Advice on testing course

[LVSparks]

I am a qualified electrician and my company is gona put me through 2391-10. Now im afraid of failing and am aware of how hard it is to pass.
I reckon im out of touch with correct procedures such as locking off, isolation and also some test procedures such as earth electrode or earth free zones etc not to mention all the theory that goes with it all, been reading lots of posts on the various forum pages on here, really hit home what im not up on.
I cant speak for every one but you know how it is you just get on and do it so to speak, not to the correct practices as outlined. A bit like once youve passed your driving test, whilst your learning you do it to the book but once you get out in the world and years have passed you drive to your code not the highway lol (shouldnt laugh).

Now im after advice of all those who have done 2391-10, should i do 2392-10 first or should i go for 2391-10 and will they teach me all neccessary in the 4 days it lasts.
Will 2392-10 be any use, i test at work and have an understanding of the procedures but im by no means an expert, however i am more experienced than the candinate that are described to take the 2392-10 when you vist the websites to book it?

Please help. Thank you.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

I am a qualified electrician and my company is gona put me through 2391-10. Now im afraid of failing and am aware of how hard it is to pass.
I reckon im out of touch with correct procedures such as locking off, isolation and also some test procedures such as earth electrode or earth free zones etc not to mention all the theory that goes with it all, been reading lots of posts on the various forum pages on here, really hit home what im not up on.
I cant speak for every one but you know how it is you just get on and do it so to speak, not to the correct practices as outlined. A bit like once youve passed your driving test, whilst your learning you do it to the book but once you get out in the world and years have passed you drive to your code not the highway lol (shouldnt laugh).

Now im after advice of all those who have done 2391-10, should i do 2392-10 first or should i go for 2391-10 and will they teach me all neccessary in the 4 days it lasts.
Will 2392-10 be any use, i test at work and have an understanding of the procedures but im by no means an expert, however i am more experienced than the candinate that are described to take the 2392-10 when you vist the websites to book it?

Yes you will have forgot a lot.....we all did
But you will be surprised at just what you did remember......we all did.

Please help. Thank you.

Firstly...DONT WORRY!

If you are a qualified spark you will be fine. Just get hold of IET Guidance note 3 and read it inside out and back to front. The only reason good sparks fail is due to lack of preparation, a few weeks spent digesting this book will see you home no problems. Regarding safe isolation and so on, you will be retrained during the course, so all will be fine again. Once you get testing it will be nothing you haven't done before, and you will get plenty of practice. Be thankful some one else is paying for it.

Good luck,

Howard

 

[i=p/u]

preparation for instection and testing;

you are required to be able to ,

-state the need for and the purpose of initial verification and periodic inspection and testing
-state the information required to correctly conduct the inspection and testing of an installation
-state the statutory and non statutory requirements and relevent guidance materialthat apply to the activity of inspection and testing of electrical installaitons
-state the need to comply with statutory and non statutory requirments, and guidance material for particular locations and environments in which electrical installations are installed
-state the information to be contained on certificates and inspection reports and how information is recorded on all certificates as indidcated in bs7671 17th

 

[i=p/u]

inspection;

you are required to be able to,

-state the human senses that may need to be employed during inspection of an installation
-refer to and identify the items to be checked during the inspection process for given systems and locations as detailed in
bs 7671 17th
- state the particular requiements for a periodic inspection of an electrical installation as defined in bs 7671 17th
- state the need to establish the extent and limitations of a periodic inspection report, with the client and any relevent third parties, prior to commencing the inspection, and need to record these details on the periodic inspection report
-state the requirements of the electricity at work regulations for safe inspection and testing in terms of those
(a)carrying out the work
(b)using the installation and the building during the inspection and testing

 

[i=p/u]

testing;

INSTRUMENTS
- state the need for instruments to be regularly checked, and the need for their compliance with the requirments of bs 7671 17th and, hse GS38
-list the correct instruments, their characteristics and the appropiate scale to carry out each test, and explain reason for choice

SEQUENCE
-state the reccomended sequence of tests and the reason for that sequence

