earth leakage current

[Somnath7]

what is the ideal method of measuring earth leakage current of class 1 equipment and class two equipment , please tell me the point where i have to measure either between line to earth or earth to metal body of the equipment, please tell me

[DaJMasta]

Don't know if this is the "official" way to do it, but why not break the chassis ground/earth path, then put your multimeter on milliamp mode and connect the positive lead to the now floating chassis ground and the negative lead to the earth?

[ElektronikLabor]

Class II equipment is not galvanically connected to earth thru the mains plug, hence you can't really measure the leakage current.

To measure leakage current of Class I equipment is a little tricky without official VDE 701/702 tester, because you have to measure AC current, because even if the mains section of the equipment is galvanically isolated from ground, it could still be capacitive coupled to earth.

One simple way to measure the current is with (a self made) custom extention mains cable. Simply cut the earth wire in the middle of the cable and attach two banana plugs to it. You can connect the plugs to a Multimeter in AC current mode. In that way you can measure the leakage current while you operate the equipment.
But be carefull! If the fuse of the multimeter is blown during the test, your equipment will not be connected to earth anymore!

Sorry for my drawing skills:

[Jester]

One other note, the leakage current should also be measured with the hot and neutral reversed. If I recall IEC1010 has a sketch of an appropriate test jig.

[MrW0lf]

BTW in real world leakage hunt this has given me almost godlike powers:
https://www.gigahertz-solutions.de/en/rf-and-emf-meters/low-frequency-emf/me-series/397/me3951a
How about detecting water heater current leakage thru copper pipe from another apartment, thru floor, several meters away?
They have cheaper models also. Very useful in keeping lab environment clean from various interference sources.

[Jeroen3]

With a Fluke 360. Cheaper ones are available from other brands.