QENM3-011

Carrying out Fault Diagnosis on

Electrical Equipment and Circuits
By Jordan Leah

1. Before I commence the preparation and tidying of my work area

I must firstly perform some inspections of the area to ensure that
it is safe to approach and begin working in the area. Firstly I
visually inspect the area to ensure no dangerous objects are in the
area. These could include bare electrical wires, moving objects
and unstable objects. Then ill visually inspect the condition of the
floor to ensure no slip or trip hazards are in the work area. Finally I
will use a multimeter to ensure that none of the wires I am
coming into contact with are live.

2. Isolation and lock off procedures are needed at work to ensure

work can be safely carried out on a piece of machinery. An
isolation can be carried out by either turning an isolation switch or
flicking a circuit breaker inside an electrical board. When isolating
a circuit it is important to lock the circuit off also so no-one can
turn it back on, this can be done by inserting a padlock into the
hole in the isolator switch and closing it when the switch is turned
to off. This must be completed in order to successfully complete a
permit to work. The permit to work ensures that that it is safe to
work in an area.
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3. The main symptom of a victim who has received a severe

electric shock is usually white or very pale blue skin. The victim
may also have a weak or no pulse, burned skin and stiffness of the
body. Before you administer first aid you must ensure the victim is
no longer in contact with the power source, or if they are turn the
power source off, this can be done by flicking the nearest switch
or isolator switch to the victim. If you cannot isolate the power,
protect yourself with a dry insulating material such as dry clothing.
With this try to pull, push or roll the victim. If the victim is
unconscious you should start CPR after calling for help.

4. When carrying out fault diagnosis it is important to wear

suitable protective clothing and PPE. When carrying out electrical
fault diagnosis you must wear long sleeved clothing to ensure
your arms do not get caught by any electrical wire, this will ensure
you are protected from electrical shock. The PPE that must be
warn are boots and work gear including work pants or overalls.
Insulated gauntlets may be warn in certain circumstances to
insulate hands that will be coming in contact with electrical
contacts.

5. Harm can be caused to any person when they are exposed to

live parts that are either touched directly or indirectly by means of
some conducting object or material. Voltages over 50 volts AC or
120 volts DC are considered hazardous. Harm can also be caused
by misusing electrical tools, this can be such as incorrectly using a
voltmeter or using non-electrical screwdrivers on live terminals.
These hazards can be minimized with proper training when
around electrical equipment, also by using correct equipment for
the job at hand.
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6. To establish the background of a fault it is best to ask an

operator or regular user of the electrical circuit, they can provide
the best explanation on how the circuit is supposed to work
including sequences on each component which should come on at
each specific time. They can also provide you with electrical
drawings which can help explain what each component does and
what wires are connection it up, this can help when testing the
circuit to know if a fault is occurring if voltage isn’t found in any
specific area. The operator can also describe what happened to
the machine when the fault occurred, which can help to narrow
down the location of the fault when it occurred.

7. For fault diagnosis there are many different types of information

that can be gathered to get an overall picture of the fault and how
to fix it, this information can be in the form of drawings and
diagrams, in the form of electrical tests and test results, and can
also be in the form of pictures of components in the states that
they are in. Drawings and diagrams are useful to ensure that you
have full knowledge of the circuit and how it was designed, and
which components and wires should be in each different area.
Electrical tests and results are useful to diagnose if a component
or section of the circuit isn’t working, tests can include impedance
results which measures the resistance of the circuit, voltage tests
in ac and dc and these can determine if a component id getting
the voltage to make it operate, and current readings can
determine if there is over or under current in a component to
allow it to function correctly, continuity tests can test for broken
cables in certain areas of the circuit.
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8. The aids that may be available when diagnosing an electrical

fault can include; electrical diagrams and drawings, previous
maintenance reports on the machine that detail specific fixes,
individual component manuals that can detail programming
information and specifications of the component. Electrical
diagrams can be used to help diagnose faults because they help
follow the wiring of the circuit and each components wiring
including contactors which can be open or closed, and certain
wires that can contain different voltages. Previous maintenance
reports that are stored in a database can help narrow down how
to fix a fault due to its diagnosis.