PROTECTIVE CONDUCTORS
-state the requirments which need to be considered for protective conductors in terms of
(a) earthing conductors
(b) main protective bonding conductors
(c)supplementry protective main bonding
(d) circuit protective conductors
-describe the need for and methods of verifying the continuity of protective conductors and the interretation of results
-state the relationship between conductor length, csa and resistance
-state the effect on temerature on a conductor (this section to be continued, no space left)

 

[i=p/u]

RING CIRCUITS

-state the effect on measured resistance when cables are connected in parallel
-describe the need for, and methods of verifying the continuity of ring final circuit conductors and the interpretation of results

INULATION RESISTANCE

-explain by example, the effect on insulation resistance and test results of
(a) cables connected in parallel
(b) varation in cable length
-compare the differences between measurements taken for insulation resistance and conductor resistance, stating the magnitude that would be expected in each case
-state the preconditions required for the preformance of insulation testing
-describe methods of insulation resistance testing
-state the rquired test volyage and minmum values on insulation resistance for installations operating at various voltages
-state particular requirements for insulation resistance testing of circuits with spds or sensitive electronic devices, and to include test voltages to be applied where disconnection cannot be achieved.

(to be coninuedno space)

 

[i=p/u]

ELECTRICAL SEPARATION/SELV

-describe the tests to verify the separation of selv circuits
-state the particular requirements for protection of electrical separation(not selv)

SPECIAL INSTALLATIONS AND LOCATIONS

-describe the requirements for circuits in prescribed special installations and locations by;
(a)identifying the installations and locations to which special requirements apply
(b)demonstrating the ability to make refrence to the appropriate requirements in each case
(c) identifying the requirements in relation to specific areas and installations from given information

IP CODES

-state the appropriate minmum degree of protection required for given applications

PLOARITY

-describe the need for and methods of testing used to identify correct polarity

(to be continued)

 

[Des 56]

The posted expectations and questions by I=p/u frighten me and I have done this a while back

If you are already testing, then adapting to classrom procedures and understanding Gn3 will be hard graft and you wont end up knowing the answers to all the posted questions, but it should be more than enough to pass this exam with your experience this far

It is a difficult for most but not the ogre it is sometimes portrayed
They say the pass rate is low because the percentage of people who do not have underpinning knowledge is high

You are obviously the perfect candidate that this exam was set up to accomadate and if its free,good on yer

By the way,dont bother with the new fundamental testing exam thingie.You should go straight into the level that your experience warrants the proper 2391

 

[i=p/u]

EARTH ELECTRODES

-differentiate between the requirements for testing of earth electrodes for rcd-protected tt system and electrodes for transformers and generators

EARTH FAULT LOOP IMPEDANCE

-describe the earth fault loop imdedance paths for the following systems
(a) TN-S
(b) TN-C-S
(c) TT
-describe metods of determining earth fault loop impedance in terms of
(a) the tests used for measuring the actual earth fault loop impediance
(b)methods of calculation of earth fault loop impedance from given data and measurement of conductor impedance
-given maximum tabulated values of earth fault loop impedance,verfify that measured values are acceptable, taking into account conductor operating and ambient temperatures

to be continued...

 

[i=p/u]

RESIDUAL CURRENT DEVICES(RCCBS/RCBOS)

-describe methods of testing the correct operation of rcds, independant of in-built test facilities
-state the appliactions for various rcd ratings

PROSPECTIVE FAULT CURRENT

-describe methods of determining prospective fault current in terms of;
(a) prospective short circuit current
(b) prospective earth fault current
-explain the importance of selecting protective devices appropriate to the prospective fault current

PHASE SEQUENCE

-describe the requirements for checking phase sequence in terms of
(a) the purpose of checking correct phase sequence
(b) test methods used to check phase rotation

VOLTAGE DROP

-describe the methods of verifying voltage drop compliance with bs 7671 in terms of measuring circuit impedance and calculation

THATS IT, JUST LEARN ALL THAT APPARENTLY

 

[i=p/u]

Il teach you

 

[LVSparks]

sorry for the slow response been working away. thanks for your advice and confidence boost. My company has booked my course so theres no turning back now. I have gn3 and will read it over and over. Just cram as much info in there as pos!

