Electric problem

[Electric Man]

hi i am qualified and i am being part p certified as we speak

now i am fresh from college and making it on my own i dont have much experiance but have re-wired 2 houses before and they worked completely fine

now onto my problem

i am just testing the the lights up stairs and i have found my earths to be live well i have a very sensitive screwdriver which detects current from me when i touch both ends (so could there be a tiny bit of live in earth or not ?)... the thing is i meggered the wires when i first run them and junction boxed them up and they was fine... also there was no plasterboard on the walls.

will you get any live on the earth before you connect earth from the street ? or should you never get any ?

also the walls are now plastered and i dont want to lose my job by saying we need to take down ceilings and walls

if anyone has any ideas why its gone live, would you think that maybe some screws have gone through the wires ?

 

[securespark]

Never mind your screwdriver....as a pro, you have the proper test equipment. So, megger the cables now and see what the readings are - if they are fine, no problem, but if you have a short, then you need to check carefully along the length of the run to make sure there is no damage. If there is def. no damage visible, but the megger still reads a fault, then suspect hidden damage. If it is due to sloppy boarding out, then the plasterer should lose his job, not you!!

 

[il78]

You mentioned junction boxes ? Where are these.....

 

[Electric Man]

junction boxes are all in the ceilings

they are wired how i always wire them and with correct earth sleeving aswell

@securespark i agree its the chipppies fault as they boarded the walls, not passing blame as if its my fualt i would say.

i cant see where the fault would be in the junction boxes as they are screwed to the joists and the wires are clipped along into it ?

i will go and get the megger from the other job today and go and check it all again... it was meggered already and the readings was fine before so i do think that the junction boxes are the fault.

thanks for the help

 

[pda]

U need to connect ur earth to ur earth bar at the cu. voltage is leaking to all the earth conductors in the wire.


been there done that [/quote]

 

[ban-all-sheds]

This worries me?

will you get any live on the earth before you connect earth from the street ?

I hope it's just confusingly worded, for it seems to imply that you've connected the supply, but not the supply earth....

 

[IanDB]

This worries me?

B-A-S why should this worry you? After all

i am being part p certified as we speak

Mr Prescott has assured us that he knows what he's doing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Now, now...

But yes - I am puzzled at least...

i am just testing the the lights up stairs and i have found my earths to be live

No matter what the "problem" is (if there is one, and if it's not just induced voltage), that must mean that the circuit, or one with adjacent cables, has been connected.

well i have a very sensitive screwdriver which detects current from me when i touch both ends

I'm concerned about the validity of this "test"..

(so could there be a tiny bit of live in earth or not ?)...

I'm puzzled that someone qualified would have an understanding of electrical theory that included "a tiny bit of live", but hopefully that was just a woolly phrase dashed off without thinking..

will you get any live on the earth before you connect earth from the street ?

But back to the above point - if there is either a fault voltage or an induced voltage on the cpc, something somewhere has been connected to the supply. But this reads as though the earth hasn't, which seems like a Bad Thing™..

i will go and get the megger from the other job today

Electric Man - you said you were "making it on your own" - surely you've got your own test equipment in that case? I wouldn't leave mine lying around at another job.....

 

[swelec]

I posted a reply to this thread, it was actually the first response, but it disappeared - removed by mod ???

What i said was "who will be first to bite"

I've read and reread this posting and am still not convinced it hasn't been put in to wind people up

"hi i am qualified and i am being part p certified as we speak icon_smile.gif

now i am fresh from college"

guaranteed to wind up anyone who slogged through a 4/5 year apprenticeship

"now i am fresh from college and making it on my own"

"also the walls are now plastered and i dont want to lose my job by saying we need to take down ceilings and walls"

if you are making it on your own, who is going to sack you - yourself ?

"i dont have much experiance but have re-wired 2 houses before and they worked completely fine"

more by luck than judgement ??

" i have a very sensitive screwdriver which detects current from me when i touch both ends"

what are you - a battery ?

or are you a mobile charged capacitor ?

I honestly thought this was put in just to wind Breezer up

"will you get any live on the earth before you connect earth from the street"

I have visions of someone walking the street with a length of green and yellow wire saying "anyone seen some earths nearby"

"the thing is i meggered the wires when i first run them and junction boxed them up and they was fine"

this just beggars belief

"if anyone has any ideas why its gone live, would you think that maybe some screws have gone through the wires"

use your newly aqquired talents and fault find with your megger

It is so badly written its either

1) true - and god help us all

2) false - and a clever wind up

 

[Electric Man]

@ swelec i am a battery and capacator rolled into one when you charge me i talk more bullshit

@ everyone else i read my post back and does seem strange and i worded alot of things like a simpleton... i appologise for that.

i actually have 2 meggers one is not calabrated so i wont use it....

went back and looked at my install and should have known better than leaving the earth floating like that and not expecting an induced voltage.

im still alive so thats a plus, made myself look like a simpleton i can live with that.

thanks again for any constructive critiscsim it got me thinking right and problem sorted.

Thanks all

 

[swelec]

profuse apologies electric man

I am just an bitter and twisted old cynic

Just one piece of advice to an enthusistic newbie

"More haste, less speed" as my old piano teacher often told me

Enjoy your new career