
Electrical safety
64
Service manual
Measuring the resistance of the protective conductor
A current of a minimum of 5 A and of a maximum of 25 A
flows from a power supply with an off-load voltage of a
maximum of 6 V to the protective conductor section which
is to be measured. The resistance depends on the current
and the voltage drop at this section of the protective
conductor. The measuring instruments must at least meet
the requirement of the class 2,5.
h
Ohmmeters according to German VDE 0413,
part 4, may be used, if the measuring is carried
out with alternating voltage.
Move the mains cables for at least 5 s during the
measurement. The resistance must not fluctuate during
that time.
If resistance fluctuations occur, it must be supposed, that
the protective conductor is damaged or that the
connection points are no longer perfect.
Appliances with mains cable
The resistance between the accessible conductive parts of
the appliances, which can assume a dangerous electric
voltage in the case of a malfunction, and the connections
of the protective conductor is measured. For appliances
with mains cable, the resistance between the contact pins
of the mains plug and the accessible parts of the
appliance must not exceed 0.2
Ω
.
Measuring the resistance of the protective conductor of appliances with
mains lead
Hard-wired appliances
For hard-wired appliances, the resistance between the
terminal of the protective conductor of the appliance on
the one hand and its accessible conductive parts on the
other hand, which can assume a dangerous shock
hazard voltage in case of a malfunction, must not be
higher than 0.2
Ω
. The existing protective conductor is not
disconnected during the test.
Measuring the resistance of the protective conductor of hard-wired
appliances
h
Disconnecting and reconnecting a protective
conductor repeatedly will involve a
deterioration of its mechanical and electrical
values. In addition, the danger of forgetting to
reconnect the protective conductor will
increase. A possible influence on the measuring
values by incidental connections to earth is
acceptable.