PAT testing |
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Plaguesguitarist
Old Croc Joined: 30 April 2009 Location: Lincoln, Earth Status: Offline Points: 2238 |
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Posted: 20 November 2019 at 2:03pm |
Should have asked them for their "Fixed Wiring Certificate"... See what their response is...
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Why did the lampy cross the road?
To steal MY sharpie. |
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James Tengo
Old Croc Joined: 09 May 2008 Location: Brighton Status: Offline Points: 2155 |
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A lot of the cheap 2nd hand testers are “out of cert”, getting them calibrated and certificated can cost as much as a cheap new basic unit. Just to re-iterate pat is not a legal requirement, but is an easy way to prove you are complying to regulations https://www.pat.org.uk/is-pat-testing-a-legal-requirement/
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Radius
Registered User Joined: 30 January 2019 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 102 |
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Guys, thanks for the help here- its very much appreciated, and I will be sorting it out , I haven't decided if its a tester or just a visual for now, but looks like eth testers are inexpensive 2nd hand …
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AKA the typo king...bear with me, my hands are big and the keyboard small....
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Digbethdave
Registered User Joined: 16 November 2018 Status: Offline Points: 406 |
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Visual.
It's the best as a basic. But you should know that. Record it as a visual, test done.
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JonB67
Young Croc Joined: 22 April 2016 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 1376 |
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Boots,
Spend £12 (amazon I think) on a ferrule crimper (I got the 6 jawed one), get some ferrules and have a play on some stranded cable. The advantages are pretty much self evident. A clearly more solid and stable connection, and all of the cable is held tightly to be making decent contact. I'm a total convert and won't terminate a cable without them now. Take a look at the weidmuller ferrules white paper (Google it, comes up top)
Edited by JonB67 - 10 November 2019 at 11:26am |
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csg
Old Croc Joined: 17 September 2007 Location: bedford Status: Offline Points: 6086 |
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No point in ferruling solid core connections, very good reason to use them on flex or finely stranded conductors as they will reduce contact resistance, increase current carrying capacity and reduce the chance of stray conductor strands causing faults. Naturally they need to be crimped properly with the correct die to obtain most of these advantages.
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“The fact is this is about identifying what we do best and finding more ways of doing less of it better”
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boots-hifi
Old Croc Joined: 15 August 2011 Status: Offline Points: 2463 |
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[QUOTE=monkeypuzzle]As above, get a tester, do the course or if you’re pretty savvy then just read as much documentation as you can. You have to be classed as a competent person and more often than not, just doing no the course does not make you that. When I take plugs apart I test each screw that holds the wire in and replace with ferrules if it needs it. That is doing it properly. Many folks that have done the course just plug the thing in and rattle through the tests not even bothering to see if the item even works let alone is actually physically safe.
If you do buy a tester do some research as many are really horrible to use, think the tiniest screen on the worst system processor you’ve ever used and times that by how many cables you have and bits of kit you own. Many also have far more feature than you will ever need. I got one of these from eBay boxed with loads of accessories for £80, I added a bar code reader (buy one and get a load of labels printed from one of the many places on the bay... it really helps) and £40 for calibration. Oh and also make sure the software is good. I don’t rate the Mattel stuff but it really does do all I need it to and you can run it from batteries for that festival on the job appeasing of h+S |
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ceharden
The 10,000 Points Club Joined: 05 June 2005 Location: Southampton Status: Offline Points: 11776 |
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To avoid any issues at the gig, I spent this afternoon testing all the gear I would be using tonight. Did it at a mates unit who owns a tester.
Although of course they never actually checked my equipment at the gig, it didn't turn out to be a waste of time because I actually found a few issues with a few of the mains plugs. Loose screws, loose fuse holders and one cracked housing. Those faults weren't found with the tester but by a thorough visual inspection. Further confirmation that these PAT companies that just go round plugging the end of cables they can find into their tester and sticking a label on it are a complete waste of time and money.
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monkeypuzzle
Young Croc Joined: 25 January 2005 Status: Offline Points: 924 |
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As above, get a tester, do the course or if you’re pretty savvy then just read as much documentation as you can. You have to be classed as a competent person and more often than not, just doing no the course does not make you that. When I take plugs apart I test each screw that holds the wire in and replace with ferrules if it needs it. That is doing it properly. Many folks that have done the course just plug the thing in and rattle through the tests not even bothering to see if the item even works let alone is actually physically safe.
If you do buy a tester do some research as many are really horrible to use, think the tiniest screen on the worst system processor you’ve ever used and times that by how many cables you have and bits of kit you own. Many also have far more feature than you will ever need. I got one of these from eBay boxed with loads of accessories for £80, I added a bar code reader (buy one and get a load of labels printed from one of the many places on the bay... it really helps) and £40 for calibration. Oh and also make sure the software is good. I don’t rate the Mattel stuff but it really does do all I need it to and you can run it from batteries for that festival on the job appeasing of h+S |
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blah blah blah blah blah......
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Digbethdave
Registered User Joined: 16 November 2018 Status: Offline Points: 406 |
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It's just a box ticking exercise. Pat yourself, aslong as you record that you have done a visual inspection which is the basic.
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Danielr
Registered User Joined: 30 May 2016 Status: Offline Points: 209 |
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There is no such thing as a PAT certificate. - you have a record of maintenance.
My best pat tester at work story is when the guy stuck a sticker on my old laptop power brick dating pass, then changed it when I said, "are you sure, I mean it comes apart into two pieces exposing bare mains wires inside... As above the industry is full of Cowboys, go do a day course, buy the gear and test yourself, keep good records etc. -they'll teach that in the course.
Edited by Danielr - 09 November 2019 at 12:14am |
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ceharden
The 10,000 Points Club Joined: 05 June 2005 Location: Southampton Status: Offline Points: 11776 |
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We've had the testers come round our office at work, put stickers on things powered from low Voltage DC supplies, cables where I can be sure they weren't even able to see both ends of them. At least one which I know would have been a fail if they'd actually looked properly.
It's actually worth reading the HSE Website on the subject. http://www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/faq-portable-appliance-testing.htm The yearly testing is one of the biggest myths. The interval should be chosen based on how the equipment is used. Arguably in our industry that could be every time it's used. My take on that is that I 'visually inspect' my cables etc every time I take them out of the trunk and if there's any issue I won't use them. For IT equipment that's not moved, the HSE suggest every 5 years may be sufficient. I'm doing a hotel gig tomorrow where they're insisting on a 'PAT Certificate'. Sod that, I'm not paying some other incompetent person to 'test' my gear. |
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