Free test values

Earth leakage trip test values: hold at 50%, trip at 100%

SANS 10142-1 8.6.11 and 8.6.12. Two halves, and the half people skip is the one that fails.

The rule

The earth leakage unit must sustain 50% of its rated residual current without tripping, and must trip at 100%. That is the whole test. (8.6.11)

It applies to each unit in the board, at various points of outlet, and for each phase conductor of the outlet. The tripping current you measure gets recorded on the test report. This test needs power on at the point of supply, so it is one of the last things you do.

Hold and trip values

Rated residual current I_Δn

Must hold without tripping—

Must trip at—

A reading that tripspass

A reading above the trip valuefail

—

The test button is not the test

8.6.12: press the test button and see that the unit trips. Every unit in the board, one at a time. The book says out loud what the button proves: it checks that the unit operates, not that it is sensitive. A unit can pass the button and still be wrong at 30 mA, and that is exactly why 8.6.11 exists.

What trips a sparky up

Tripping early is a pass. The clause says it must trip at 100% of I_Δn. A 30 mA unit that trips at 22 mA satisfies the trip half. It is the 50% hold that catches a unit tripping too eagerly.
Every phase conductor of an outlet, not just the first one you clipped.
More than one unit in a DB means more than one test. A board with a main 300 mA plus 30 mA circuit units has all of them to test.
Write the measured current on the report. “Trips” is not a value, and the form asks for one.

VOLT logs each trip reading on the report

Record the measured trip current per outlet, add the button test, and the CoC test report fills itself and prints to PDF. Plus loop impedance, insulation resistance and invoicing, all offline.

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Values from the SANS 10142-1 Edition 3.3 public-enquiry draft (clauses 8.4 and 8.6). Your licensed copy of the book wins over this page. VOLT is a tool, not the standard: check the clause in your own book before you sign anything.