ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Across 2 phases

Bad day to today, wont bore you alll with the details but the local power company moved the meters and cutouts on the job we are carrying out, to a temporay posistion, it has a 2 phase supply, they only reconnectd me across 2 phases, and then left with out noticing.

not good, in fact could have killed some one at worst..it has only blown up all my flourescent lights in the loft.

lesson here for all of us,, i loop tested the supply after they had left and all was well ,, i must have the only loop tester to work on 415v ( unless you know different)also those little ole socket testers will show all is well on 415v..

how do you submit pics to this forum,, in 2 weeks i start this job and you wont belive what the the owner has done, so would like to share it with you..
this is somthing you just dont expect..

[This message has been edited by PaulCornwall (edited 05-27-2004).]

You mean they neglected to connect the neutral? That could be nasty, especially if it's PME.

If you already have some webspace to keep your images, you can link to them in a post with the appropriate UBB tags. Have a look here for details.

If you don't have any webspace or can't spare it, just e-mail the images to me and I'll put them on ECN's server for you.

Paul-C,I take it that they connected the neutral to a phase, giving you 400 at all outlets. Nasty! The I use the new Mwgger MFT 1500 multi-function tester and that will let you test across 400 P/P. I also use Chauvin Arnoux C.A 6115 that's a great piece of kit (except for the mile long leads that have to be untangled before every test). You can set all sorts of parameters in it and as soon as you hook it up it bleeps and spits at you if something is on the line that it does not like.

Hang on a sec Paul Cornwall,
If you had 415V at your fittings, would that not mean that a Neutral had been left out and swapped for a Phase conductor?.
2 Phase 400V is quite common here in the country for Ranges and other heavy loads.
Are your Power Authorities, not required to do a polarity test after they energise an installation, temporary or not?.

Yep its has two phase's and neutral of course,, thats right trumpy, they connected my neutral to the second phase,

In there defence, i loop tested the earth rod and on my loop tester it also shows polarity, which showed ok, across 400v, not sure how thats happened, so the assumption was all was ok..

But to answer your question they didnt check polarity..