9. Fault finding equipment can include the use of multimeters,

meggers, clampmeters, voltage indicators, and thermal imaging
cameras. The digital multimeter is the most commonly used piece
of test equipment as it has a wide range of tests it can carry out,
these include impedance tests for resistance in a circuit, voltage
tests in ac and dc and these can determine if a component id
getting the voltage to make it operate, and current readings can
determine if there is over or under current in a component to
allow it to function correctly, continuity tests can test for broken
cables in certain areas of the circuit, and specific component tests
such as capacitor tests and diode tests locate fine faults in circuits
that can be individual component specific.

10. The most common fault finding technique is probably the half-
splitting method. The logic behind this approach is simple. With
every step in the process, the trouble-shooter eliminates half the
circuit as the cause of the problem. Using this philosophy, the first
action item might be as simple as asking a question or taking a
voltage or resistance measurement with a multimeter. You will
then work your way round the circuit to pinpoint the fault.
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11. The most important tools when fault finding electrical

equipment are the senses of the body, these can include sight,
smell, touch and sound. It is easy to see when an electrical
component or circuit has failed because there is usually a brown
burnt mark around the affected area where the electricity has
arced over to the earthing point. Smell is a commonly used
technique when fault finding motor related equipment, when
motors fail they give off a foul smell that can be easily recognised
as faulty. Touch is used less commonly in electrical testing due to
the dangerous nature of going near electrical contacts.

12. To analyse evidence specific readings must be taken to generate

a full picture of the fault and to allow correct diagnosis, readings
must be taken using a multimeter, and these can involve voltage
tests, current tests, continuity and resistance tests. These tests
with the results they give can help an engineer decide why the
fault is occurring, characteristics of a fault such as a tripping motor
could be due to one of the phases giving unbalanced voltages.

13. The easiest way to relate previous records of similar faults is to

create a database of faults that are machine specific and section
specific, and create a search criteria that you can look for that will
enable the specific record to be found, ensure with this database
the fault code or name is written down.

14. When looking after an electrical piece of test equipment it is

important to keep it in a dry place at room temperature, this will
ensure the meter is kept in correct working order so it can give
the most correct readings and help the job get done. When
handling electrical test equipment and taking test readings it is
important to ensure all body parts are clear of any metal
conductive elements, this will reduce the risk of electrical shocks
when carrying out tests.
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15. The most accurate calibrations of electrical test equipment can

be carried out by specific companies that provide calibration
standards for each piece of equipment to ensure the readings
they give are correct and to the correct standard to be safe to use,
every year an electrical measurement piece of equipment should
be sent off to be calibrated to check it is within regulations. But to
ensure it is calibrated yourself it is good practice to find a power
source that can be adjusted by hand to a range of voltages and
currents, then when you put your leads on the contacts and adjust
these readings the readings on the meter should change
accordingly.

16. To obtain any document of importance it is important to have it

saved to a local drive on a computer, this can be using some
maintenance reporting software or just a local shared drive. The
best way to find previously unseen documentation is to use the
internet, when performing a search for the specific document
such as a manufacturer’s manual or an electrical drawing.

17. Electrical components all interact from a central brain that tells
the circuit to function a certain way, this can be via the use of a
chip or the use of a PLC can make components function. These all
rely on physical buttons/ movements to occur and then they
trigger a sequence of events that can occur to make the machine
or circuit run. Signals are usually passed from component to
component to operate the circuit, and when a signal is reached at
each different stage the specific component will perform its job
and then pass the signal on.
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18. There are many different cables used for many different
applications in the electrical industry, there is Steel wire armoured
cable (SWA), SY cable, single stranded cable, twin and earth cable,
Cat 5 cable etc. SWA cable is constructed with multiple cores in
the centre and protected by 2 layers of plastic insulation and steel
strands of metal outside it, this steel prevents the cores inside
from becoming damaged as they are usually carrying high loads,
SWA cables use the steel protections as an extra earthing
mechanism also by the use of a brass gland attached to the
appliance, this has an earthing lug attached to it that is terminated
in the application, this will help protect the cable electrically and
mechanically. SY cable is similar to SWA cable but the difference is
that the protection of this cable is thin strands of wire knitted
together outside the cable, this is used to screen cable from
interference and is used for inverters and motors mainly.

