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Pris a Terre


Choochoo
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Hi everyone

Back on again after our move over to 50. Still in a muddle but I am sure we will get sorted one day !
We had the ancient electrics updated by a French electrician and he installed a Pris a terre and said it was a very necessary safety thing. We dont have them in UK so can any of you electrics people out there tell us what is its function and why it should make things safer.
Thanks, and its great to finally be here !!


John & Sue
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Hi John & Sue,

It's most common form is a (or several) earth rods or spikes driven into the ground to which a main earth wire connects your electrical installation earthing in your house. They can also be buried plates of steel or copper or even loops of copper wire encircling a building. They are obligatory in French wiring regulations.

The end result is to get as lower resistance as possible so any earth fault currents produced in your electrical installation can flow safely away to earth and produce enough fault current to blow a fuse or circuit breaker. This usualy means in France you need a minimum resistance of 100 ohms for installations with a main EDF disjoncteur with a 500 milliamp trip. This can be quite difficult to achieve and most installations I've come across and measured have resistances much higher. Most people just bang a spike into the ground never knowing how effective it is.

They do exist in the UK usually in rural areas where the supply is by overhead lines where the electricity board cannot supply you with an earth point. The reason you may not have come across them is that most built up areas in the Uk have an earth point supplied by the electricity board by PME which is where earth and neutral are joined at the incoming supply. This guarantees a very low earth resistance.In rural France you have no such luck and invariably it is your responsability to provide an effective earth point or prise de terre.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul
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