Abstract: Loop resistance is measured in a live-earth conductor loop comprising a residual current device powered by an alternating current mains supply. A measurement circuit having a low-pass filter characteristic arranged to substantially remove signal components at the frequency of the alternating current mains supply is used to measure, in a first period, a voltage across live and earth conductors of the live-earth conductor loop to determine a first voltage. A current application circuit is used to apply a unipolar test current having a magnitude below a trip current value of the residual current device for a second period and the measurement circuit is used to measure a second voltage between the live and earth conductors. Based on a difference in test current between the first and second periods and a difference in voltage between the first voltage and the second voltage, the resistance of the live-earth conductor loop is calculated.

Abstract: Loop resistance is measured in a live-earth conductor loop comprising a residual current device powered by an alternating current mains supply. A measurement circuit having a low-pass filter characteristic arranged to substantially remove signal components at the frequency of the alternating current mains supply is used to measure, in a first period, a voltage across live and earth conductors of the live-earth conductor loop to determine a first voltage. A current application circuit is used to apply a unipolar test current having a magnitude below a trip current value of the residual current device for a second period and the measurement circuit is used to measure a second voltage between the live and earth conductors. Based on a difference in test current between the first and second periods and a difference in voltage between the first voltage and the second voltage, the resistance of the live-earth conductor loop is calculated.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for testing the loop impedance in residual current circuit breaker (RCCB) protected circuits is provided. An alternating test current is applied across the phase earth connections of a supply and a plurality of voltage samples are then taken across the connections. The voltage samples are subsequently transformed from time space to frequency space to allow the component due to the test current to be isolated. The loop impedance is then calculated.