But what's that number, and where are they?
You can manage to do an awful lot of disconnections for testing if they're all accessible and all done at one location, such as the CU. The killer for time spent is when you have to walk the length of a circuit, doing things at intervals around it.
In the distribution box, one per ring.
Then you walk round with the meter testing sockets, or use a *long* lead on the test meter.
However, the claim that prompted my question was that it could be done without breaking *any* connections, using standard test gear, on a circuit with dual earth connections.
No, an earth loop test for each socket, which involves disturbing connections in the consumer unit.
It was claimed that this test could be done on a system with two earths using standard test gear without disturbing the installation.
The real killer is that after you reconnect it you can't then test it and it may well have developed a fault due to the act of reconnecting it. You can't claim its has a high integrity when the mere act of testing it may cause an undetectable fault. Not unless you redefine what high integrity means.
I think dennis has just turned into dribble - he seems to be looping.
Someone reset him...
One would typically test a circuit at the CU when installing it (i.e. before assembling!), when you have access to the origin of the cabling. A round trip resistance check on the earth will tell you most of what you need to know alongside the usual tests for a radial power circuit. A
16th edition style high current loop test (with RCD wired out) would be worth doing on the complete circuit.For periodic testing. a non tripping earth loop test, repeated at a few sockets along the circuit will let you verify that both earth paths are still in place.
Then you are thinking of the resistance readings for the ring. That is not needed to prove continuity after the initial testing and commissioning.
When the system is installed then you would test the continuity of the ring. This will need the ring to be disconnected from the bus bar or be tested before connection. But you also take an earth loop reading at the final socket on the circuit (a simple plug in test). That value will not alter if the ring remains in place[1] and you can check the circuit at any time by plugging the earth loop tester into the final socket at any time.
[1] If the supply characteristics alter then they would alter the reading however you would still only need to test the incoming supply to correct the reading (or use a test socket), and there would still be no need to disconnect anything.
Can he claim back the VAT on that underwear?
I think he is secretly Count Arthur Strong;
Count Arthur Strong is a former variety star living in the North of England. The Count, now in his old age, has delusions of grandeur. He has selective memory loss, never hearing what he doesn't want to and malapropism-itis, which result in his confusing anyone he happens to be talking to and even confusing himself. However, he more often than not blames the people he is talking to for causing the confusion in the first place. On the few occasions Count Arthur does realise that it he who is in the wrong, he tries to lie out of his predicament, often unsuccessfully.
A typical conversation for the Count will involve his confusing both himself and others, while becoming drastically sidetracked from the matter in hand. He is usually oblivious to the chaos he causes, often blaming his interlocutors for any confusion. On the rare occasions he realises he is at fault, he often attempts to divert the blame by lying. Inevitably becoming confused by his own lies, his last resort is usually to claim he was recording a stunt for a hidden camera show.
Fits like a glove......
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