Unexpected Reading Between Earth And Neutral

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We all entered the wild once upon a time, short course or no.

Hello Likes Rubber & Water™

Yes between E and N and E and L at the main CCU and 65V between the same points in the stable DB 250 feet away.  With L and N recording zero volts.

 
yes, but like i said, short course only teaches you enough to pass an exam. do an apprenticeship and chances are you have already had a very similar situation in the past and had someone more experience there to teach you how to go about sorting it, so you may not know what the fault is, but you would know what to do to find it

 
It is a bit difficult to explain all the tests here, you need to look in the book or the OSG, and work through them. Continuity of all circuit CPC's and conductors making sure the figures all seem about right for the circuit length. This will also check polarity as you go. Then IR testing, and you will not only find the fault, but learn lots!!!

Do the stables first to eliminate them from your enquiries, then, check the house if you must. There were no probs in the house though, and this is not what you were asked to do, so confirm all is now well with the stables, get yourself some practice filling in a cert as you go along..... See it as a proper EICR.... Check supply polarity too...

john...

 
One thing I have learned in my 3 years as an apprentice is listen to those with greater experience than you, and so far they are saying test the stable install, make sure it's 100% then move to the house, one step at a time, if you try and answer too many questions at once you'll end up missing half of it

 
Late to this one, but I would throw away the tester.

Something that only tells me "<25V" is about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. 

Surely as well as automatic testing functions, it has the ability to function as a simple volt meter and measure down below 25V?  If not then it's pretty essential you get a meter that does so.

 
ProDave,

Why do 2 pole voltage testers use a series of lights to show you have a certain amount of volts detected - they don't tell you how many volts you have if you have less than 50V for example and the light doesn't come on. If you were performing safe isolation which voltage tester would you recommend and I'll check it out.

 
sparky Bob, agree completely. But I repeat the stable is not the issue here, it was part of my post as background to the issue I was looking for help with. It was just that the issue here that I am asking about became apparent when performing safe isolation at the the stable.

 
It must be something in the house which is giving you that voltage, possibly electronics. You could switch all the breakers off and test the main switch outlet points again for voltage to earth, then test each mcb outlet. Might narrow it down.

 
ProDave,

Why do 2 pole voltage testers use a series of lights to show you have a certain amount of volts detected - they don't tell you how many volts you have if you have less than 50V for example and the light doesn't come on. If you were performing safe isolation which voltage tester would you recommend and I'll check it out.
I personally would not rely on a tester that just had a coarse scale with just a few lights. somebody gave me one of those and I quickly concluded it was not of any use.

But I'm old fashioned. I like to know what I am really dealing with.

You will be telling me you rely on a volt stick next.

 
Can I ask if this paragraph you wrote is correct? I'm not being cheeky, just need to check.

Testing voltage at the main switch at the CCU: With the main switch on I recorded 245v across L and N supply and <25V across E and N and E and L. HOWEVER with the main switch off I recorded <25V between L and N and 165V across E and N and E and L.

 
Sparky bob, of course. But my point is that all the 2 pole voltage testers that I have seen don't tell you how many volt s there might be if the reading is less than 50V, just that the reading is less than 50v. So at least the Kewtech 64Dl says it's less than 25V!

 

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