Greetings. Around March last year, I had a Deye Inverter and 12 solar panels installed. The system works well, but almost immediately, I experienced Earth leakage issues with my lights. I cannot switch all my lights on at the same time (night or day) as I get an earth leakage trip. I had the problem looked at without any success.

I need a specialist in this that can isolate and fix this. I am based in the Randburg area.

Could you please suggest someone/company I can contact.

Thanks.

Edited May 2, 20242 yr by baf001
clarification

I can help if you are patient & can wait until Next week....

Edited May 2, 20242 yr by Steve87

Switch all your light circuit breakers off, switch them on one by one until the earth leakage trips  ,then you know which circuit is causing it.

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7 minutes ago, Shockin said:

Switch all your light circuit breakers off, switch them on one by one until the earth leakage trips  ,then you know which circuit is causing it.

,

That can work, except if there a little bit of earth leakage on the common neutral circuit. 

To the OP, what type EL do you have and is it installed after the inverter? 

15 hours ago, Steve87 said:

I can help if you are patient & can wait until Next week....

Thank you, Steve. I will wait for your comms next week.

4 hours ago, Shockin said:

Switch all your light circuit breakers off, switch them on one by one until the earth leakage trips  ,then you know which circuit is causing it.

,

I did try that and it seemed like I could switch them on until I got to a certain limit and then the trip happens. It depends on the sequence.

4 hours ago, Vaal said:

That can work, except if there a little bit of earth leakage on the common neutral circuit. 

To the OP, what type EL do you have and is it installed after the inverter? 

The original was a Shneider RCCB (EZ9R03263) and I had it changed to another one but with the same effect. Yes, it is installed after the inverter.

Edited May 3, 20242 yr by baf001
more info

11 minutes ago, baf001 said:

The original was a Shneider RCCB (EZ9R03263) and I had it changed to another one but with the same effect. Yes, it is installed after the inverter.

This is a good case where the 1st one should have been checked to see that it doesn't work as it should before just guessing that it is faulty and replacing it. 

55 minutes ago, Scorp007 said:

This is a good case where the 1st one should have been checked to see that it doesn't work as it should before just guessing that it is faulty and replacing it. 

But you need some knowledge and skills to do that. This is like me fixing a fluorescent lamp. I have no way of knowing which of the various bits is playing up. I start off with the starter and if that doesn't work then the local electrical store usually makes some nice money out of me that day because I will start changing things out at random.

Eventually what I did was to by pass all the internal bits and pieces and put LED tubes in. You can only put them in one way around if you drive them directly off the mains, but I marked the "hot" end in each enclosure. Rather an expensive way of fixing lights, most of which were working, but I will never again have to open one of those up and look at the various bits and pieces and wonder which one it is, or spend the money to find out.

The real moral of the story is to call the experts first time. I now do this for anything more complicated than a light switch. A little knowledge is an expensive thing.

1 hour ago, Bobster. said:

But you need some knowledge and skills to do that. This is like me fixing a fluorescent lamp. I have no way of knowing which of the various bits is playing up. I start off with the starter and if that doesn't work then the local electrical store usually makes some nice money out of me that day because I will start changing things out at random.

Eventually what I did was to by pass all the internal bits and pieces and put LED tubes in. You can only put them in one way around if you drive them directly off the mains, but I marked the "hot" end in each enclosure. Rather an expensive way of fixing lights, most of which were working, but I will never again have to open one of those up and look at the various bits and pieces and wonder which one it is, or spend the money to find out.

The real moral of the story is to call the experts first time. I now do this for anything more complicated than a light switch. A little knowledge is an expensive thing.

I just took my brief for having it changed so the dangerous thing I assumed it was changed by a sparky/skilled person. 

22 hours ago, baf001 said:

 I cannot switch all my lights on at the same time (night or day) as I get an earth leakage trip.

Gents, please read what the OP said.😇

34 minutes ago, Virwat said:

Gents, please read what the OP said.😇

100%. It could be only 1 light being wet causing the trip(24/7). I think one can with certainty say the E/L is not at fault and not worth changing again. 

Hope we get the cause of the tripping when sorted out in a weeks time 😃

Fault finding Rcd trips could be a slippery slope not always easy to diagnose. Before changing the Rcd it should be tested with no load using a ramp tester to determine the trip threshold normally between 26~28ma.( healty Rcd)

Then if possible with Rcd in the energised statethe Ct imbalance between live and neutral at the bottom of Rcd should be checked with a ma clamp meter to see how much leakage does exist with Rcd in the energized state. If the test reveal that there is little leakage current(8~20ma) then individual curcuit diagnosis should be done.

Should a specific curcuit be suspected the live and neutral of that curcuit should be isolated and IR(megger)test should be performed.

Intermittent tripping faults are challenging to pinpoint as they often result from a blend of acceptable functional leakage and multiple minor earth leakage faults across circuits and appliances. The complexity lies in the fact that each individual fault may not be significant enough to cause a problem on its own. Thus, troubleshooting becomes confusing for homeowners, as disconnecting one fault may temporarily solve the issue due to the cumulative effect of the remaining faults staying below the RCD tripping threshold.

Edited May 3, 20242 yr by TaliaB

8 hours ago, TaliaB said:

Fault finding Rcd trips could be a slippery slope not always easy to diagnose.

