Meg ohm testing
I would like to discuss Meg-ohm testing, I know this is a touchy subject for alot of electricians and a lot would say it’s not needed and Meg testing is really only done on motors and transformers etc…
But believe it or not it’s really good at testing the insulation of the wiring and I don’t mean just the yellow coated jacket on romex. I mean the flow of electrons/ current through the actual conductor.
I have really tried to do my dudiligence on the Megger and have contacted both Megger and Fluke to go over how the equipment operates and what we use it for in the residential field.
Now we know that Industry standard for romex wiring to be tested is a rule of thumb of double the rating of the voltage of wiring Wich Romex is rated for 600 volts and 1 megaohm is sufficient passing standards also backed by Mike Holt. But we have a Fluke Megger that tops out at 1k v at a total cap at
2.2 gigaohm/2200 megaohm.
When we test brand new wiring it quickly gets to 2.2 Wich is perfect and expected for brand new wiring
And we also know it will be subject to change considering when the circuit goes through the walls, dirt,moisture,staples,backstab connections, poorly made joints all play a factor.
Now considering all these possibilities when we have circuits that are dedicated and we test the connections when they are open and seeing that there is a slow rise and we get 200,256, 300, 150 megaohm testing at 1046v low current then even though the industry says wiring is fine doesn’t mean when we install Arc Fault or Gfcis that it will work properly considering wiring that is not testing out far less than perfect readings on my end. Wich takes us to nuisance tripping especially now that we have to Arc Fault 70 to 80 percent of the panel Wich leads to higher costs and callbacks.
Of coarse none of this was required back then because everything works on just a standard breaker that isn’t for specific arcing or self testing for faults.
And a big part of this conflict comes up due to homes being struck by lightning or the parameters of the home being affected causing surges in the home Wich we know The whole house surge protector helps with but , if anyone has went to as many lightning strikes homes that I have than you would know that the lighting causes a shock to the system Wich can lead to higher resistance on wiring or staples to dig into romex or even blow out.
So please tell me your thoughts or how we can get this to the right hands to be able to really understand how wiring that test at a minimum of 1 megaohm even up to 600 to 700 megaohm work properly on gfci or arc fault devices.
I would like to discuss Meg-ohm testing, I know this is a touchy subject for alot of electricians and a lot would say it’s not needed and Meg testing is really only done on motors and transformers etc…
But believe it or not it’s really good at testing the insulation of the wiring and I don’t mean just the yellow coated jacket on romex. I mean the flow of electrons/ current through the actual conductor.
I have really tried to do my dudiligence on the Megger and have contacted both Megger and Fluke to go over how the equipment operates and what we use it for in the residential field.
Now we know that Industry standard for romex wiring to be tested is a rule of thumb of double the rating of the voltage of wiring Wich Romex is rated for 600 volts and 1 megaohm is sufficient passing standards also backed by Mike Holt. But we have a Fluke Megger that tops out at 1k v at a total cap at
2.2 gigaohm/2200 megaohm.
When we test brand new wiring it quickly gets to 2.2 Wich is perfect and expected for brand new wiring
And we also know it will be subject to change considering when the circuit goes through the walls, dirt,moisture,staples,backstab connections, poorly made joints all play a factor.
Now considering all these possibilities when we have circuits that are dedicated and we test the connections when they are open and seeing that there is a slow rise and we get 200,256, 300, 150 megaohm testing at 1046v low current then even though the industry says wiring is fine doesn’t mean when we install Arc Fault or Gfcis that it will work properly considering wiring that is not testing out far less than perfect readings on my end. Wich takes us to nuisance tripping especially now that we have to Arc Fault 70 to 80 percent of the panel Wich leads to higher costs and callbacks.
Of coarse none of this was required back then because everything works on just a standard breaker that isn’t for specific arcing or self testing for faults.
And a big part of this conflict comes up due to homes being struck by lightning or the parameters of the home being affected causing surges in the home Wich we know The whole house surge protector helps with but , if anyone has went to as many lightning strikes homes that I have than you would know that the lighting causes a shock to the system Wich can lead to higher resistance on wiring or staples to dig into romex or even blow out.
So please tell me your thoughts or how we can get this to the right hands to be able to really understand how wiring that test at a minimum of 1 megaohm even up to 600 to 700 megaohm work properly on gfci or arc fault devices.
