Insulation Resistance testing blarney 

All good electricians know that a Can of special brew will NULIFIE the power supply, as it does with the HUMAN BRAIN.

Cheers Marky. I'm tucking into one now just for you!

Its already empty... 🙄😂

love your videos mark so fuckin funny. 😂

Salam Ibdali Dave’s are funny too ;)

You’d be better off drinking petrol...

Very kind of you to say so, thanks Richard

Yep, was drinking my coffee watching your video and minding my own bussiness.. then all of a sudden the fat end of fuck all came along and that was it, horizontal coffee flying through the air

PHWOAR!!

Covers your back, sac, crack and ass if you do all the tests!

Good deduction sir, that one had been previously extinguished, otherwise this video wouldn't have happened.....

Cheers Dave, and good luck with the 2391! Also, try not to get blown up or shot or anything!

Electrical safety inspector who is studying for the 2391 exam haha. Delusional

Yeah, they're good lads, thanks Dave!

Cheers!

Thanks Rob.

Hi Dean. I neglected to mention it in the video, but yes, the test leads are nulled before testing. I meant to show that, or to mention it, but forgot to do so.

The pleasure of pointing out your lack of being able to properly nurture a Pot Noodle to full maturity is mine my friend! By the way, I have family in your neck of the woods who asked me last week if I knew an electrician. I'm afraid you're in the chair if the shit hits the fan up there!

Thanks for the feedback as always Alvin! I saw that vid too. It's nuts out there!

Ta!

Thanks David. An interesting idea. We're not on any kitchens at present, but something may pop up we can take a look at!

Haha! Most of the time my mouth just moves and I haven't got a clue what I'm saying either!

@@dsesuk If that's how you operate sir, then you should have a career in politics. Every politician going has continuity fault between their mouth and their brain.

I hate seeing T&E on the outside. It's not the sign of a professional installer in my opinion, and like you I've seen it degrade when exposed to the elements over time.

I have a low resistance to it, almost to the point of a short circuit.

Thank you Mr Chops. If that is your real name... which I doubt... :)

@@dsesuk Nah, it evolved from an old school nichname 'Moschops' based on my surname. Glad you asked? Thought not 😋

@@JamesMossR33 Moschops?? Was that a TV show or something? It rings a bell...

Not sure it's the platform for me Keith!

It certainly wouldn't hurt, although anyone performing a competent inspection either because they intend to modify a circuit or because they're performing a periodic should work under the assumption that fixed loads are present or that there may be an item of connected equipment they've missed. Unless it's an initial verification, then cautious IR testing is called for, and in most cases I suspect L-N IR testing is omitted entirely.

Unless u r an electrician u shouldn't go anywhere near a fuseboard fool

Yes, this is why I advise the use of beer in bottles rather than cans when working around live equipment.

Cheers Neil, I'll try!

RAD Official My guess is that your earth is not the immediate problem, it sounds like you have excessive resistance in the other conductors. With a load on in the extension are you seeing a big drop between live and neutral?

@@g0fvt I switched on/off the AC and other items in the new extension, no change between live and neutral it’s stable around 228v, but I am getting that difference in voltage between neutral and earth. Is it possible a piece of equipment is causing this, or just the fact that when things are connected it’s adding to a voltage rise.. for some reason?

RAD Official that supply voltage is a little lower than I would expect, I wonder what the voltage is at the main house supply. Normally the earth current is very low, some appliances with mains filters will pass a little earth current but very little. It might be worth extending one of the multimeter leads so you can measure the voltage between the incoming earth and the earth in the extension. There should be next to nothing between the two points. There are various different ways that the supply earth can get to a property if your “earth” is a TT type (ie a grounding stake) it would appear to have a significant problem. Personally I would investigate that prior to adding more.

You may be right, each edition and amendment to the wiring regs only seems to increase the paperwork burden for those of us trying to do a diligent and proper job while nothing is done to stamp out the cowboys and cash-in-hand chancers. I've no experience of US testing, but someone did comment recently that insulation resistance wasn't a thing over there. It would be interesting to know more about international procedures!

Y'know, they were bought at Sainsbury's not too long ago. I guess they shift the stock quite slowly there!!

Thanks Dean, I'm glad you found something of use in there!

Oh I don't know, any video with this perspective has to be worth the watch: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m8cWPS_4Mew.html

The ol' USB socket located in the secret sex dungeon/kidnap attic that the homeowner never tells you about.

@@dsesuk I never get invited to those...

It looks like a timeguard 4 way weatherproof box like the ones you can get from tlc

It's from Toolstation, code 67255, £19.06, 300x220mm and I think that's the biggest they do, but other suppliers may have something larger.

@@dsesuk thank you. That one might just be big enough for what I need.

It has 12 40mm holes, three around each side, and they come plugged with grommets.

Cheers Albert, and Happy New Year!

Thanks David, and you're right that inspections take time. If someone does it quickly, they've cut corners. Someone who does it quick and cheap hasn't really done it at all. Even if it only cost £60 instead of the legit guy who quoted £200, it's not value for money if it's not worth the A4 the results haven't been written on!

That’s truly good to hear. I often feel as if I’m earning nothing based on the time it takes me and hearing the contractor saying oh well the other electrician does it so much quicker than you it’s cause you’re not experienced (which might be true). I’ve never used LIM on my results as a) I work in the domestic environment and b) always felt uncomfortable leaving a property knowing I may have missed something by using the LIM. Then there’s the am I just pissing off customers because the powers off. At least I can sleep at night! But I gather the other guys do too. 😂

@@digitraxuk delusional

Thanks Matt!

Thanks Gary.

It was already empty. It was just there so I could still smell the fumes.

Cheers James

Welcome aboard sailor! Now grab a bucket and start bailing!

