Ground Continuity Test Or Ground Bond Test; Run Test; Touch Current Test - Extech Instruments 7630 Operation Manual

1.5.3 Ground Continuity Test or Ground Bond Test

The Ground Bonding test determines whether the safety ground circuit of the product under
test can adequately handle fault current if the product should ever become defective. A low
impedance ground system is critical in ensuring that in case of a product failure, a circuit
breaker on the input line will act quickly to protect the user from any serious electrical shock.
International compliance agencies such as CSA, IEC, TÜV, VDE, BABT and others, have
requirements calling out this test. This test should not be confused with low current
continuity tests that are also commonly called out in some safety agency specifications. A
low current test merely indicates that there is a safety ground connection. It does not
completely test the integrity of that connection.
Compliance agency requirements vary on how different products are to be tested. Most
specifications call for test currents of between 10 and 40 amps. Test voltages at these
currents are typically required to be less than 12 volts. Maximum allowable resistance
readings of the safety ground circuit are normally between 100 and 200 milliohms.
If you are testing a product that is terminated in a three-prong plug, you are required to
perform a continuity or ground bond test on the ground conductor to the chassis or dead metal
of the product.

1.5.4 RUN Test

All manufacturers of a product that runs on line power normally need to run the DUT (Device
Under Test) after final safety testing so that they can verify the functionality of their products.
In addition to running the DUT to test its basic functionality many customers also require
some basic test data to be recorded while the DUT is powered up. A Run Test System allows
the product to be powered up immediately after the safety tests are completed with a single
connection to the DUT. Measurements that are commonly made while the DUT is running
can include Amperage, Voltage, Watts and Power Factor.

1.5.5 Touch Current Test

The Touch Current test is one of many product safety tests that are normally specified for
electrical products by safety testing agencies such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the
International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC). The Touch Current specifications vary as
well as the method in which the measurements are taken depending upon the application or
function of a product and the standard to which the product is being tested.
Current Leakage or Touch Current tests are general terms that actually describe three
different types of tests. These tests are Earth Leakage Current, Enclosure Leakage Current,
and Applied Part Leakage Current. The main differences in these tests are in the placement
of the probe for the measuring device. The Earth Leakage Current is the leakage current that
flows through the ground conductor in the line cord back to earth. The Enclosure Leakage
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