This!

Even for a qualified sparkie it can take many hours to get to the bottom of the issue.

.....but the homeowner can't understand why you charged him for more than 1 hour labour😢

How about removing the lights from the earth leakage all together...Plugs are legally required to be placed onto an RCD. Lights are not a must. 

 

21 hours ago, Bobster. said:

Eventually what I did was to by pass all the internal bits and pieces and put LED tubes in. You can only put them in one way around if you drive them directly off the mains

I have just rewired 8 x double fluorescent fittings to accept LED tubes fitted any way around.

Does any one want or need 8 x Electronic Ballasts? Free to a good home, just pay for the courier.

2 hours ago, Thunderdolt said:

I have just rewired 8 x double fluorescent fittings to accept LED tubes fitted any way around.

Does any one want or need 8 x Electronic Ballasts? Free to a good home, just pay for the courier.

From your any way round I take it you used the China mall type tubes. They have the L and N on opposite sides of the tube. All other LED tubes have the L and N on one side normally marked power and no connection on the other side 2 pins. 

Should the normal type LED tube be used and you install a China mall LED type you will bridge out the L and N. 

I have not tried yet😀

What size tubes do you have the spare ballast. Area? 

Edited May 4, 20242 yr by Scorp007

On 2024/05/04 at 10:14 AM, Steve87 said:

How about removing the lights from the earth leakage all together...Plugs are legally required to be placed onto an RCD. Lights are not a must. 

 

Someone also suggested that to me some time ago. Please go ahead with that option next week.

28 minutes ago, baf001 said:

Someone also suggested that to me some time ago. Please go ahead with that option next week.

I actually dislike removing a safety device to shield a know unsafe condition. 

Even if not required RCDs does offer protection as we do normally have metal light fittings and can give a shock during bulb replacement. 

On 2024/05/04 at 6:30 AM, Virwat said:

This!

Even for a qualified sparkie it can take many hours to get to the bottom of the issue.

.....but the homeowner can't understand why you charged him for more than 1 hour labour😢

Once RCBO's become available and affordable in SA it would be a walk in the park to diagnose residual current but for now we stuck with experience expertise  and time to pinpoint the fault some easier than others.

Edited May 5, 20242 yr by TaliaB

23 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

All other LED tubes have the L and N on one side normally marked power and no connection on the other side 2 pins. 

Those are the ones I always use. The other side 2 pins are shorted together internally which enables the tube wiring to accomodate either way round fitting.

The ballasts are for 2 x 1500mm tubes:

There are 8 and I am near Richmond KZN

Edited May 5, 20242 yr by Thunderdolt
add INTERNALLY

On 2024/05/04 at 2:14 PM, Scorp007 said:

From your any way round I take it you used the China mall type tubes. They have the L and N on opposite sides of the tube. All other LED tubes have the L and N on one side normally marked power and no connection on the other side 2 pins. 

Which is what I have (and they are Chinese). My understanding is that if you leave all the other gubbins in place you can put the tube in any way around. If you do as I did and bypass all those bits and pieces and drive the tube directly from mains THEN you have to be sure of which end is which.

But I may have misunderstood. Anyway, I put five of them in, and they all worked first time, so I did something right.

A meggar insulation tester  helps a lot to point you in the right direction. But it is not a generally used meter. 

When converting a ballasted fluorescent fitting to Led remember to use a fuse in the starter's place. It looks like a starter but it is a fuse.

Edited May 5, 20242 yr by Vaal

18 minutes ago, Vaal said:

A meggar insulation tester  helps a lot to point you in the right direction. But it is not a generally used meter. 

When converting a ballasted fluorescent fitting to Led remember to use a fuse in the starter's place. It looks like a starter but it is a fuse.

This is the easy way as per instructions on the box of the tube. In the fuse/starter you mention those 2 wires and also just be bridged out. 

@Bobster. Slight misunderstanding. A China tube you can put in any way. If the non China was rewired with L and N on the one side if you put a China tube in you make a direct short between L and N. Each side of a China tube has a short between the 2 pins on both sides as the L and N is on the opposite sides of the tube. 

Edited May 5, 20242 yr by Scorp007

13 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

This is the easy way as per instructions on the box of the tube. In the fuse/starter you mention those 2 wires and also just be bridged out. 

@Bobster. Slight misunderstanding. A China tube you can put in any way. If the non China was rewired with L and N on the one side if you put a China tube in you make a direct short between L and N. Each side of a China tube has a short between the 2 pins on both sides as the L and N is on the opposite sides of the tube. 

I can't remember the details now. The tubes are marked at one end, and if you power them directly using 230V the power has to go in that end. The guy at the store told me if I leave the ballast and everything else in the circuit then I could fit them either way around. Oh... and I did seven of them in the end. In each case leaving all the other components physically in place but bypassing them.

The Chinese brands and businesses... They will make anything you want, which may be their cleverness. You want it as cheap as possible? Sure, we can do that. You want it built to this specification? Sure, we can do that too. 

For lighting I have one reliable store that I go to. Great service, good prices, and everything I buy there lasts longer than what I get from the big chain stores. So I tell them what I want, and I take whatever they hand me over the counter, which is inevitably Chinese in origin.