Thanks Noel. The only Fluke I've got is the 1651B which is long in the tooth now. I mainly use my Metrel MI3100s and TIS MFT Pro, both of which I've made videos about in the past.

You're putting in the viewing hours at present Richard!

David Savery Electrical Services I sure am, getting balls... erm really into everything electrical, in anticipation for next year 😎

Thanks Don. If Nige wears his glasses instead of his contacts, then we do make quite the tribute act.

There's nothing fancy here old sport, just five metres of wires looped up in that big box!

@@dsesuk thank you kind sir for providing me with that detailed wiring description. I shall set about measuring out 5 metres of the finest 6242y for this installation. How long is 5 metres? . I only work in 3.75 metre lengths.

Maybe then install two x 3.75 metres... although with my shit maths, trying to figure out the resultant of that has already blown my toupee off!

5.3 metres of wire!

@@dsesuk what a disappointment, I thought it was going to be an electrical box of tricks 🤣

Nah, nothing high-tech here my friend! That consumer unit was (literally) out of the bin at my local CEF, so no expense spent!

@@dsesuk I thought that said 5.3 metres of wine..

Thanks for your persistence Gareth!

I know, what a load of shite. I have literally just this evening bookmarked my blue copy after already having it a year. It's the first time I've given it a basic flick-through, and the only reason I've tabbed the pages is for these videos so I can reference page numbers. Still, I need to show it on the coffee table when the NIC come a-knockin' every April.

@@dsesuk We found you can get away with an e-copy on an ipad of the OSG ;)

David Savery Electrical Services also handy if no bog paper on site

Hi Nina, thanks for tuning in! A low reading between L&N *may* indicate a connected load; certainly that's more common than a fault condition. It's something that warrants further investigation if you want a number out of L/N. Connected loads shouldn't provide a path to earth though, at least not unless there's something providing an additional service between line/earth such as a surge protector. I'm speaking of domestic equipment of course; commercial or industrial equipment may have goodness knows what to confound things! A low reading between L/N&E, especially at 250V so SPD's aren't triggered, needs investigation. Something's causing it, and it can potentially cause trouble!

Thanks for your reply, David. Yep, it’s a domestic socket circuit. Definitely no surge protection and all accessories have been removed (as far as I can tell). L-N is reading 0.25M at 250V and L/N - E is reading 0.5M at 250V. Obviously, I didn’t test at 500V after such ominous readings!

@@ninav74 Not great numbers those. I'd start braking down the circuit next. If it's a ring, then split it at a socket which ought to be around the mid-point and test each leg, then keep braking it down as best as possible until you find where it's bad. Of course, it may be difficult in a furnished house. We had one last year which we traced to a socket some idiot had spurred off and hidden under a floor where the neutral wire was leaking to the earthed knockout box through a split in the insulation. We only found it because they were remodelling the house; had the new carpet gone down we'd have been scuppered.

@@dsesuk m

Cheers!

Koblingsblokk is a fantastic word! I might have to start using it!

@@dsesuk Also FYI Koblingsboks = Junction box !

I could go either way Oliver. The Brewsters play the long game, but the Supers have a stronger offensive strike. Either way, I end up crying on the toilet.

@@dsesuk I had to ween myself off that shit in the late 80's pmsl...alcoholic treacle! :-) might get some for shitz n giggles though.

Sadly not; according to LinkedIn, John was at school when I was at college. Probably for the best as I suspect he would have beaten me up for my lunch money.

Have you done your testing course?

There's no point IR testing anything L-N if any loads on the circuit are connected, this includes LED or neon indicators in switches. You'd have to remove and wire out the switches to get a reading for the wiring itself, and it's probably not worth the effort unless you're tracing an overload fault. You can still test L-N together with respect to earth as switches with indicators shouldn't be leaking anything to earth.

@@dsesuk I saw answer in video too. Just managed to ask before you explained that point

No worries chief!

That depends. If someone actually provided a neutral at the switch and the indicator is connected between L&N, it will show as a fault if testing between L&N, just like any other load does. If it's one of the old style ones wired between L & SL and only lights when the switch is off, it won't make any difference to the test. Such things are uncommon now as they only work properly with incandescent lamps. If some buffoon connected an indicator between L & E because no neutral was available, then it will show as a fault, and must be removed.

My company policies and procedures, which I admittedly authored, encourages lager around live equipment, so I'm alright.

David will you do similar videos for the other tests r1 r2 and zs and that, great how you put little scenarios in as to what could affect readings

@@ericthekingthekingtheking4842 I've been meaning to do such a vid for ages now, and that's one of the reasons I put this test rig together, but I never seem to get around to it. Finding the time is the problem, I'm wall-to-wall with work at present. Seeing as this one on IR seems to be pretty popular though, then maybe it's not a bad idea to knuckle down and finally get on with it!

David Savery Electrical Services I hope you get time to do them mate, really informative with your insight and obvious experience passed on and showing what you may find in your readings,and how to remedy it 👍

Thanks Nick, i didn't miss you out this time.... Mainly because that screwdriver price gave me palpitations....

@@dsesuk i think he got it cheap off the Tat man

The copper recycling does pay off...

@@dsesuk to be fair you need to be very careful about the sort of Tat man you go to i would personally avoid the one who has an endless supply of soap bars

When it arrived I got the (insert spring noise) but I do use the hell out of it so will pay for it self in a decade or so 👌

Haha! It's alcohol powered humour Imran, electrical work drives you to drink so it's the only job I could do!

Best & funniest sparky on utube😂🤣 And very knowledgeable too

@@jaye8578 gotta agree.. has me in stitches Similar sense of humour I guess

They seem to have the opposite effect on me....

😂😂😂 Good one