[Question] Testers

[SeanM]

Greetings All

I recently purchase a leakage clamp tester and I am very happy I did when I have an earth leakage tripping intermittently I can now find the fault,

My question is on a single phase earth leakage I clamp the tester around the live and neutral to measure the difference in current.

How would you test a three phase earth leakage?

If the phases aren't balanced then you will get a current flow surely.

Kind Regards

[Justloadit]

Same as with single phase.
Place the clamp across all three phases and Neutral.
Any leakage will be noted by the instrument.
At the end of the day, whether the Phases are balanced or not with respect to each other, but with respect to Neutral, all currents must equal zero when there is no leakage.

[SeanM]

Morning Justloadit

Thank you for this every electrician should have one of these testers.

[ians]

I measure the leakage currnet on the earth wire ... it is not easy to get the live and neutral togehter due to space and other restrictions.

sometimes it is a build up of leakage current causing the earth leakage to trip by measuring the leakage current on the earth wire you can identify the level of leakage per circuit.

We had a huge leakage tripping problem at a site in KZN ... I found the cause of the problem wasnt the equipment ...but rather the lack of sufficient earth ... the contractor doing work under the building had been cutting and removing pieces of the earth grid day by day until eventually it became a tripping issue.

Wise choice investing in leakage tester ... there are so many uses for this tester ... for example when you cant use an insulation resistance tester due to sensitive electronic equipment ... it pays for itself.

[AndyD]

Congratulations on your new tester Sean...and you're right, every electrician should have one.

I measure the leakage currnet on the earth wire ... it is not easy to get the live and neutral togehter due to space and other restrictions.

sometimes it is a build up of leakage current causing the earth leakage to trip by measuring the leakage current on the earth wire you can identify the level of leakage per circuit.

In certain instances it is more convenient to measure on the CPC /earth wire but if the leakage current is finding its way to earth down a parallel path then it won't give accurate results. I'd recommend using it around the line conductors for best results.