to exceed 30mA even when there isn't a fault.

[fundi]

To be honest I'd say that when looking for an earth leakage fault there's no substitute for using test equipment. The elimination method can be inaccurate and misleading.

Example if you have a circuit with 2 appliances plugged in. Appliance 1 has 29mA of leakage, Appliance 2 has 3mA of leakage. If both appliances are plugged in together your 30mA eatrh leakage will trip. If either appliance is unplugged the earth leakage breaker should hold. Clearly one of the appliances is faulty but by unplugging things randomly you're not guaranteed to localise the fault.

It's worth remembering the earth on a circuit is dual purpose, it's functional as well as protective. Many electronic appliances use the earth to sink surge voltages using surge protectors. These surge protector networks are connected to the earth and the often have an acceptable amount of standing leakage. If you have ten or more PC's plugged in it's possible for the leakage current to exceed 30mA even when there isn't a fault.

I have had an earth leakage problem for years, it trips for no apparent reason randomly, there is no fixed pattern.
At night with every one asleep, or in the daytime, winter or summer, makes no difference.
A month can pass without any tripping, then all of a sudden four or five times in one day.
I have found that fluorescent tubes seems a culprit, sometimes when I hit a light switch not full on (like not fast enough so that it makes an arching sound, hope u understand what I mean!) it will trip the EL. Another thing, I have an old house, like built in 1967. The DB board looks like a crow's nest, I doubt it will pass the test if I sell in future.
I have found that in recent years, during hot summer days, a greenish sticky substance is coming out of some of the light switches. I also added 400 W outside sodium tube flood lights and I think all my 10Amp light circuit breakers might be too small? All my plug circuit breakers are 30Amp
I also have next to my DB board, one of those devices (DECABIT) connected to the local municipality that I suspect regulates my usage during certain periods, I am not sure?
I have an electrician friend and he said it can be a nightmare isolating the problem. Any comments or suggestions?

[Leecatt]

I have had an earth leakage problem for years, it trips for no apparent reason randomly, there is no fixed pattern.
At night with every one asleep, or in the daytime, winter or summer, makes no difference.
A month can pass without any tripping, then all of a sudden four or five times in one day.
I have found that fluorescent tubes seems a culprit, sometimes when I hit a light switch not full on (like not fast enough so that it makes an arching sound, hope u understand what I mean!) it will trip the EL. Another thing, I have an old house, like built in 1967. The DB board looks like a crow's nest, I doubt it will pass the test if I sell in future.
I have found that in recent years, during hot summer days, a greenish sticky substance is coming out of some of the light switches. I also added 400 W outside sodium tube flood lights and I think all my 10Amp light circuit breakers might be too small? All my plug circuit breakers are 30Amp
I also have next to my DB board, one of those devices (DECABIT) connected to the local municipality that I suspect regulates my usage during certain periods, I am not sure?
I have an electrician friend and he said it can be a nightmare isolating the problem. Any comments or suggestions?

I am going to swallow my pride and answer this one.
I am a highly qualified electrician. However........
I had the exact same problem in my kitchen light switch for years, and I mean about 5 years, you know the story about the mechanics car?
Well this tripping problem had me stuffed, exactly the same symptoms; wouldn't trip for weeks then almost every time you used the switch, even changing the switch didn't work. It also tripped under different circumstances too.
Then I made a contact with a guy who was selling "industrial type" din rail mount earth leakages and i bought a batch.
They are CHINT, but the originals not the fakes.
So one day I removed the behemoth, 20Ma monster that was mounted upon my board and replaced it with one of these new 30ma types.
Voila! Problem gone!
The earth leakage trips at 27 Ma every time just like its supposed to and hasn't had one false trip in the last 3 years.
Just a thought?

[AndyD]

Don't worry about the Decabit device, it's a ripple relay that allows the supply authority to shed the load of your geyser during peak usage times. Decabit refers to the type of signal that's injected into the high voltage supply at source so it's definately a remotely operated loadshedding relay.

If you have a very old earth leakage unit or even a VOELCB then it's possible it's just nuisance tripping when there an arc. This however is fairly unlikely and the frst step is to do some insulation testing on the installation and the items that are plugged in or otherwise connected. There's little other option than to find yourself an experianced electrician who has the approprate test equipment.

[Sparks]

Fundi, you will save a lot of time and money besides the headache by following the guidelines set out from the beginning of this thread. We are qualified guys with years of experience who are trying to help. As Andy pointed out, an accumulation of faulty items can cause an excessive earth fault. Unplugging everything is a quick way to isolate a circuit with a fault. You will also note that the lighting circuits are not required to have earth leakage protection. If they are supplied through the ELCB you will need to isolate them by removing their neutral supplies one by one should the fault be on a lighting circuit. Switching the live supply off does not isolate the circuit. Your "sticky green substance" can definitely cause an earth fault big enough to trip the ELCB if it is supplied through it. Old ballasts are know to develop earth faults so they are always suspect. Any light switch, socket outlet switch or circuit breaker which does not "cleanly make and break contact" will fail compliance and needs to be replaced. You run the risk of electric shock until the day you replace those switches, the scary thing is, so does your family.

[fundi]

Fundi, you will save a lot of time and money besides the headache by following the guidelines set out from the beginning of this thread. We are qualified guys with years of experience who are trying to help. As Andy pointed out, an accumulation of faulty items can cause an excessive earth fault. Unplugging everything is a quick way to isolate a circuit with a fault. You will also note that the lighting circuits are not required to have earth leakage protection. If they are supplied through the ELCB you will need to isolate them by removing their neutral supplies one by one should the fault be on a lighting circuit. Switching the live supply off does not isolate the circuit. Your "sticky green substance" can definitely cause an earth fault big enough to trip the ELCB if it is supplied through it. Old ballasts are know to develop earth faults so they are always suspect. Any light switch, socket outlet switch or circuit breaker which does not "cleanly make and break contact" will fail compliance and needs to be replaced. You run the risk of electric shock until the day you replace those switches, the scary thing is, so does your family.

Sparks, I posted here exactly because I wanted folks like your help, otherwise I would have sought help elsewhere. So I would like to thank Leecat, AndyB and you for replying to my post. Much appreciated. I will start with the guidelines.

[Sparks]

Fundi, while the guidelines will assist you in saving time and possibly finding the fault, they are by no means all that needs to be done. Unless you are fortunate enough to find the fault using the guidelines, you will need an insulation tester/megohm meter/megger to test the final "dirty" circuit. These are not cheap testers which you can buy at the corner hardware store or hyper. They can also cause electrical shock and be lethal in the wrong hands at the wrong time. Be aware that the ELCB is the only item in the DB board which is designed for the safety of the consumer. All the other breakers are there to protect the installation. It is important that you find the fault and if need be replace the ELCB asap. It is your only watchdog against electrocution.

[fundi]

Fundi, while the guidelines will assist you in saving time and possibly finding the fault, they are by no means all that needs to be done. Unless you are fortunate enough to find the fault using the guidelines, you will need an insulation tester/megohm meter/megger to test the final "dirty" circuit. These are not cheap testers which you can buy at the corner hardware store or hyper. They can also cause electrical shock and be lethal in the wrong hands at the wrong time. Be aware that the ELCB is the only item in the DB board which is designed for the safety of the consumer. All the other breakers are there to protect the installation. It is important that you find the fault and if need be replace the ELCB asap. It is your only watchdog against electrocution.

points taken, thank you and I will report back on my findings