Philip Wood:
In part 4 of the 'Minor Works Certificate' for RCD's it says you should use 'I∆n' and this should be the longest time it takes for the RCD to operate, or in other words the worst case scenario.
- TT system, the disconnection time of 0.2 s might not be achieved at IΔn and therefore the disconnection time should to relate to 5IΔn (if, as per the Note to 643.7.1 states, we take into account the operating characteristics of the device per Table 3A in Appendix 3) - that is unless your tester has a 2IΔn setting
Andrew Jewsbury:
- TT system, the disconnection time of 0.2 s might not be achieved at IΔn and therefore the disconnection time should to relate to 5IΔn (if, as per the Note to 643.7.1 states, we take into account the operating characteristics of the device per Table 3A in Appendix 3) - that is unless your tester has a 2IΔn setting
On the other hand it would be rather odd to specify a test that couldn't necessarily physically be performed in a compliant installation. For a 30mA RCD, BS 7671 specifies a max Zs of 1667 Ohms (table 41.5) (or thereabouts - actually is is permitted to be higher provided RA doesn't exceed that figure (but I'll ignore that for the moment), the 200Ω figure is only a suggestion) - thus the maximum earth fault current we can really rely on is 230V/1667Ω = 138mA - i.e. below the 150mA needed for a 5x test. (Or if the tester has some means of generating the extra current, the touch voltage would exceed 50V which would likely abort the test anyway).
I guess this is all a results of the discussion about removing RCD testing from the 18th - it does seem peculiar though to record the result of a test if you're not recording an indication of which test was performed.
- Andy.
I've definitely seen RCDs with longer trip times at 5IΔn than at IΔn, so IΔn is not always the "worst case" either!
Most RCD testers do not test at 2IΔn, and therefore the only option is 5IΔn.
These require RCDs for Additional Protection - in this case this would invoke the 5IΔn test. To add all these requirements together, we have a maximum loop impedance for a 30 mA RCD of 230*.95/0.15 Ω (where additional protection is needed), i.e. 1457 Ω and not 1667 Ω
We're about to take you to the IET registration website. Don't worry though, you'll be sent straight back to the community after completing the registration.
Continue to the IET registration site