On Thu, 19 Feb 2015 09:59:42 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 5:20:14 PM UTC, AnthonyL wrote:
On Thu, 19 Feb 2015 17:11:31 +0000, PeterC
wrote:
On Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:19:07 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

I bought an RCD, put an open plug on it and shorted live to earth.
Nice big bang, both RCD and ELCB (or whatever it is) tripped and
everything in the house went dark.

So am I right to think that I'm getting all the protection I need from
the ELCB?

Somewhat confused!

No. You created a huge fault current, probably over 1000A. Try creating a 30mA current - the RCD should trip, but a delayed RCD or ELCB won't.


So ~ V = I R ( yes I know it's AC but approximate is near enough?)

Around 8kohm mains rated resistor?

Any usual household goods deliver that? Or trust it to stick my
fingers across .

6.8k 8.4w so any 10-15w load with reasonably stable R.


Although it's a bit high (10W v 7.2W), I 'mis-wired' a 10W soldering iron as
a test. Worked OK.


Good idea - I presume it didn't damage the soldering iron?

240v on a 240v iron... not a problem.


Doh!!

--
AnthonyL