electric shower tripping

[neilyboy]

In reply to the above ,I'm doing a pal a favour in trying to find the fault, the original installer is not returning his calls
I think some of the problems have arisen due to my pal buying the materials himself to save money.
and ..FYI I don't have any test equipment as I've been effectively off the tools since 1986..save for the odd light fitting and extra socket

 

[neilyboy]

Thanks for all the replys anyway at least I've got something to go on now

 

[Specialist]

We all understand wanting to do a favour for a mate, but without even basic test gear your going to seriously struggle.

 

[Dave OCD]

I'd say the circuit neutral is probably in the wrong 'bar' in the dual RCD board, check that and you might as well put it right and fit a 45a MCB .

 

[neilyboy]

yes I agree but we didnt have all the all singing and dancing equipment in the late seventies /early eighties it was a case of disconnecting everything and starting from the cu ....
we only had one megger between two of us when on the tools, I completed a pyro installation and the only way I could bell out the cores was to connect to to the supply and hope that the cores had sealed properly and the pot was on straight...

 

[davesparks]

You don't need all singing, all dancing test gear, the vast majority of fault finding jobs can be done with a simple megger.

There's a good reason that the practices of 40odd years ago are no longer acceptable, they are dangerous and have been responsible for many injuries.

 

[Specialist]

You don't need anything all seeing & dancing just an Insulation tester & maybe a Clamp meter to check Earth leakage.
If the installer left it like that though, you have to wonder what else you might find.

 

[Pete999]

Been asked to find out why a new shower is tripping a new cu rcd,
new shower 9.8kw mira
supplied with 10mm T&E
40amp mcb protected by 63a RCD
Its a new cable thats been run in and I have no equipment to test the continuity etc I went right back to basics ,missed out the 45amp DP switch and it still tripped,then wired it straight into the DP isolator switch of the cu and the shower started straight away I should also say that this cu is fed from the main house but the shower did not trip the main cu.
The mira instructions say to fit a 30a rcd

Anyone any ideas ?

Ta

Well wiring it into the CU M/S and it wont trip, cus there is nothing to trip

 

[Deleted member 9648]

I missed reading the bit about wiring it straight into the national grid....no sorry, the DP isolator in the CU.
Whatever, don't try that at home kids.

 

[neilyboy]

I dont have a megger, I have a fluke, Installation practices of 40 odd years ago are still practiced today,its the way they are installed ie bad workmanship that cause the problems,wiring systems have not changed since I was on the tools but certain regs have,earthing,testing,circuit discrimination I could go on but ultimately most of it is down to bad practice.
I would have had my a**e booted from my journeyman for some of the installations I have seen