SPARKYSTUDY NOTES

Free notes

Insulation resistance works in parallel too25, 50 and 100 megohms. What's the total?

Free from the notes: Sparky’s video on it, the section word for word as members see it, and a PDF to keep.

From Sparky’s full video lesson. Members get the whole lesson on every notes page.

The question at the end: 25, 50 and 100 megohms. What's the total? The answer is in the notes below.

The notes

Exactly as they are on the site.

Download these notesPDF · free to keep

Circuits are wired in parallel, so when you test more than one at a time the insulation resistance values combine in parallel as well.

1 ÷ RT = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 …

Three circuits reading 25, 50 and 100

1/25 + 1/50 + 1/100
  = 0.04 + 0.02 + 0.01
  = 0.07

RT = 1 ÷ 0.07 = 14.29
✋Reciprocate your answer. This is the step everyone forgets. If your answer comes out as 0.07, you have stopped one step early — you still have to do 1 ÷ 0.07. It is the thing most people forget with parallel resistances.

A sanity check on length — conductor resistance, not insulation

Three conductors of 10 Ω each in parallel  -> 10 ÷ 3 = 3.33 Ω
Double the length, so each becomes 20 Ω  -> 20 ÷ 3 = 6.67 Ω

For conductor resistance, doubling the length doubles the result.
Insulation resistance goes the other way: a longer cable has more
insulation in parallel, so doubling the length roughly halves it.
Continuity and insulation resistance want opposite things. Continuity wants the conductors connected, at the lowest resistance you can get. Insulation resistance wants them completely separate — effectively an open circuit, with nothing passing between them at all.

Test yourself on it

The tests are in the members’ area. Get one wrong and it shows you why, and where to revise.

Get access

Get new notes and exam tips from Sparky

About one email a fortnight. Unsubscribe any time. Privacy notice

That was one section. There are 583.

Sparky Study Notes is the whole Level 3 syllabus written up like this: the explanation, the worked example, and where it is in your book. With a video lesson for every part and a practice paper for every exam.

  • 583sections of written notes
  • 35video lessons
  • 1,463practice questions
  • 146diagrams, redrawn
  • 18th Edition
  • Building Regs
  • PAT
  • Fundamental Inspection & Testing
  • Initial Verification
  • Periodic Inspection & Testing
Get access — £100 12 months. One payment. See what’s inside