Re: Ring main question

["Alancc" <alan.cc@xxxxxxx>]

God I hate doing this but come on Paul if we are going to give professional
advice lets get it right.

snip

> The reason for using an insulation tester to do tests like this is
that
the
> battery voltage in your standard multimeter will not supply enough
current
> to effectively complete a circuit round the length of cables that you
are
> testing and also by generating 500v using the insulation tester you
will
> break down any potential shorting hazards so that they appear as a
short
in
> the test where a multimeter will not.

You do not use an insulation tester to carry out continuity measurements,
you use a low reading continuity meter such as a multimeter or combined
insulation/continuty meter set to low ohms.
I was using a multimeter to test continuity along cables a few days ago
that
were over a kilometer long and with a far smaller CSA than a ring main.

The insulation meter using 500 or 1000 volts is used to test between the
live, neutral and earth conductors to test the integrity of the cable
insulation, ie the plastic bits, hence the high voltage. A complely
seperate
issue to confirmation of ring main continuity.

Alancc