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Lack of visible supplementary Bonding

Hi Guys.   I looked a a job today with a 16th edition CU so no rcd on the bathroom lights.  There is no visible supplementary bonding. Lots of pipes boxed in, bath panel not removable.  I had a reading of pretty much zero ohms from the hot and cold below the sink to the radiator so suspect it is done somewhere.  However i suspect the lights are not done as i dropped the down lights out and the switch.   There is a class one shaver point over the sink although it doesn't have any exposed metal parts.  I am getting 0.25 ohms from the earth at the shaver to the sink pipes.  The bathroom is next to the CU, well it's outside the door so the cpc run is pretty short.  What sort of reading do i need to be seeing here before i don't need to worry about a supplementary bond.  Is 0.25 low enough.

Thanks

Gary

  • R ≤ 50V/Ia

    So working backwards, 50V/0.25Ω gives a maximum Ia of 200A - so if we're talking about B-type MCBs that trip within 5s at between 3x and 5x their rating (i.e. we might need the full 5x to ensure tripping) then anything up to a 40A device would be OK.

       - Andy.

  • Thank you.  Slight smile

  • 0.80 Ω seems rather high for a small property, even for a 1 mm² circuit.

  • especially for dc tests - if that was a  Zs result it might be at least party in the street. Recall the 'rule of  16' i.e. 1.6mm = 16SWG = 1/16 inch  and 16 milliohms per metre per mm2 of cross- section copper single core. (cold - use 19 or 20 for hot )
    In that rule of thumb, 0.8 ohms is 50metres of 1mm core (25 m there and 25m back) or proportionally further at higher cross- section (2.5 times further in 2,5mm2, 10 times further in10mm2 etc.)