19. There are many different types of motors such as squirrel cage
motors, inductive motors, single phase motors and three phase
motors just to name a few. Three phase motors are the most
common type of motor and these involve three line wires usually
in the form of a brown, black and grey wire which are labelled U, V
and W. the motors include windings inside that create a magnetic
field inside the motor and turn the shaft. Motors like these are
often driven by a starting instrument, this can be in the form of an
inverter, the inverter can take a single phase or three phase signal
and synthesise it using a bank of diodes and transistors, these can
be used to increase or decrease the voltage and current to the
motor and change the speed etc.
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20. The two common classes of control systems are open loop and
closed loop. In an open-loop control system, the control action
from the controller is independent of the process variable. An
example of this is an oven burner in a plastic molding machine,
controlled only by a timer. The control action is the switching on
or off of the oven. The process variable is the oven temperature.
This controller applies heat for a constant time regardless of the
temperature of the oven.
In a closed-loop control system, the control action from the
controller is dependent on the desired and actual process
variable. In the case of the oven, this would utilize a thermostat to
monitor the oven temperature, and feed back a signal to ensure
the controller output maintains the oven temperature to that set
on the thermostat. A closed loop controller has a feedback loop
which ensures the controller gives out a control action to control a
process variable at the same value as the set point. For this
reason, closed-loop controllers are also called feedback
controllers.

21. A consumer unit is a main component that distributes power to

different circuits located from it as a starting location, a consumer
unit often contains circuit breakers as protection of the circuits
and to protect users of the circuits, the consumer unit is wired
into with a circuit and when switched on gives power to the
circuit, and if the circuit becomes damaged in any way the circuit
breaker trips and stops electrical current from flowing round the
circuit.
Sockets are a component that safely transfers electrical energy
from one circuit to different appliances that can be plugged into
them, there are many types of sockets that can be used in circuits
ranging from single phase 3 pin sockets to three phase 5 pin
sockets, sockets often have switches on them to isolate the
appliance plugged into it, this is a safety feature to avoid a person
having to go inside the consumer unit to isolate a circuit.
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22. A fault to a process or system can cause hazards and risks

physically to a person who is caught up in the fault occurring, if a
fault happens to a machine to cause it to perform an incorrect
process or to perform an incorrect sequence it can cause harm.
This may be in the form of a physical part flying off and hitting a
nearby person, a part of the machine moving into an unusual area
and hitting someone, or a component blowing up and harming
someone nearby.

23. In order to prepare an analysis report it is important to gather all

pieces of information that is appropriate before commencing the
report. The report should be formal and detailed containing all the
required information for the report to be relevant and be able to
meet its criteria. A report that is written should have several
different sections, a report about a job undertaken should include
details such as tools used, time taken to complete the job, all
steps undertaken in the job.

24. To follow up on fault diagnosis it is company policy to ensure

that a worksheet is filled out which details all the faults that have
been found and what is causing these faults to occur. This would
then be forwarded to our customer who we have fault diagnosed
for and we offer them a range of acceptable and lasting solutions
to the problem the fault has caused.

25. My authority and role as apprentice electrician allows me to

participate in work activities mostly under supervision of a fully
qualified colleague. This is the case on most jobs unless I have
been given a more simple task to undertake that I can complete
myself. If I was to encounter any problems on a job I was doing
myself I would report to my manager who would give me ways of
fixing the problem.