Europa Plus Overheating Fault

[Davy_Dykes]

I have a Seaward Europa Plus pat tester. After testing eight to ten items it stops working with an error message saying it is overheating and I must wait on it cooling down. The unit is in good condition otherwise having been recalibrated in July this year. Can you please advise what component needs to be replaced and if it is an easy job to repair?
Cheers, Dave

[Amy Lyons]

Hi Davy
The first thing to look at in this situation is the time setting on the Earth Continuity test. The factory set duration is 5 seconds. If this is extended it can sometimes cause the unit to overheat. If this is not the case then unfortunately your unit may need to come back for repair. Please contact our Service department on 0191 5878739 to arrange this.
Thanks
Amy

[southseas]

The factory set duration is 5 seconds. If this is extended it can sometimes cause the unit to overheat

How about repeated earth bond tests Amy? ie testing the bond between each socket outlet on a 6 outlet power board and the earth pin of the plug that supplies it. This would give 30 secs of EB testing, would this cause a main power supply meltdown?

I've noticed that one of my SuperNovas gives an overtemp warning if it does a 100mA EB test and the earth continuty resistance is more than 3ish Ohms, this occurs at any random time even if the tester has only done a few tests.

[Patnik]

I sometimes do multiple successive 25A earth tests on workshop machinery etc but I make sure the duration is set to 2 seconds to avoid the overheating thing, seems to work. At 5 secs for multiple high current tests it often used to overheat then I couldn't use it for while till it'd recovered.

My colleagues Europa Plus sometimes gives the overtemp warning on 100mA tests but he usually finds he can restart the test successfully straight away so reckon this is a bug rather than a genuine warning.

[Alan Freeman]

The trouble with doing only 2 second tests is that the 5 second test gives time for the earth connection to heat up and fail if it is slightly loose/suspect. A 2 second test would not allow that to happen, and although the item passes, the earth is not 100% good.

[Patnik]

The trouble with doing only 2 second tests is that the 5 second test gives time for the earth connection to heat up and fail if it is slightly loose/suspect. A 2 second test would not allow that to happen, and although the item passes, the earth is not 100% good.

Yes agreed but I think it's an acceptable compromise, particularly as loads of people are performing earth continuity tests with the increasingly popular low current only test equipment which won't stress test any earth connection however long the test is run for.

[Alan Freeman]

Yes agreed but I think it's an acceptable compromise, particularly as loads of people are performing earth continuity tests with the increasingly popular low current only test equipment which won't stress test any earth connection however long the test is run for.

If you look at the CoP section 15.4 "Hard Test" states the duration should be 5 to 20 seconds at 1.5 times the equipment rating, but not exceeding 26A.....

"Soft Test" as above but with current between 20mA to 200mA.

So a longer than 5 second test is required.

I have successfully tested an 8 way extension lead which is 8 x 5 second bursts with no more than 10 seconds between each. That is 1/3 duty cycle for 120 seconds total without even a hint of overheating at 25A.

[Patnik]

Yes agreed but I think it's an acceptable compromise, particularly as loads of people are performing earth continuity tests with the increasingly popular low current only test equipment which won't stress test any earth connection however long the test is run for.

If you look at the CoP section 15.4 "Hard Test" states the duration should be 5 to 20 seconds at 1.5 times the equipment rating, but not exceeding 26A.....

"Soft Test" as above but with current between 20mA to 200mA.

So a longer than 5 second test is required.

I have successfully tested an 8 way extension lead which is 8 x 5 second bursts with no more than 10 seconds between each. That is 1/3 duty cycle for 120 seconds total without even a hint of overheating at 25A.

Yes and there you highlight one of the many inconsistencies of the CoP. If 25A is ok and 20mA is ok what's wrong with testing at say 0.5A?

My point is that a 'hard test' is not a requirement and in reality a lot of PAT is now being done using equipment that doesn't even offer that capability, a 'hard test' is no longer the norm. As there is no requirement to do a hard test the duration of that test is pretty irrelevant. Where multiple earth tests make sense, large multi-component machines or racks of equipment etc, I think lots of short tests make more sense than a few longer ones and none of the Europas I've had can cope with lots of successive 5 second 25A tests without occasionally overheating - if you've got one that doesn't have this common problem then lucky you!

If I were to stick to the letter of the CoP regarding the 'hard test' then I'd have a bit of trouble testing the workshop machinery I mentioned as most of it's 32A plus so I'd need a test current of near on 50A

[Alan Freeman]

Patnik

Read the CoP. but not exceeding 26A.

Also the CoP sitipulates the test of between 5 and 20 seconds and just states for the soft test "As above but....... with lower current"

[Grizzly]

I agree with Patnik's point.
The CoP doesn't specify where one should do a 'hard' test or a 'soft' test, merely 'one or the other'.
The duration and current value of the 'hard' test doesn't really mean anything if you've got a tester that can only do the 'soft' test.