Fault finding commercial street lighting columns
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- In this video i've been tasked with investigating an unknown fault on a commercial street lighting circuit, which literally tested my fault finding patience!
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The works carried out in the video and the opinions shared are my own, and not representative of the associates and companies in the video.
This content is purely for entertainment purposes and is in no way a "how to", tutorial or educational video.
Please consult an electrician when dealing with any electrical installations.
#electricianlife #electrical #electricalengineering 
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Brilliant video mate 👍 Your the reason I'm going back to college at 28 to become an electrcian. You enthusiasms for the industry is infectious. Hope the videos keep coming 🙏
He’s the man
Same here
Electrical theory is so difficult to understand
Love watching real world fault finding. Watching experienced sparkies in real world scenarios. Thanks for making the videos and sharing the knowledge
Been retired for a while now I was a spark for just over 50 years the last 10 I worked maintenance in large buildings doing everything from changing a lamp, and running 200A three-phase supplies to large Appliances and High Voltage Switching. Loved working out fault finding. I like your style it reminds me a little of my younger days in contracting. There is nothing to beat using logical reasoning to create a plan instead of going on hunches. I would have split the circuit to narrow down the fault for speed. I also would have done a small schematic for any future problems or checked to see if there were any as-fitted drawings. You are a credit to the trade and a young man with a bright future keep up the good work.
Agree with splitting circuit. The cutouts in those columns are awkward to work on. The cutouts where the double pole fuse carrier can be removed are much better and make testing the circuit easier.
My bet would be water ingress past one of the seals on the lamp lenses, which would cause condensation in the fitting, which would have been getting dried off as the sun heated it through the day, or condensation on the switch gear causing tracking (especially that one with the rusted terminal screw) as your IR readings were rising. Great channel, keep up the good work. All the best, Pete 👍
With the way the fault tracked as you disconnected each leg, sounds like the initial fault might have been false due to isolators being on. Issue
with such a long run of columns with no secondary fuses installed could be a fault on any of the luminaires and difficult to find.
Noticed the cables coming down didn't have drip loops, if there is moisture getting into the column and into top of isolator could be the potential issue.
Lamps on posts can be pretty vulnerable to weather damage (even if they are IP rated); wind can drive water in.
One method I've used with some success is to disconnect the lamp at each post (all of them), leaving the cable intact.
Test the cable right through, if it's clear then start adding back one light at a time (admittedly it can be time consuming and tedious this way).
I've just been tracing a fault from an emergency lighting test, 12 maintained bulkheads over exit doors that "failed a 3hr test", and the supply was from "DB-2-7-4"; the 12 lights were actually 2 circuits of 6 (neither of which were related to DB-2-7-4).
Intermittent faults across long circuits like that are so time consuming. At least you now know to start at the other end of the circuit first if you have to go back. Look forward to more videos in the future👍👍
This is a great video, don’t worry too much about what’s good for content, this is showing how daily funding goes for the apprentices watching.
Sweet video Mike. Yeah I’ve been sent to many strange street lighting faults. Just a little advice if I may. Though you had control of the circuit in terms of isolation I would also follow the Test before you touch practice. It’s a common standardised requirement on the rail which Ive adopted and practice daily on any electrical enclosures
Could it have been a pressure fault on one of the cut outs? A cable may have been trapped and when you removed the cover it was rectified
Memories, back in 1973 total of 6 x 70w sodium vapour lamps on 6 x lamp posts tripping a D16 amp mcb, time curve 320 amps at 0.4 s. Fault finding first lamp post swa clear, middle lamp post swa clear, final lamp post swa down, trace the fault sodium vapour lamp control gear transformer breaking down. The transformer a short circuit until the magnetic field builds ( inrush current) hence the mcb tripping.
1969 given great tips by a sparks born in the year 1910, first always suspect faulty components, second visual inspect 230/400v ( at the time 240/415 v ) supply cables and terminations, third megger out first, middle and last what ever your testing this save hours running around as a headless chicken. Also had faults caused by tree roots crushing the swa. Ducting collapsed the debris crushing the swa when heavy vehicles driving over the ground. As always great video.
So sick mannnnn, that cine work 😍
Interesting video. Always a shame when you can`t put your hand on a definite fault. I don`t like those double pole breakers as we get problems with them quite a lot of the time. I use a telescopic pole with a home made photocell cover made out of a piece of 4" ducting to cover higher up photocells.
