Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19

Thread: Earth leakage trips at night??

  1. #1
    New Member
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Jhb
    Posts
    5
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Earth leakage trips at night??

    The problem I have is that my earth leakage only trips at night.
    This problem started about 2 weeks ago. So room by room I unplugged all appliances from the wall mounted sockets till I ended up unplugging everything in the house, still I had trips.
    All my appliances are on during the day and I have no trips during the day. We’re heading into winter now, so I don’t know if the cold at night has any effect on this.
    There’s not a specific time for these trips as it happens randomly during the night.
    What are the signs of a faulty earth leakage unit?

  2. #2
    Diamond Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    6,329
    Thanks
    426
    Thanked 978 Times in 795 Posts
    Or you may have moisture building up that causes a short.

  3. #3
    Diamond Member Justloadit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Johannesburg
    Posts
    3,479
    Thanks
    134
    Thanked 695 Times in 593 Posts
    Blog Entries
    1
    Or an evening visitor chewing on your wires.
    Victor - Knowledge is a blessing or a curse, your current circumstances make you decide!
    Solar pumping, Solar Geyser & Solar Security lighting solutions - www.microsolve.co.za

  4. #4
    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    4,923
    Thanks
    576
    Thanked 934 Times in 755 Posts
    Hi Jongseun, welcome to the forum.

    If you scroll down toward the bottom of this page you should see 'similar threads' are listed (maybe not if you're using a mobile device). You can read this one particularly for some fresh ideas.
    _______________________________________________

    _______________________________________________

  5. #5
    New Member
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    1
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Hello Everyone

    I am new to the forum. I work for an electrical services business in Cape Town. The problem causing nuisance tripping is ingress of moisture in the fixed electrical installation. Get a competent electrician to work on it while fault is still active.

    Maxwel

  6. #6
    New Member
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Jhb
    Posts
    5
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Where would one find moisture in the electricals? I don't have any sockets outside, just lights. It seems to be that the later I go to bed (not using allot of electricity) the later the E/L will trip...Could a faulty E/L unit also be the culprit here? I've read on here that CBI E/L units manufactured in 2006 where faulty. My place was build in 2006...
    What are the symtoms of a faulty E/L unit?

  7. #7
    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    4,923
    Thanks
    576
    Thanked 934 Times in 755 Posts
    The likelyhood of the actual earth leakage breaker being faulty is pretty slim. You'll need to get an electrician with the right equipment around to ramp test it otherwise there's a good chance you replace it and the problem still persists. Similarly if you've visually checked everything and ruled out all the appliances in the house by unplugging them then you will also need an electrician with suitable equipment and experience to locate and repair the problem.
    _______________________________________________

    _______________________________________________

  8. #8
    Diamond Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    6,329
    Thanks
    426
    Thanked 978 Times in 795 Posts
    What would be the suitable experience and equipment?

  9. #9
    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    4,923
    Thanks
    576
    Thanked 934 Times in 755 Posts
    A good understanding of general electrical safe practices, IR faults understanding and experience, knowing effective isolation of circuits, how to identify crossed and borrowed neutrals etc.

    Equipment would be a good multi-range and multi voltage Mega tester, a high res low current clamp meter, an RCD ramp tester with test wave reversal and trip timer, earth impedence tester, a general multimeter and a triplicate carbonised invoice book.
    _______________________________________________

    _______________________________________________

  10. #10
    Diamond Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    6,329
    Thanks
    426
    Thanked 978 Times in 795 Posts
    Ah....:-)

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. earth leakage unit failure
    By murdock in forum Electrical Contracting Industry Forum
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 23-Feb-12, 08:37 PM
  2. Random earth leakage problem
    By BillH in forum Electrical Contracting Industry Forum
    Replies: 39
    Last Post: 23-Jan-12, 09:37 PM
  3. Vodacom night owl
    By twinscythe12332 in forum Technology Forum
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 20-Jan-11, 12:22 PM
  4. CBI earth leakage units
    By murdock in forum Electrical Contracting Industry Forum
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 29-Oct-09, 12:44 PM

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •