Class 1 appliance with no exposed metal work to connect test lead too

Colin Jenkins:

Hello Alex13.

You have my sympathy!  The length of this thread demonstrates the unexpected complexity that lies behind a straight forward question.

As you will already know, most portable appliance defects are be found by the visual inspection.  Condition of the casing, condition of the flex, condition of the plug top, security of the flex clamps, correct size fuse etc.  The conditions of use and the age of the appliance may also need to be considered.  This covers perhaps 95% of the inspection issues.

Then come the electrical tests.  For Class I in a plastic case, my approach would certainly be to remove the terminal cover to gain access to the earth terminal, and then carry out a Class I test.  I would make it my business to include all types of tamperproof tool drivers in my kit to deal with this issue.  Should the terminal cover be glued on or otherwise not removable, one hits the buffers.  At this point, if the equipment is otherwise in good order, I would not automatically go down the "Fail" route.  Earthed metalwork is not accessible to the user.  Therefore, with the enclosure integrity already assured by the visual inspection, it cannot present an electric shock hazard to the user. "From what I have seen on my inspection, I would consider this item is safe to use".  This would include testing for a charity shop.  We have too much stuff in landfill around the globe without needlessly adding to it.  If your test sheet means a box can't be ticked, perhaps there's a "Comments" column to allow some explanation of the empty box alongside a "Pass"?  I would look to take that route.  I hope this helps.

Regards,

            Colin Jenkins.

 

That's, a fantastic help atm these are marked as visual inspection fail due to lack of an earth bond point and are currently left on a shelf waiting testing as atm I don't want to bin them but also technically can't pass them (have a personal full raft of security screw bits Inc triangle bits, most often for irons needing a new flex) until I can find a way to proceed I think this maybe covered by the new code of practice with the class 2 fe being brought in but again since not currently labelled as such again fall through the cracks, so far I have two boxes for items failing one for dumping/ tear down for spare parts, and another for those in need of parts for repair 

Sparkingchip: More interestingly I have identical downlights in my ceiling, some are Class I with an earth and some are class II, when I enquired why the manufacturer told me that they make them up to customers specifications, so the Class depends on what the customer asked for; they could all be Class II, but some customers prefer to see them earthed, so they add an earth fly lead and terminal if requested and I had ended up with a mixed batch.

Arran Cameron:

Sparkingchip: More interestingly I have identical downlights in my ceiling, some are Class I with an earth and some are class II, when I enquired why the manufacturer told me that they make them up to customers specifications, so the Class depends on what the customer asked for; they could all be Class II, but some customers prefer to see them earthed, so they add an earth fly lead and terminal if requested and I had ended up with a mixed batch.

There is an unofficial class 1.5. This is technically a class 2 but the earth conductor of the mains cable is connected to a metal stud attached to a plastic casing. The sole purpose of the metal stud is to convert a class 2 appliance into a class 1 appliance for electrical safety testing.


A certain medical device manufacturer sells class 1.5 equipment in the UK and class 2 equipment in Continental Europe. If customers request, then they can buy the opposite type.

Oh wow. Now we know we in the UK like making problems for ourselves - a hardware workaround to a purely administrative problem so we can perform an earth continuity test for an earth it does not need.