Earth fault tracing and repairs Case study 1 Earth fault that occurred on deck3 and down in the

fluorescent fitting on bottom flat beside the propeller shaft (double earth fault) The alarm showed at ECR as earth fault, normal procedure of localising the fault is to switch off the CB at the switch board one after another to know which particular circuit the fault is generating from . but after trying all the circuit breakers the earth fault still persisted so it gave us an idea that it is not just a single circuit that is faulty, so while we leave one cct off we switch off the rest one by one until we are able to get the two faulty ccts, this is known by the fault clearing when the CB controlling the two sections are off. 1. Lighting circuit at deck three at the port side(with the aid of electrical diagram in the electrical locker) : we went to the electrical locker athe the port side of deck 3 and tested for earth leakage using a megger tester (NB megger tester should only be used on dead circuits ie the cct must be isolated from the supply). We discovered the faulty circuit but it is grouped ie it controls three circuit, so we had to find the junction box to identify the 3 cct it controls and test then independently to get the faulty one. This was done by disconnecting all the cables and then testing for earth leakage on each of the cable the faulty one was isolated while the others were taken back to service. We then went to the faulty one (which was a bed side lamp)then now tested its internal connection at various point to know the exact position the leakage is emanating from. It was found to be the base of the choke (ballast), the insulation there was charred due to local heating occuring at that point. We removed the whole fitting (please note that match marking is very important to hasten and make reinstallation easier), tidy the cables making sure occupant of the cabin is not at electrical shock risk, then took the fitting to the electrical workshop where the choke was replaced with a new one, tested and returned back to service. 2. An explosion proof fluoresecent at the bottom flat in engine room: it was also tested with megger tester and the fault localised but because of aging of the fitting the whole fitting had to be replaced. Please note that there be need for modification of mounting since the new ones dimension is not the same as the old one (a new mounting bracket was fabricated and used). Case study 2 Earth fault that resulted after repairing the towing light: the circuit diagram was consulted to know the numberings and the actual layout of the cable (located in the cargopump switch board room both for old and modified)