Intemittent tripping RCD.

[Knobhead]

Ah, the true GG! I can kinda see where you're coming from Tony. On the other hand, I find it good for guys to tell us about faults they have found and how....it all adds to my/our knowledge.
Now, If only PEG would tell us about the mft that lets him do the trick he described.....

If I had to rely on advice from here for fault finding I’d have taken half (what’s left) of British industry apart trying to find a fault.

I couldn’t possibly go in to a customers home and start blundering about guessing what a fault may be based on information from here. I’d end up looking a complete chump. The customer would have no faith in my ability and would soon be telling their friends and acquaintances I was a total waste of time and money. Added to which I just couldn’t bear to be compared to a Electrical Trainee.

 

[PEG]

Which MFT were you using PEG?

Hi dude,sorry for delay,just got back from sunny Cumbria with trailer load of logs,venison and a dish-washer (long story...) Anywho,tester was a 1720,buzzer threshold can be altered on both IR and Continuity. Not certain,but i think on IR,it is adjustable from 0.5 to 500 Meg,and on continuity,0.5 to 100 Ohms.Buzzer can be enabled on both tests. So,basically,if intermittent fault,but some kind of IR value,then leave locked on IR test,if a "Short" (dislike that cover-all phrase:icon12 then switch to continuity,and set threshold accordingly. Obviously,assessment of what may work best,can ONLY be determined by the man on the ground,and,alluding slightly to Tonys' critique,a method/list/order of tasks can work well for one,but may not "export" with success...:conehead: To be brutally honest,some of my methods,on differing areas of fault finding border on the eccentric.But they have served me very well.If,however,i discovered,a local college was using some of them in their teaching methods,i would expect them to be reported asap! :icon12:

 

[HandySparks]

...Anywho,tester was a 1720,buzzer threshold can be altered on both IR and Continuity. Not certain,but i think on IR,it is adjustable from 0.5 to 500 Meg,and on continuity,0.5 to 100 Ohms.Buzzer can be enabled on both tests. ...

Your earlier post reminded me that I was going to order an ordinary continuity buzzer. My AVI has a continuity buzz, but I could do with something louder that's easy to leave clipped to a cable while I prod switches, etc.

I'm planning to get a Martindale TEK404, as it has build in protection against accidental use on live circuits. Anyone here use one, and is it any good?

Martindale TEK404 Continuity Tester with Audible & Visual Indication

 

[BLBelfast]

I have twice went to customers who's Rcds had tripped and wouldn't reset only to find they hadn't pushed them down fully then up to reset them. Think they were Hager. First time I didn't ask this on the phone so didn't charge. The second I did make it clear on the phone how to reset it so they had to pay for me to switch the Rcd back on. There was also no follow up calls

 

[Farmelectrics]

Blbeifast you should allways charge a call out fee After all were here to make a living

 

[polo1]

If I had to rely on advice from here for fault finding I’d have taken half (what’s left) of British industry apart trying to find a fault.

I couldn’t possibly go in to a customers home and start blundering about guessing what a fault may be based on information from here. I’d end up looking a complete chump. The customer would have no faith in my ability and would soon be telling their friends and acquaintances I was a total waste of time and money. Added to which I just couldn’t bear to be compared to a Electrical Trainee.

Ok Tony, fair enough, we'll just have to agree to disagree. You are putting a particular spin on your reply. Whilst I totally agree that no one should be selling their services if they don't have appropriate skills and knowledge, quite simply none of us know everything, and if we can share experience and good practice here, then we are all winners.

 

[BLBelfast]

Blbeifast you should allways charge a call out fee After all were here to make a living

Yeah I was young and naive then mate

 

[TJ Anderson]

I have twice went to customers who's Rcds had tripped and wouldn't reset only to find they hadn't pushed them down fully then up to reset them. Think they were Hager. First time I didn't ask this on the phone so didn't charge. The second I did make it clear on the phone how to reset it so they had to pay for me to switch the Rcd back on. There was also no follow up calls

MK Sentry units were (down to reset and up to close) like that until a few years back, not Hager as far as I am aware. The current MK Sentry Consumer Units are diabolical.

 

[UNG]

Ok Tony, fair enough, we'll just have to agree to disagree. You are putting a particular spin on your reply. Whilst I totally agree that no one should be selling their services if they don't have appropriate skills and knowledge, quite simply none of us know everything, and if we can share experience and good practice here, then we are all winners.

Whichever way you want to spin it I have to agree with Tony I don't think the internet is the place to be learning your trade while charging people for the experience of employing you.

