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Tubetec

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Nov 18, 2015
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Looks like Ive landed myself an electricians portable tester , does a whole load of mains tests on all relevant values of mains wiring systems , performs insulation testing ,conductor and ground resistance measurements ,RCD and safety testing , and loads more
I have been offered  the P.A.T testing course at work , costs a few hundred ,but seems like a good qualification to have , only takes a day ,and your basically qualified to test all manner of appliances in situ , having my own machine to begin with is a bonus too .
Generally it involves current and voltage probes across  single or multi phase supplies , and it can graph every parameter of the wiring  under load in software .The machine only comes with basic probes , but the addition of current clamps and a few basic accessories  ,you can test  almost any electrical job short of KV overhead wires .
 
I'd do the course, If I were you.

It always amazes me that some of the venues I work with, have several engineers, some of them well versed in electronics, but hardly any have people to tackle simple electrical stuff.
 
Unit arrived ,

http://www.supremetechnology.com.au/MainImages/Product_Manuals/METREL_MI_2087_Instaltest_61557_Digital_Measuring_Instrument_Usermanual.pdf

was advertised as fully functional , batteries had long since corroded , Duracell 2010 use by date , so roughly correlates to the era in the early/mid 2000's when these machines were sold .  My first attempt at cleaning the battery tray  wasnt good enough , only one terminal was badly effected by the green semi conductive salt , oddly enough a negative battery terminal in the middle of the 4 cells , I noticed my battery output volts drop when I hit the power switch , so from around 5,5 down to 1.2 , there was no huge current draw or heat , the unit made ocassional blips and bleeps, the backlight flickered, and the relays clicked once or twice ,but no joy 
, I began to suspect a high contact resistance in the battery  tray somewhere , I pinched up all the metal to metal eyelet contacts  in the battery holder and gave the corroded contact a scrub with a small rotary wire brush attachment , tested it again sure enough the relays engaged and she came back to life .

Its like a multimeter for electricians with all the usual ranges , volts ,ohms, mA ,A ,HZ , phase
Then a load of other test modes on top , it gives a very quick and easy indication of the quality off all the paths in any given electrical socket or outlet .
Seems to have four wire Kelvin ground measurement , involves banging in extra grounding rods and current clamps and applying test voltages and currents to the earth itself  ;D
, just breaking the surface of the capabillity of this box , even on two wire resistance measurement , you can easily null out the test cable  with the 'cal' button . 
For what it cost me to buy  I would'nt have got an hour of  'Sparky' time ,plus call out charge. Model seems to have been replaced by something smaller with graphic hook up diagram on screen , instead of a small booklet  ,otherwise the same thing as far as I can see .Im working my way around all the outlets at home , checking things out .

Incidently ,does anyone have an explantion for what happens over time on unused battery terminals , the green electrolytic salt crystal that can accumulate and cause problems .

 

 
 
Tubetec said:
For what it cost me to buy  I would'nt have got an hour of  'Sparky' time ,plus call out charge. Model seems to have been replaced by something smaller with graphic hook up diagram on screen , instead of a small booklet  ,otherwise the same thing as far as I can see .Im working my way around all the outlets at home , checking things out .
I invested too much time designing an outlet tester that could parse line, neutral, and ground. But I did not test for integrity (impedance) of the ground connections.
Incidently ,does anyone have an explantion for what happens over time on unused battery terminals , the green electrolytic salt crystal that can accumulate and cause problems .

 
I am not much of a chemist but there is a galvanic corrosion powered by the battery potential, especially with dissimilar metals.

The green is from copper oxidizing, lead makes white smutz, and I have seen steel battery wires turn black and erode inside the insulation sheath.

JR
 
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