 

[LVSparks]

Ok my freind i would love to have your help, i will try and answer as many of the points you mentioned, firstly i will revise as much as i can.

Il teach you

 

[chelwood]

Idid the 2392-10 before the 2391-10 and think it helped as i passed both.with the 2391-10 my advice is to do it over twelve weeks and take the day off of the exam because you need to be mentally prepared not turn up after a hard day

 

[LVSparks]

Are there any drawings that i should learn eg drawings for the earth and protective conductor terms also the differnt system types that appear in bs7671?

 

[ruston]

GS 38 test leads crops up a lot , you can download the leaflet . The earth fault paths are common too. A good course will prepare you for the requirements , you will be ok if as has been said you digest GN3 , and are aware of all the relevant documents ; statutory and non statutory regarding I&T.

 

[chelwood]

Do it over twelve weeks,that way you get time between each lesson to read and understand.take the day off when you have your exam as the start time is 18.30 which is not ideal if you have been to work all day.finally read gn3 as many times as you need to.good luck

 

[LVSparks]

Another queery to all those in the know. When revising for my 2391 how much time should i spend taking in all the relevant information regarding special locations (part 7). Like learning what equipment can be installed in the zones of showers and swimming pools etc, requirments in circuses etc. This area is quite large and would take an awaful lot of revsion to learn?
what is the liklehood in the exam specific questions would come up testing my knowledge on any of the locations in part 7?

 

[Ringo]

Another queery to all those in the know. When revising for my 2391 how much time should i spend taking in all the relevant information regarding special locations (part 7). Like learning what equipment can be installed in the zones of showers and swimming pools etc, requirments in circuses etc. This area is quite large and would take an awaful lot of revsion to learn?
what is the liklehood in the exam specific questions would come up testing my knowledge on any of the locations in part 7?

I was in a similar situation - did 2330 L2+3, 17th, then immediately on to 2391. If you put in the work and be sure you know GN3 inside-out you *should* be fine. I didn't get much (if anything..?) about special locations in the paper, except the scenario you're given in section 2 might be set in one, so a knowledge of considerations you'd need to take regarding installation would be useful. Read, read, read GN3 until you can skim over it and basically recite it. When you can turn to a random page and talk yourself through the requirements from memory, you're doing well.

That said, it's not all a parrot-fashion memory game. Get to know the forms well, fill some out for practice. Questions like "which forms require a Ze value to be recorded" (just as an example) crop up, so you should be able to recall that from memory. That sort of thing will only come from experience. Also draw the earth-fault-loop-paths until you can do it automatically, doesn't always come up but I had to do it and luckily it was something I'd practised and practised.

Of course, whether all this makes a truly competent person is another matter - know it, understand it and use it!

 

[LVSparks]

I was in a similar situation - did 2330 L2+3, 17th, then immediately on to 2391. If you put in the work and be sure you know GN3 inside-out you *should* be fine. I didn't get much (if anything..?) about special locations in the paper, except the scenario you're given in section 2 might be set in one, so a knowledge of considerations you'd need to take regarding installation would be useful. Read, read, read GN3 until you can skim over it and basically recite it. When you can turn to a random page and talk yourself through the requirements from memory, you're doing well.

That said, it's not all a parrot-fashion memory game. Get to know the forms well, fill some out for practice. Questions like "which forms require a Ze value to be recorded" (just as an example) crop up, so you should be able to recall that from memory. That sort of thing will only come from experience. Also draw the earth-fault-loop-paths until you can do it automatically, doesn't always come up but I had to do it and luckily it was something I'd practised and practised.

Of course, whether all this makes a truly competent person is another matter - know it, understand it and use it![/QUOTE


Thank you for the encouraging reply m8, ive read gn3 lots of times now and am about to dedicate another saturday to it. :cheesy: