volt reading

[moglee]

I have a meter reading of 160 volts? when I put my meter on a phase to earth cabling

does this mean there is No earth present??
I have a tt system

 

[winston1]

Assuming you have a 220v supply, 160v between phase and earth suggests a very high impedance earth path. Basically the earth is not connected and you are reading leakage.

 

[solair]

The majority of French supplies are "TT" i.e. they only have a local earth, but there is a power-company supplied RCD after the meter and 30mA RCD protection on most circuits in modern supplies too.

It's possible that you might have faulty earth electrodes, or they are inadequate.

I'd strongly suggest getting a French electrical contractor to take a look at it. There's really very little a DIYer can do to sort this out and it needs proper testing.

If it's an old installation, anything is possible!