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Falcon69

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Oct 14, 2008
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I have a job tomorrow with this job description:

"Resident has had escalating electrical bills over the past few months, after changing supplier the bills were still excessive. The reports back from supplier indicate that the property is using 9 times the amount of electricity it should be. There is a possibility that there is a wire that is earthing itself. The resident is worried about the risk of fire."

Any ideas???

 
buy a decent clamp meter, turn everything on in house and see the reading you get

quite simple calculation to find what 'everything' is costing per hour/unit

had two or three jobs in past in flats and in flats/houses above or to the side of shops,

all of them had the majority of the shops leccy running from the residents cu

insulation testing should show a faulty circuit to earth immediately

a clamp meter would tell you what power they are using, you could turn mcbs off in turn while watching the display, if there is a problem circuit you should be able to identify and narrow your search

i like faults like this so let us know what happens

 
Check for hydroponics in the other flats being run from this one :eek: :^O it would not be a first

 
Thanks for advice. I'll have to run buying a clamp meter past the office. Whats a good one & what sort of price?

How do you use it, does it just go round line or both line & neutral?

Wish me luck.

 
Would poor insulation resistance to earth cause excessive use of electric?

Wouldn't it cause mcb to trip if short to earth?

 
Would poor insulation resistance to earth cause excessive use of electric?Wouldn't it cause mcb to trip if short to earth?
9x the rated (expected) use, is excessive beyond belief.

Perhaps details of electrical equipment installed.

Don

 
This could be a faulty meter. Have you considered doing a meter accuracy test before you start pulling wires out of the CU.

 
A meter accuracy test is very easy to carry out yourself. If you PM me a email address i will send you a doc explaining how;) ;)

You will need a currant clamp meter, a stop watch and a 2 KW heater.

 
A meter accuracy test is very easy to carry out yourself. If you PM me a email address i will send you a doc explaining how;) ;) You will need a currant clamp meter, a stop watch and a KW heater.
Excellent spark-doctor.

Don

 
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