What he ^^^ said  

Hi Guys,

Thanks for this good information, its exactly what I need as I am installing an Earth Leakage on the output of my inverter at present. 

My question is: how do I correctly identify the neutral wires for the circuits currently connected to the inverter loads. My DB is a challenging mess and all the neutrals are attached to a common neutral bar. I need to accurately identify each of them and re-connect via the new Earth Leakage on their own neutral bar.

Any bright ideas?

 

Thanks

18 minutes ago, Lurcher said:

Hi Guys,

Thanks for this good information, its exactly what I need as I am installing an Earth Leakage on the output of my inverter at present. 

My question is: how do I correctly identify the neutral wires for the circuits currently connected to the inverter loads. My DB is a challenging mess and all the neutrals are attached to a common neutral bar. I need to accurately identify each of them and re-connect via the new Earth Leakage on their own neutral bar.

Any bright ideas?

 

Thanks

I went through this recently as I changed my whole DB board when installing my new solar system (the old db was a post 70’s antique). 
 

What I did was identify and mark all the live wires (switching off each cb and checking what’s affected in the house). You do this, being careful, while the mains is still on. I then went and switched off power by the feed going to the house. Once I did that, I made sure that each live had a device attached at the other end (halogen light or hairdryer), in its switched on state in order to give a low impedance load at the other end. I then removed all the neutrals and measured resistance between a known live and every neutral. This identified which neutrals go with which live. As a side note, if you find a neutral that goes with a live, it’s a good idea to still make sure there’s no continuity with any of the other neutrals anyway. This ensures that you have the correct pair and you don’t have shorted neutrals elsewhere. This is time consuming but the only sure way I could think of to get it all right.

 Hi  all    I am not a sparky. But just trying to get my head around an inverter installation.  Attached below is a diagram of what i think the installation will look like .   The problem is that I would  have to install an additional light and plug circuit .  My Question is how can I connect the  the output of the inverter to use the existing house wiring  so that one plug works and all the lights.

Thanks in advance.

 

3 hours ago, gbyleveldt said:

I made sure that each live had a device attached at the other end (halogen light or hairdryer), in its switched on state in order to give a low impedance load at the other end. I then removed all the neutrals and measured resistance between a known live and every neutral. This identified which neutrals go with which live.

I agree with gbyleveld to find correct neutral for each live. Another easy method is if you have a Amp meter (clamp type) than plug in something like a small heater and measure its current if its say 8A  on live find the neutral that measures 8A.🙂

On 2020/08/15 at 5:11 PM, Gerrie said:

I agree with gbyleveld to find correct neutral for each live. Another easy method is if you have a Amp meter (clamp type) than plug in something like a small heater and measure its current if its say 8A  on live find the neutral that measures 8A.🙂

Thanks guts for this reply. It seems like the only way to go. Thankyou

 

Or if you really want to then you can strip out the whole DB and trace the neutrals back to conduit.  Ensure to mark each cable clearly

Edited August 17, 20206 yr by Bloubul7

Thanks Guys ......... Thank goodness I only have small house so sorting the neutrals should no be a problem

Tour replies much appreciated 

GordonT

One way I've seen neutrals traced... let's call this the cowboy way, is:

1. Make sure every circuit has a load connected, like a lamp or something.

2. Turn off all the live breakers.

3. Remove all the neutral wires from the neutral bar.

4. Turn on one of the breakers on the live side.

5. At this point, one (or more) of the neutral wires that are hanging in mid air is now live (the current goes via the breaker you have turned on, through the load you left plugged in, to this neutral wire. Now you can do one of two things...

5.1. Cowboy squared: Take each neutral wire, being careful not to touch it, and tap it against the neutral bar. If you see a small spark, that's the wire corresponding with the breaker currently turned on, or...

5.2. Use a digital multimeter and find the neutral wire that has a voltage on it. This method is of course preferred.

6. Mark wires in some way, then go back to step 4 until complete.

7. Don't end up dead. Work with one hand in your pocket so you don't accidentally form a path across the heart.

8. Wear rubber shoes.

9. Don't end up dead

10. Don't do any of the above, rather use the resistance test or clamp meter test suggested above.

Edited August 17, 20206 yr by plonkster

Hi All, 

Just a big thank you for everyone's help and advice.

I got the inverter up and running and we can now enjoy all the luxuries of a modern home such as lights and television during the mandatory community load shedding. 

54 minutes ago, javadog said:

Hi All, 

Just a big thank you for everyone's help and advice.

I got the inverter up and running and we can now enjoy all the luxuries of a modern home such as lights and television during the mandatory community load shedding. 

have you don't it your self?

On 2020/08/28 at 10:47 AM, Barryv said:

have you don't it your self?

I did yes. 

Basically got all the needed components from various stores. 

Worked out the neutral bar with a combination of multi meter testing and cowboy method, well only one cowboy method. 

Ensured I had the correct wiring diagram about 5 times over, ensured my life insurance was set to cover stupid stuff

and then set it all up. 

All I need to do now is put the trunking in so that it looks a tad better.

 

Awesome! Good work. 

I have re-done my DB Board as well this weekend and I'm very impressed.

Had an Electrician to come over and had look at my Board and he is very is happy with my work. That means alot to me.

 

A circuit diagram is worth a 1000 words

I see none.

I too am unsure as to the wiring especially in respect to earthing issues.

Maybe some boffin can insert a circuit diagram.

Cheers

 

Hi all, in a t-n-c-s earthing system, how do I properly ground the output of my backup power inverter? 

Keep in mind, if I share the earth terminal, once the utility power comes back on, the utility neutral and my inverter neutral will be connected

1 hour ago, Moman said:

Hi all, in a t-n-c-s earthing system, how do I properly ground the output of my backup power inverter? 

Keep in mind, if I share the earth terminal, once the utility power comes back on, the utility neutral and my inverter neutral will be connected

The nominal procedure is to disconnect the inverter IN neatral  and bond the OUT neatral to earth, when the GRID falls away, ie when the inverter changes from line mode to battery mode. This is typically performed inside the modern offgrid inverters like Axpert. If the inverter has no automatic bonding arrangement you  need to elaborate such function with a simple relay changeover contact, where the relay is controlled by GRID. 

EDIT : often, when there is no ELD  in the input grid path, then  many will merely just bond output neatral to earth via grid relay, without disconnecting the input neatral. While this works perfectly, the purist will argue that one must never have more than one overall earth bond. 

EDIT : the Sunsynk is slightly different, it automatically performs the input grid disconnection within the machine, but not the bonding. Instead it provides a convenvenient bonding control output when in battery mode, where you energize the relay and use a normally open contact to bond earth to neatral. 

Edited March 4, 20233 yr by BritishRacingGreen