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Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
if you could afford this its a cracking piece of kit
does earth loop insulation continuity volt and can test rcd ..
http://www.test-meter.co.uk/products/17 … on-tester/
just seen these on ebay about £200- 300 range
we use the older version of this ..ex brit gas from ebay picked 3-4 for £100 each ..
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
robbra wrote:I had a council block of flats in Canning Town,east London rewired in the 80s as not one socket in the block was earthed. Got a shock off the sink and that lead to me testing all sockets in the flat then the neighbours.
Servis never gave testing equipment in those days and I had my own socket tester.
RobHi Rob: Yep it’s surprising how many properties have Bad / No Earth problems & Reversed Polarity sockets, especially Local Authority stuff.
Andy
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
Philfish – Are you saying that loop testing should be reserved for qualified sparky?
Therefore I am not a qualified sparky, the closest I am qualified is PAT testing.
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
No im saying if your going to test it test it properly and understand what your testing because you could be giving out wrong advice and people / laymen are looking at you as the professional!
Sparks don’t need to be qualified just need to demonstrate an understanding and be competent! You can not do a loop test without even looking at the fuse board or incoming mains your just doing it wrong and as such all though it might be safe you can not say it is because you’ve not done it right to start with but you’ve put yourself in a tricky situation if something happens at the house which you said was ok and deemed yourself competent to tell the customer is safe
There isn’t much that is law even the 17th edition regs is only a guideRe: Loop / Socket Testing.
You could always get yourself a martindale ez150 sorry don’t have a link. They’re about 50quid. Just an advanced socket tester that does basic loop test very easy to use not commiting yourself to a great outlay if it flags anything up just tell customer to call in the sparks. You’ve checked for basic saftey, I think as appliance engineers it covers as far as we need to go otherwise gets very complicated and costly.
How you can also get a leads kit so you can do hard wired cookers etcPhil
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
DrDill wrote:Hi specialist, are you a qualified electrician?
Sent from my iPhone
http://www.kitchenkitsw.comHi: Yes mate I qualified over 30 years ago, long before I re-trained as an Appliance Engineer. Spent many years out on mostly Commercial / Industrial sites both on the tools & as a site manager, given up doing installation work nowadays but still do Fault finding & rectification when the need arises.
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
Hi Andy, I wasn’t saying that it was a council house I was saying it would be worse to an extreme if it were. The fact that it is that way in the first instance is severe enough… But if it were a council house then that infers that the culprit would made the mistake was a trained council electrician.
Hi George: Sorry mate but I don’t see why it being a “Trained Council Electrician” would have made any difference. There are many good & well trained council electricians out there(mostly trained elsewhere) as there are Electrical Contractors who do a cracking job & know their stuff but there are equally as many if not more who have’nt got a clue how to do the job properly & don’t care about safety. Give you an example: I went to a property a while back that had just been baught from a council, the day the people moved into the House & went to cook food they smelled a burning plasticy smell from the meter cupboard. As i’ve done work for them in the past they called me to see what the problem was. When I got there & looked in the Consumer unit I could see exactly what the problem was, the RCD had been bypassed with 2 lengths of 2.5mm Singles. There was a job sheet tucked behind the meter board showing that this had been done 3 months earlier by a council sparky as the RCD had packed up, the only reason it had lasted so long was that the house was empty. Luckily for the customer the Council were willing to foot the bill for a replacement RCD & for me to fit it, as far as I know the guy who carried out this little botch up still works for them though.
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
philfish wrote:You could always get yourself a martindale ez150 sorry don’t have a link. They’re about 50quid. Just an advanced socket tester that does basic loop test very easy to use not commiting yourself to a great outlay if it flags anything up just tell customer to call in the sparks. You’ve checked for basic saftey, I think as appliance engineers it covers as far as we need to go otherwise gets very complicated and costly.
How you can also get a leads kit so you can do hard wired cookers etcPhil
Hi Phil: The EZ150 is the plug that I use for quick Go / No go testing & I would recommend them to anyone who has’nt got a loop tester especially if they get the add on kit to go with it. With the add on kit you can do a quick test on Harwired appliances as well, the kit adds about £40.00 to the price but it’s ideal for anyone on a tight budget.
Andy
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
philfish wrote:How you can also get a leads kit so you can do hard wired cookers etc
You haven’t read through earlier post Phil as the Martindale (with leads) was mentioned. 😉
We have only ever considered safety a high priority and devices such as this are simple and easy to use. The LED lights will show a fault and it is not necessary or obligitory for the tester to be 17th Edition qualified either. A simple PASS or FAIL test is all that’s needed to realise a fault exists, somewhere? (Though access to the consumer unit is advisable prior to carrying out a Loop test of course just in case the test trips the ECB/RCD.)
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
Hi Martin: That’s the Beauty of the EZ it does’nt trip RCD’s, did’nt you write an article for the Forum on basic loop testing a while back ? or was it just Insulation testing ?
AndyRe: Loop / Socket Testing.
Specialist01269 wrote:did’nt you write an article for the Forum on basic loop testing a while back ? or was it just Insulation testing ?
Yes I did though it has since got lost on a high and dusty shelf somewhere on this site. 🙁
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
Now that’s a shame, I never got to read it myself. I did download your article on Insulation testing though & printed it out for my Daughter, she found it much easier to understand than the way her college lecturer explained things. Maybe Ken will be able to find the article on Loop testing & put it up again, i’m sure we have plenty of users who would benefit from it.
Andy
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
For anyone interested, there are a few good used Loop testers showing on the bay at the minute for good prices. Will need to be calibrated first but even then prices are still good.
Re: Loop / Socket Testing.
funkyboogy wrote:if you could afford this its a cracking piece of kit
does earth loop insulation continuity volt and can test rcd ..
http://www.test-meter.co.uk/products/17 … on-tester/
just seen these on ebay about £200- 300 range
we use the older version of this ..ex brit gas from ebay picked 3-4 for £100 each ..
Metrel make some nice kit, but for me it’s all just a bit too bulky. Di-Log make some really nice test gear & their Installation tester is a lot lighter to carry around with you, had mine for a few years now & it’s served me well.
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