Heating up of neutral tails?

[beemer]

Not come across this one before..... been to a friend of the family house to change the 100A consumer isolator because the neutral tail connection was burning!!

Usually this indicates a loose connection, but it seemed tight enough. Although the isolator was being used as a junction box to feed a separate dedicated cooker board.

I have been to other situations where there has been a loose line (live) but never before to overheating due to a loose neutral....

 

[bob]

clean the terminals

Guiness Drink

 

[The Godfather]

clean the terminals Guiness Drink

Just as important as tightening the connections, especially where overheating has occurred.

Don

 

[binky]

IMHO neutral faults are worse than Line - cos youring putting all that leccy in but it can't get out again !!!!! Seen plenty of burn't neutrals, especially on showers, fault almost certainly loose terminal - might appear tight now due to having melted together ?:| ? :| but as the don / bob say dirt can also be an issue.

 

[aptsys]

cos youring putting all that leccy in but it can't get out again !!!!!

Doesn't quite work like that... ?:|

There should be no difference in the severity on either conductor if conditions are the same. People just tend to take more care over phase connections thinking they are the ones that matter.

 

[binky]

Doesn't quite work like that... ?:| There should be no difference in the severity on either conductor if conditions are the same. People just tend to take more care over phase connections thinking they are the ones that matter.

Concurr completely, just putting things in basic terms cos it was early and brain was still in neutral

 

[bob]

replace the terminal and the tailGuiness DrinkGuiness Drink

 

[The Godfather]

Doesn't quite work like that... ?:| People just tend to take more care over phase connections thinking they are the ones that matter.

I'd like to think that it is incorrect, ALL connections are important, my boys have seen an equal number of loose connections in both Live & the Neutral feeds.

It would be interesting to hear from other electricians on the forum if they have encountered more Neutral faults than Live.

The Godfather

 

[kme]

IMHO neutral faults are worse than Line - cos youring putting all that leccy in but it can't get out again !!!!! Seen plenty of burn't neutrals, especially on showers, fault almost certainly loose terminal - might appear tight now due to having melted together ?:| ? :| but as the don / bob say dirt can also be an issue.

PMSL @ binky. If you could see the mental picture.............................

 

[binky]

PMSL @ binky. If you could see the mental picture.............................

PMSL - what's that then KME? Me, I'm good at mental pictures, comes from having brewed mushrooms in my youth to make beer surprise ; \

Guiness Drink

 

[kme]

PMSL -peed my self laughing

 

[binky]

PMSL -peed my self laughing

It wasn't that funny:^O:^O:^O

Maybe I have a new talent - the laughing sparky

I hate to think what image you conjured up in your mind - you been at my beer surprise:^O:^O:^O

 

[Mr Sworld]

It would be interesting to hear from other electricians on the forum if they have encountered more Neutral faults than Live.

Unbalanced 3 Phase supplies. Burns the neutral out EVERY time! :^O

 

[kme]

Agreed.

One job, a few years ago, sticks out. Shop, with pizza cooking & delivery service in back.

ALL of the pizza ovens, chicken boilers, dough mixers, lights and sockets had been bolted onto ONE of the shop`s phases; which weren`t balanced well to start with:

(if i were to say o/s lighting on red, interior lights on blue, and EVERYTHING else on yellow......)

Now THAT was a sad and sorrowful looking remnant of a neutral

Think they`d had a house-basher in, who didn`t know anything of 3ph.

 

[The Godfather]

Unbalanced 3 Phase supplies. Burns the neutral out EVERY time! :^O

Well 3 phase installations, are a slightly different league to single phase, The Don believes.

(As my boys tell me)

The Godfather

 

[kme]

Only slightly, Don....................................

 

[beemer]

Replaced terminal and cleaned tails....also intend to move cooker tails to a spare way on the board to get them out of the isolator connection, don't know why that was not done in the first place as there are two spare ways on the board. I didn't have a 30A mcb to hand on my first visit, otherwise I would have done it then.

 

[steptoe]

would tend to say I see more faults on the N than on the L, perhaps its cos

1 people tend to take more care on the Line connections (?)

2 the faults I get called to are the ones someone else couldnt find (ie, not simple live fault)

3 DIYers just dont realise the dangers of having 230v on the N, why dont they realise its a live cable too???