EICR coding?

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Just wondered what code would you give if a submain didn't meet the volt drop requirements? Just tested a farm and a couple 6mm submains are running near on 100m on 30A MCB. Volt drop of about 22V!

C2 or C3?
 
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I would always think about the consequences of the situation.

What could excessive volt drop lead to?

Machinery dropping out?
 
There's only lighting and a few sockets at the other end of one of the submains, so nothing there too major.

The other submain is actually 2 4mm cables parralled up, i have had to guestimate the volt drop on an 8mm cable for that one! that is on a 60A 3036 fuse. has a mill at the end of it with a 17A FLC single phase motor, so that one could be more of an issue. I know what will be said tho, it's been fine for the past 40 years why change it now!
 
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Is it:-
‘Potentially dangerous’.
Urgent remedial action required.
Very unlikely so can't be C2.

Code C3 (Improvement recommended)
This code should be used to indicate that, whilst an observed deficiency is not considered to be a source of immediate or potential danger, improvement would contribute to a significant enhancement of the safety of the electrical installation.

The point here again is "safety" it not just Improvement recommended but Improvement recommended to improve safety and volt drop is in its self unlikely to affect safely.

However where there is a large volt drop also it may mean that safely devices can't operate as not enough current will flow but this is the loop impedance rather than volt drop although both are connected.

The BestPracticeGuide4 has some odd things. To my mind cookers, hobs, immersion heaters, hand driers and other current using equipment is tested under "Inspection and testing of in-service electrical equipment" and is not part of the EICR however the guide says wrong type of immersion heater is a C2 code where as I would consider it was outside my remit and although one may comment on it one should not code it.

The English is also bad "Absence of a quarterly test notice for any RCD
or voltage-operated earth-leakage circuit-breaker" I am sure it does not mean the absence of a quarterly test notice for a voltage-operated earth-leakage circuit-breaker it should not be in use anyway other than as a simple isolator.

But personally I would include reference to volt drop in notes but would not code it as it does not present a danger unless it is likely to cause lights to fail.
 
...actually 2 4mm cables parralled up, i have had to guestimate the volt drop on an 8mm cable for that one!
I don't think there's really any need for guesstimation - it's just a matter of the amount of copper, and the frequency is so low as to not introduce any significant complications - so the VD with 8mm² will efectively be half that of 4mm² - i.e. about 5.5 V/A/m for 2-core single-phase - about 16.5V (7.1%) with 30A and 100m.

Kind Regards, John
 
But personally I would include reference to volt drop in notes but would not code it as it does not present a danger unless it is likely to cause lights to fail.

More than lighting, though, eric?

Could it cause anything else safety related to fail?

Might be being a bit an*l here, but if the emergency lighting and fire alarm panel is not charging up, then that could potentially be hazard, especially if it goes unnoticed.

Motors dropping out?

Em. stops failing to operate?
 
Could it cause anything else safety related to fail?
That presumably is the very judgement the electician has to make.
Might be being a bit an*l here, but if the emergency lighting and fire alarm panel is not charging up, then that could potentially be hazard, especially if it goes unnoticed.
I would have thought that one could probably be dismissed. Substantial voltage drops, even if they happened, are presumably only going to be present for a fairly small proportion of time, so there would be plenty of opportunity for such things to charge up on 'full voltage'.
Motors dropping out? Em. stops failing to operate?
Those would be the sort of judgements which would have to be made in the light of the actual situation. One can debate how much consideration should be given to what might be connected to the circuit in question at some point in the future but, in practice, I would have thought that there's probably a limit to how far one needs to go in that direction.

Kind Regards, John
 

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