Man I hate it when your fault finding and the fault disappears, its the weirdest feeling I JUST WANA BLOODY KNOW WHAT IT WAS 😂Cross your fingers and walk away - always good to be back on the tools 🤘
Would enjoy seeing a review of the tester mate. I’m a Kewtech man myself I’ve had my KT64 for about 10 years now! Still going strong and was second hand when I got it! Always calibrates and gives sound readings.
I’ve got a Megger 1731 but genuinely prefer my Kewtech so easy to use and navigate.
@@residualelectrical Definitely mate, love all the RCD times on one page too so handy 🤜🏻👌🏻
I enjoyed the content. Good to see you in your element and thriving. I look forward to more videos Mike.
Weirdest fault we had was in a 16 storey council residential block. A ring main served 16 sockets, one on each floor in the riser cupboards. Insulation resistance was bang down. This circuit also fed TV amps so we were keen to get it back on! We split the circuit but the fault still existed on both sides. It was only when we'd taken every socket off that the fault cleared. Turned out the sockets were too deep for the back boxes and the circuit had been wired in conduit passing through the sockets, so the sockets were pressing on the cables. The sockets were old power breaker rcd sockets which are now obselete and a non standard size. We worked out as a temp fix, plastic single to twin conversion patresses fitted perfectly over the back boxes. Fitted them all but it don't meet the spec for that building as they want it all metal. So the whole circuit is being rewired at some point.
My boy... back on the tools. Sweet. 👍
Great little video. Love the fact you've got a camera guy, (is he also helping with the editing?)... so hopefully more content from here on in.
Anyway great to see you back. Respect 💪👊
Great video and the fault is probably caused by smokers told they cannot smoke next to the doors of the building so have found a way to knobble the outside lighting
Great content, would love more troubleshooting videos
Best sparky video I seen in ages mate
@@residualelectrical your welcome brother I'm sparky and gas inspector by trade
Nice to see you back on the tools Mike 👍
Nice one, just goes to show that things aren't as straight forward as you think. Imo definitely think it's damp as the IR rises slowly then clears. Compressed cables sometimes give the same thing but the rise is fairly rapid. Also see this in damp motors but a couple of blasts at 1000v generally clears that 😂
@@residualelectrical 😂
I hate them faults that you that get fixed or disappear whilst tracing it, can never be confident to tell the customer you definitely fixed it. Great video Mike, keep em coming 👌
Bro your content is so sick!im a domestic sparky and I really want to get into commercial!i lm so lost watching your videos because there’s so much more to learn 😅keep up the vids man
Look forward to more content mate.!! With the turn of the year comes the dreaded water ingress faults. Had loads of them where you turn up to find a breaker off…split circuitry to find no fault on cables. Test, reinstate and they all work to go back the following day to find the mcb off again 🤦🏻♂️😂😂. Control gear on the old type son T and MBF fittings can also cause issues which can be very inconsistent.
Great stuff 🤘🏼🤘🏼
I work in streetlighting and the SWA work in those columns were appalling! If i left anything like that at work I'd get the sack!🤣
Nice to see you back on the tools again, hopefully more to come? 👍
Well done,young man
Loving these sorts of videos mate, great content. Look forward to more of them! 🤜⚡️
I had a similar one. Customer had used an IP rated inline joint to connect an outdoor light. The RCD would occasionally trip. Tested the cct and found an intermittent fault - devils to find when it's in clear mode. Turned out rain water was in the inline joint because he hadn't sealed it properly, and the fault appeared only when the wind blew hard enough to move the joint and short the connections.
The frequency of ads is annoying and distracting.
Fantastic seeing you back on the tools Mikey and looking so excited! Have a look at Ryan's RSD Electrical YT channel from Glasgow for some shocking street column nightmares.
Awesome
Life hack: Those lamp posts can fit a 9mm socket most of the time, so give your wrists a holiday and use any driver instead of those garbage cross keys. Some are slightly smaller so keep an 8mm on you or an imperial that's under 9mm. When we had to inspect like 200 of these, they were lifesavers
Nice work guys , wishing to working over there in the UK, I'm currently in the PV solar . If you need a handy man I would love the job and I'm very eager to learn from you the masters of the trade
Great video Mike. We have all been there with those types of faults that we never find 👍🏼
Hi mate, were you testing L&N combined to CPC when insulation resistance testing to avoid the lamps in circuit or testing all three combinations but just testing at 240V?.