It's a bit like selling yourself as a bathroom fitter then going into B&Q and picking up a handful of their how to guides to learn how to do it

 

[Knobhead]

Ok Tony, fair enough, we'll just have to agree to disagree. You are putting a particular spin on your reply. Whilst I totally agree that no one should be selling their services if they don't have appropriate skills and knowledge, quite simply none of us know everything, and if we can share experience and good practice here, then we are all winners.

The bottom line is, a Electrical Trainee won’t have had the time needed to learn fault finding techniques.

It’s something we put a lot of time and effort in to teaching our apprentices. To the point of sabotaging a plant to let them take charge and find the fault on their own. Out of their time they would need to be able to get something running quickly, downtime at £XXXX’s per minute adds a bit of urgency. Only a structured testing method will achieve that.

 

[bigbadjohn]

********s

 

[shanky887614]

MK Sentry units were (down to reset and up to close) like that until a few years back, not Hager as far as I am aware. The current MK Sentry Consumer Units are diabolical.

they trip to middle don't they.

 

[andyelectric]

The bottom line is, a Electrical Trainee won’t have had the time needed to learn fault finding techniques.

It’s something we put a lot of time and effort in to teaching our apprentices. To the point of sabotaging a plant to let them take charge and find the fault on their own. Out of their time they would need to be able to get something running quickly, downtime at £XXXX’s per minute adds a bit of urgency. Only a structured testing method will achieve that.

However.

A Electrical Trainee will not be as time pressured as they will be in a domestic situation. And, dependent on previous experience they may be well versed in fault finding.

You are full of generalisations.

 

[R G]

they trip to middle don't they.

You will find they go to a middle position and you have to latch them down and up to reset , this was something that came about on the MEM then Eaton Consumer units , Its a good facility as far as I am concerned , because it needs 2 definite actions to reset , the only thing is the home owner thinks its faulty as they can not understand why how to reset them , but easily explained though...

 

[shanky887614]

You will find they go to a middle position and you have to latch them down and up to reset , this was something that came about on the MEM then Eaton Consumer units , Its a good facility as far as I am concerned , because it needs 2 definite actions to reset , the only thing is the home owner thinks its faulty as they can not understand why how to reset them , but easily explained though...

yeah, ive come across them a few times. i really like them

 

[Engineer54]

However.

A Electrical Trainee will not be as time pressured as they will be in a domestic situation. And, dependent on previous experience they may be well versed in fault finding.

You are full of generalisations.

How else can you talk - refer - discuss electrical trainee's without making generalisations?? There are 100's of 1000's of them out there...

The fact that the vast majority would have had no electrical experience whatsoever before taking these useless/wishful thinking 17 day/5 Week courses, is a more than good enough reason to state that these chancers will have little to no fault finding skills. So your idea of these people being well versed in fault finding, is not far short of being hilarious!! In fact it's something you'd expect a electrical trainee to come out with....

 

[Marvo]

********s

Welcome to the forum bigbadjohn. As you may have noticed from your memorable first post, the forum has built-in filters to prevent bad language being used. Maybe try adding something constructive to the debate which doesn't trigger the filter.

**edit** I just saw your other 3 posts in the moderating queue......classy. They just earned you a 1 month ban before I deleted them. If you can't post in a civil manner you're going to be permanently banned next time.

 

[andyelectric]

How else can you talk - refer - discuss electrical trainee's without making generalisations?? There are 100's of 1000's of them out there...

The fact that the vast majority would have had no electrical experience whatsoever before taking these useless/wishful thinking 17 day/5 Week courses, is a more than good enough reason to state that these chancers will have little to no fault finding skills. So your idea of these people being well versed in fault finding, is not far short of being hilarious!! In fact it's something you'd expect a electrical trainee to come out with....

If you notice, I was replying to a quote. I doubt he needs you to speak up for him.

 

[Knobhead]

However.

A Electrical Trainee will not be as time pressured as they will be in a domestic situation. And, dependent on previous experience they may be well versed in fault finding.

You are full of generalisations.

How many come from a technical background?

While not pressured to the same extent as the industrial lads, they’re going to charge for their time. Time the customer has to pay for and therefore the customer should quite rightly expect an effective and efficient service.

Could you tell me what proportion of a 5 week course is dedicated to teaching fault finding techniques?

 

[trev]

you're allowed to say "arse". it's in the oxford english dictionary.

As are **** ******* **** ******** and **** The profanity filter doesn't like those words though