When we have an electrical storm the earth leakage trips and in my assessments it always does when some serious lightning energy is behind it.
It hasn’t always been like that, so it is either something changed in the technology of ELCB or the lightning or maybe the environment has changed. I do not remember having to reset a ELCB – due to lightning surge – prior to maybe 10 years ago.
As a start, I replaced the unit, since we all know how important this component is, but the new one does exactly the same.
According to fault finding techniques this must mean that something other then the ELCB changed but I do not believe that. Gods rules don’t change but what men does is always a variable.
Maybe it has something to do with El Nino or the like or maybe the earthing impedance has changed – whichever way, I am not complaining. This ELCB is doing more than earth leakage protection…if any spurious energy comes via the main lines – and I don’t mean spurious in nuisance tripping, but an actual energy like lightning, it does the job reliably. I commend that. And mind you, the lightning has never succeeded in taking it out- the new one has been in 10 years easy!
Why do I bring this up now; When I researched earth leakage protection for motors, in the IEC docs, I got the impression the technical committees made it the ELCB business to cope with unwanted phenomena (Harmonics, EMI, on utility lines…but should this be so?
These are physical entities that causes the ELCB to trip and removing unwanted components is the correct action to follow, in my opinion anyway.
In other words: Do I blame the ELCB manufacturer for having changed the ELCB because my meat will now go rotten when I am not at home to reset the ELCB,
Or do I say: Thank you for isolating the circuit reliably – for I have felt the surge of lightning through my ear once – being on the phone during a lightning storm, this could just as easily have been the wifey busy with the washing machine.
Yes, I still got my ear thank you.
And more on earth leakages:
——–==================——–
[wpedon id=2236]
——–==================——–