How To Verify New Installation and Test MEN Switchboard

Advanced: How to test and verify a new MEN switchboard and installation!!! Australia and New Zealand.

Complete including explanations to testing and procedures.
Including Visual testing, main earth conductor, earthing, insulation resistance, polarity, switchboard connections, line polarity, earth fault loop impedance and RCD testing. Explaining tests and discussing faults.

To current legislation and wiring rules in Nz. AS/NZS 3000:2007.

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[baddisslay]

Bless you for that sneeze at the start

[taihapemike]

Thanks mate! You made more sense in this vid than the long winded muppet i work with did in 6 months of lunches

[davidowens]

Awesome Dave Thanks for the refresher never to old to go over all testing procedures

[goodvibes]

Great effort these videos take time to produce thanks for the content Dave. The IR for existing installations is 1 megohm for new I believe it is 50 megohms. The main earth resistance does need to be taken at the earth stake / rod to take into account that connection. Equipotential bond similarly onto the metallic material not the connection device.

[seanmcclure]

I interpreted it as If you actually calculate maximum demand on the three final subcircuits and it comes in under the RCD rating, that is still compliant, as opposed to just adding up each sub circuits rating.

[rockyolsson]

Love the video mate, I live in Nauru and there are many so call sparkies that are wiring houses and never do any test before utilities liven the building/house which is very dangerous for home owners. I work for the biggest private company and I done all our electrical from homes to hospitals, government offices and even the Australian embassy. I always do installation test and earth test to make sure everything is correct and safe before utilities hook up the power supply. Most of the homes that have been done by other electrician have problems and I would be called to check if it’s been wired properly and it is a disaster. Don’t know why it is even connected by utilities and I have to correct it and make it safe so no one would get electrocuted. Very few electrician follow the AS/NZS code or don’t even know anything about it and yet utilities still connected the house they wired. But now we are going to have our own electrical code which is based on the AS/NZS rule book which is good. I have three apprentice that work with that have already moved on to be good and trusted electricians and I am very proud of them. And regarding this video I have encouraged them to watch and let it be a reference or reminder when testing on homes they wired. Anyway keep them videos coming .Cheers.

[ezequielvaldivia]

Good video, I´m Electrician certified too and the DS8(Chilean law for electrical instalations), contain more rules bout the wiring and main box, for security here it´s must install main breaker protector that protect cut omnipole phase and neutral "always" over all if exist more than three circuits + pilot light.. i´ve learned much with you videos.. I´m preparing my visa. thanks a lot, see´u soon over there in NZ..

[colinreid]

Excellent information and will hopefully improve electrical installation standards and safety.

[AgunziLFC]

Love your vids, i feel im learning more from watching yours than i am at Ara, its helping me a lot, thanks :)

[JasonTMND]

Great video Dave, I watched this a couple of times ahead of my electrical refresher course and made some useful notes.

I have replicated the polarity test plug too, this has made polarity testing 100% simpler for out in the field.

Cool tip: I plug the polarity testing plug into a surface socket and have the alligator leads out of the terminals on there to replicate the lead version you have.

Keep up the quality content!

[yanfishtwig]

thanks for the knowledge M8 + hi from uk wales
...er i suppose i should add i know what yr showing may well not all apply to UK installations but it helped me to start to wrap my head round the tests. and ive enough experience in electronics to know a cautious cat is soon to be making whoopy with a reckless cats widow .. you know of course after a respectfull minute or 2 of mourning

[Kratos-pzcd]

Dude I’ve learnt so much from you. Great videos!

[waynejackson]

Main earth resistance, you must test from the earth electrode (peg) (not the brass clamp) to the earth bar.

[P.James.]

Thanks a lot Dave. I appreciate you going out of your way to help others by making videos with great workmanship and professionalism 'straight out of the trade', so to speak.

I'm doing a pre-trade at ETCo.

[damiengrant]

Hey bro, excellent video. This shows you have skills not just as a sparky but also teaching, and making videos. Good man and well done. There are a few good points in the comments regarding testing which could be taken on board but I am definitely not trying to be negative or pick at your work. I actually really like it!!! Please do more

[Cashiez]

4:54 I have to agree but as a student I stumbled apon a SIT Polytech Relicensing course booklet

which states based on 3000.2.6.2.1

"The load rating of the RCD is not the sum of the number of connected circuit breakers but that of the largest single circuit breaker"

so it sounds like there might be some interpretion within the industry?

Although I personally agree with your statement Dave.

[Cashiez]

I'm a student Dave & hate to through the book around, I totally have to agree with video time . 4:25 talking about RCD rating and maximum demand of sub circuits,

AS/NZS 3000: 2007 - 2.6.2.1 say's that the maximum demand of the portion of the electrical installation being protected by the device or

the highest current rating of any overload protective device on the portion of the electrical installation being protected .

I have a a SIT polytechnic paper which translates this portion to being:

2.6.2.1 [B] the highest sub circuit rating, so if we have 3x20 AMP MCB's = 60 AMPS, 20 AMPS being the highest rating, then this complies.

therefore 16+16+6 = 38 but technically 16 amps is the highest rating and therefore complies

BUT

I remember that there are 4 way's of interpreting Maximum demand: (So Looked up the wiring rules)

2.2.2 (d) limitation

partial quote "may be determined by the sum of the current settings of the circuit-breakers"

so this appears to have taught me somthing.

:-D

[bigbobbyjohnson]

Really appreciate this video mate thank you!

[Bipolarvideos]

Dave, could you do a video on binding stranded with solid, and other small challenges a new sparkie might run into.

[hallowadventure]

Hey Dave, when you're referring to what regs say, you should drop a clause number, to back yourself up, since other people are shooting through their interpretations. :D