megger and socket tester.

[bigegg]

sooner or later (about 2 years), i'm going to be working as a sparky.
to this end, i want to get myself kitted up, so at the moment i can see myself needing a megger - something like the mft1711, and a socket tester - ofwhich screwfix has several from £8 to £60.

if i know what I'm looking for, i can keep my eyes open on the bay, gumtree, etc.

any advice, recommendations, or things to avoid?

 

[WorkshopChris]

sooner or later (about 2 years), i'm going to be working as a sparky.
to this end, i want to get myself kitted up, so at the moment i can see myself needing a megger - something like the mft1711, and a socket tester - ofwhich screwfix has several from £8 to £60.

if i know what I'm looking for, i can keep my eyes open on the bay, gumtree, etc.

any advice, recommendations, or things to avoid?

I have had a few socket testers and they all seem roughly the same some basic features are positive test results either pass or fail things like missing earth or revers polarity, but the more advanced offerings are only rated as an indication anyway.
If you can find one with an audible tone as this is also useful when finding circuits that are not labelled on the DB when it goes quite you know you have found the correct MCB.

As far as MFT's go I would wait until the very last minute to get one depending on what work you are looking at, wouldn't be suprises if things change with a few new amendments especially as far as RCD's and EV charging station test.

Are you watching any of the YouTube guys?

 

[bigegg]

I have had a few socket testers and they all seem roughly the same some basic features are positive test results either pass or fail things like missing earth or revers polarity, but the more advanced offerings are only rated as an indication anyway.
If you can find one with an audible tone as this is also useful when finding circuits that are not labelled on the DB when it goes quite you know you have found the correct MCB.

As far as MFT's go I would wait until the very last minute to get one depending on what work you are looking at, wouldn't be suprises if things change with a few new amendments especially as far as RCD's and EV charging station test.

Are you watching any of the YouTube guys?

i'm watching *all* of the youtube guys - the UK ones, anyway.

 

[WorkshopChris]

i'm watching *all* of the youtube guys - the UK ones, anyway.

Some are better than others, I have been watching the content of most while im off not working, it's not often you spot something that's not quite right to me most of it is unfamiliar as its mainly domestic work. You need to be careful you don't take it all as best practice i watched one yesterday where he took an armoured cable out to a shed/workshop and fitted a rod. So the cable was protected by the house earth and a rod for the shed. He fitted and glanded the cable to a plastic box before running just the live and neutral to the consumer unit. But he fitted a SWA gland and brass banjo ring secured to the box with a nut and bolt.
Therefore although it's a small risk that bolt may be at a different potential (the house PME supply) to the earth at the rod with the newly created TT shed supply.
The new armoured supply should be glanded to the plastic box with a stuffing gland. You can fit a standard SWA gland inside the plastic box if you want just for testing purposes, but there should be no accessible points to that earth.

 

[bigegg]

I'm watching mainly for the actual practical stuff:
how much insulation to remove.
how much spare cable to leave.
how much bare conductor to leave, and best way of doubling it over to fit into terminals.

i'm finding the theory stuff easy: i've always been much more academic than practical.
its the actual "watching and doing" that i'm not up to snuff with.

 

[brightspark]

rcd tester , none trip earth loop tester and a megger . and a plug in socket tester the 1st 3 are needed all can be bought separate or all in one unit. if your doing testing the machines will need calibrating every year

 

[Tomlt]

Im not a spark but an electrical engineer who likes to check his own work, I bought a second-hand kewtech and have been really impressed. I've used the fluke and megger units and found this one more idiot proof for the few times I've done a full inspection. It has some nice features such as the inbuilt strap and lid and the constant test button. You can also add a pat test accessory.

I guess whatever you buy make sure it's 18th edition compliant and as stated will need to be calibrated each year (£70-100ish)

 

[brightspark]

depending on your use of the gear it can be picked up cheap for general testing if your not dishing out test certs I have my own calibration check box that I use for testing

it checks ohms megaohms rcd voltage and earth loop

 

[Anguz]

i may have a megger going spare... let me check....

 

[bigegg]

depending on your use of the gear it can be picked up cheap for general testing if your not dishing out test certs I have my own calibration check box that I use for testingView attachment 197443 View attachment 197443it checks ohms megaohms rcd voltage and earth loop

i'm reasonably certain that i'll be needing to do test certs at some point: i'll have to certify my shed wiring, for a start.

 

[brightspark]

i'm reasonably certain that i'll be needing to do test certs at some point: i'll have to certify my shed wiring, for a start.

my sheds certified certified absolute dross

 

[mtt.tr]

I use a kt63 by kewtech really nice machine. Personally i would rather next model up.

Socket tester only use mine to hear when ive found the correct mcb do everything else with the mft tester


More important than anything of this fancy kit is a means to prove safe isolation.

 

[armalites]

Socket tester only use mine to hear when ive found the correct mcb do everything else with the mft tester

The sounder is a useful feature, I have one with a sounder and one without. Working on your own it does make finding the right breaker a lot easier.

 

[mtt.tr]

Some are better than others, I have been watching the content of most while im off not working, it's not often you spot something that's not quite right to me most of it is unfamiliar as its mainly domestic work. You need to be careful you don't take it all as best practice i watched one yesterday where he took an armoured cable out to a shed/workshop and fitted a rod. So the cable was protected by the house earth and a rod for the shed. He fitted and glanded the cable to a plastic box before running just the live and neutral to the consumer unit. But he fitted a SWA gland and brass banjo ring secured to the box with a nut and bolt.
Therefore although it's a small risk that bolt may be at a different potential (the house PME supply) to the earth at the rod with the newly created TT shed supply.
The new armoured supply should be glanded to the plastic box with a stuffing gland. You can fit a standard SWA gland inside the plastic box if you want just for testing purposes, but there should be no accessible points to that earth.

Haha i commented on that.
I agree stupid method, plastic stuffing gland would of sorted that.
But there was a rule to do with stuff being less than 50mmx50mm
Ill check the 18th tomorrow i know it was in 17th

 

[Robotstar5]

I just dug out the trusty old Metrel MFT I think I've got everything to go with it to set you up, but not sure if it will do all the tests for 18th?

 

[Parm]

I use a kt63 by kewtech really nice machine. Personally i would rather next model up.

Socket tester only use mine to hear when ive found the correct mcb do everything else with the mft tester


More important than anything of this fancy kit is a means to prove safe isolation.

Yep, defo need a proving unit

 

[brightspark]

Yep, defo need a proving unit

I have one but never use it .just test on a known live circuit 1st

 

[mtt.tr]

I have one but never use it .just test on a known live circuit 1st

If you are concerned just use your insulation tester

 

[brightspark]

If you are concerned just use your insulation tester

force of habit and a good one I never take test probes for granted just the same as I test the leads on the megger touching them together then test .saves getting duff readings if the leads aren't connected properly