Neutral vs Ground

Nigel Goodwin said:

Not really, it's perfectly normal to read a voltage difference between earth and neutral, usually a few volts - you can even run small torch bulbs off of it, and it doesn't register on your meter!

13A switched sockets in the UK only switch the live, so if you're soldering on a live chassis TV set with an earthed soldering iron, and only switch it off at the socket - then as soon as you touch the chassis with the soldering iron it blows the earth leakage trip! - as you say, neutral to earth provides enough current to take the RCD out

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I never had that problem until I moved to Australia. It could be because I lived in a city in the UK and now live in a rural area. I'm guessing that Pilsley is a rural area.

Mike.

Pommie said:

I never had that problem until I moved to Australia. It could be because I lived in a city in the UK and now live in a rural area. I'm guessing that Pilsley is a rural area.

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Yesy, both Pilsley (and Lower Pilsley where I live) are rural, here's a satellite image of Lower Pilsley. However, it's not just a rural effect, it depends on how balanced the loads on each live are.

Here's my satellite image, I'm the green roof in the middle.

Mike.

At least you've got more roads?

Pommie said:

I never had that problem until I moved to Australia. It could be because I lived in a city in the UK and now live in a rural area. I'm guessing that Pilsley is a rural area.

Mike.

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RCDs are a fairly new thing, perhaps the house you lived in, in the UK didn't have one and your Australian house does?

[Nigel_Goodwin]Yesy, both Pilsley (and Lower Pilsley where I live) are rural, here's a satellite image of Lower Pilsley. However, it's not just a rural effect, it depends on how balanced the loads on each live are.[/quote]

Why should that make any difference?

It depends on what type of earthing system is used. The TN-C-S seems to be the most popular here in the UK because the electricity company can save money. This is because: no large eathing electrode is required (the cable is coaxial and the outer screen which carries the return current is uninsulated and give a good earth contact) and the cost of the cable is reduced as there is no need for a separate earth conductor.

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The only time the resistance of your earth rod really matters is if you're on a TT system which probably isn't very likely.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system

If you short the neutral to the earth the RCD will trip because half of the neutral current will go through the earth conductor and the breaker will detect the imballance causing it to trip.