We’ve all had faults like that with no answer, all you can do is work methodically through
Great video here. Could you explain more about how to wire the manual override in a future video please. Keep up the great work.
Plus one.
Love those disappearing faults.
Great vid bro
Brilliant video mate, prefer these types to be honest. Great content.👍🏼
I sometimes use a single straight from the breaker and put it in A1 to override the photocell
Those are sum cool looking street lights you are working on
such good content, perfect reasoning and methodology: it shows you are a very good technician/electrician! thank you for sharing with us!
Frustrating I suspect moisture ingress and those covers for the cables don’t look water tight either. Anyway any luck on the boddingtons insulated inspection mirrors are they in stock on loadout?
That tester looks exactly the same as my Kyoritsu 6516. Does it give a dielectric absorption rating reading when using insulation resistance? There is a table somewhere that tells you what the results mean with regards to drit/water ingress. Even in the case of brittle windings on 3 phase motors etc. Its a super cool function I have used a few times during preventative maintenance to find failing equipment.
Been there before, chasing a low IR that eventually disappears, very frustrating.
I found the camera settings a bit difficult to watch. When you blur the background, sometimes it was blurring your hand and equipment, other times it was blurring your face. It couldn't see the Impedance readings on the meter. Perhaps try a different video effect.
Nice jacket. Any chance of a link?
Would appreciate links to your work fits in future video descriptions😁
i must say you do know your job ,i like what you do down to earth ;;
Did you go in each lamp first and flick them all off?
Did you jump in the picker and do a visual inspection of the lamps, could be a damaged seal.
@@residualelectrical looking forward to follow up, I wonder if the continues IR test, somehow dried out the the fault giving you good readings at the end of the job.
You've proven that the cable is ok, terminations are ok'ish.
Bet you a klien screwdriver it's a fault on the lamp side, water ingress.
Enjoyed your logical approach.
My guess would be moisture in the terminals or maybe a pinched sheathing on a termination? Nice video mate 👍🏼
pinched sheathing on a termination wouldn't cause a breaker to trip though would it?
move photo cell lower,i always turn on off breakers in fault finding,so you can see it trip,then look up at all lights to look for water or rust , i did 2 years of fault finding on outside lights, then you could test contactors sometimes they burn out,if you have a contactor its rare for photocell to burn out i would use small fluke and see if wires are touching we dont use megga, here , i can find fault in about 5 minutes,water causes most problems,so it only happens with rain
Great Vlog mate what make is your orange Hi-Viz and do you sell them ?
I've just started 2391 so this video is mint mate 👍
Hey Mike…. Nice watch!
For future reference standard photocells always fail in the ‘ON’ position 🙂
(But not part night they fail both open and closed…)
Keep up the content!! 👌🏼
Surprised the heads are on 32a breakers? 😮
Good Vid Mikey, good to see you getting site work again, where you been hiding? 😁
@rsdelectrial might spot the fault, hes always in lampposts.
Sometimes just taking it apart then reconnecting is all it needs.
Wait guys is this where they Always on street light
Did you have to go back there?
14:00 made me wince!
when are you going to restock the veto bags on your shop?
@@residualelectrical it was the VETO PRO PAC TECH PAC Blackout 👍👍
Really good 👍
what is the other key switch doing?
hey man where do you think i could learn more about electrics to get better? i work as an electrician building panels (not UK) but the school i went to was short and didnt teach a lot, any manuals you would recommend that i can find online? i have tons of manuals that teach formulas and engineering but none that teaches fault finding, all the complete testing procedures EICR and what are they for and so on, for example i was watching artisan electrics a few days ago where they tried to install a TESLA wall battery that needed a secondary TT earth electrode for when main is off and they argued about the section of the PE then read something in a manual they had with schematics and recommandations but i couldnt find such manual online
What coat is that? Is it worth the purchase?
He’s back 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Where did you get your jacket from? ❤
Nice video.
Good Very good 👍
So many of your fault finding techniques are used in copper telecoms when finding faults in cables through numerous joints. Sadly copper telecoms are a dying career now that fibre is replacing it. :(
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You guys are really spoiled with room in your enclosures, our would most lightly be cramped in one a third of the size.
⚠️ Complaint: please can you stop making so watchable great vlogs…. I’m trying to get some work done!!! ⚠️🌈🤣