Calibration Poll

[Geordie Spark]

What about west of Scotland, we always get humped for delivery or companies refuse to do deliver?

A couple of bottles of your finest whiskey delivered to the checkpoint at Hadrian's Wall may help.

 

[123]

If a 4-12 hour period is needed for the tester to acclimatise to the site conditions, should we all not be leaving our equipment at the job the day before where it will be needed?

Or if its local work and the conditions are similar so its ok...whats the issue with popping into the local wholesalers to do it?

 

[davesparks]

Yes you do have to have your testers on site for a while before using them for them to acclimatise.
When it's a warm site and the tester is coming out of a cold van bring it in first thing in the morning and leave it to warm up then do the testing after lunch.
Or have take the tester indoors overnight beforehand and then in the front of the van where it is warmer to travel to site.

 

[Rockingit]

I almost ended up having a punch up with an NICEIC inspector over this - was my annual inspection in the winter, seriously freezing and I took him out to a building plot where I was doing new-builds, so two jobs in one hit. He asks me to do some tests, so I replied that I couldn't, as the temp gauge in the van was minus something and we're not supposed to test significantly below average temps as the results are unreliable. The look on his face was a picture!

 

[Midwest]

Know this threads a bit old, but it is a sticky. I paid £70 at my wholesalers for my last calibration. This year, I was lucky/unlucky cos' my mft went faulty and had to go back to Megger, and was recalibrated then. Test Meter, how is collection arranged? I'm 50 miles away from my nearest DPD depot, and I struggled to return my mft to Megger under Royal Mails 2kg limit.

 

[shanky887614]

Know this threads a bit old, but it is a sticky. I paid £70 at my wholesalers for my last calibration. This year, I was lucky/unlucky cos' my mft went faulty and had to go back to Megger, and was recalibrated then. Test Meter, how is collection arranged? I'm 50 miles away from my nearest DPD depot, and I struggled to return my mft to Megger under Royal Mails 2kg limit.

have a look at apc,yodel ups etc

apc is my favorite though

 

[HandySparks]

...Test Meter, how is collection arranged? I'm 50 miles away from my nearest DPD depot, and I struggled to return my mft to Megger under Royal Mails 2kg limit.

Give Test Meter a call. They'll arrange to collect from your home or workplace. They've got my MFT for calibration right now. (I wasn't planning on doing any work over the Christmas and New year hols.)

 

[HandySparks]

Give Test Meter a call. They'll arrange to collect from your home or workplace. They've got my MFT for calibration right now. (I wasn't planning on doing any work over the Christmas and New year hols.)

Ha Ha.

Since this thread has popped to the top again (presumably due to a deleted spam post or similar), I'll just mention that I got Test Meter to do mine over the Christmas break again this year.

 

[Midwest]

I've been using one of those Calcards, since my MFT was last calibrated end of 2014. Monthly checks have been consisted. Elecsa assessor happy with that for 3 years, apparently.

 

[Skimpy Wan]

Think I'll be getting one of those Calcards ordered tonight after my Check Box was "borrowed" recently!!

Smaller and good reviews from what I can see following a Google search.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Elecsa may be happy with a calcard instead of getting the machine calibrated but Stroma aren't. They require you to have a calcard and get the MFT calibrated.

 

[Skimpy Wan]

Elecsa may be happy with a calcard instead of getting the machine calibrated but Stroma aren't. They require you to have a calcard and get the MFT calibrated.

I'm more interested in using the Calcards to check the meter before each EIC & EICR - for my own piece of mind really. Still end up throwing away £50+ a year to confirm what I'll already know! Lol

 

[Midwest]

Elecsa may be happy with a calcard instead of getting the machine calibrated but Stroma aren't. They require you to have a calcard and get the MFT calibrated.

Perhaps its got something to do with NIC/Elecsa flogging Calcard and Stroma don't! PS: And Stroma do a calibration service.

 

[a-z electrics]

I can appreciate that time and location is key to some of you.

Don't shoot me down - I'm simply offering a service which is flexible, affordable and also takes the hassle away from you having to think about what courier to send a unit with, what insurance options are available etc.

As above, if you just want a sticker to satisfy annual assessment, please make sure you are keeping your own records of test results using a checkbox or dedicated circuit to make sure your test results are not deviating.

This last method is what I tend to do now and get a "proper" calibration every 3 yrs or so.. after all, its far more reliable to check every month than every year and if anything looks off track, then can address it.
as for sending my mft away for 3-4 days, this would be difficult for me to do without, plus there is the extra risk of drops etc during transit. I know you can label it as Fragile but I used to work for Royal Mail (and these are probably the best) and I know what can happen!!

 

[Risteard]

An ongoing accuracy test is nothing like a proper instrument calibration which is conducted under controlled conditions (e.g. temperature). It is not intended to replace calibration.

 

[a-z electrics]

An ongoing accuracy test is nothing like a proper instrument calibration which is conducted under controlled conditions (e.g. temperature). It is not intended to replace calibration.

Perhaps not but in my opinion it's more reliable. A proper instrument calibration is like an mot.. A snapshot at one point in time. After being bashed about on its return journey it can all be a waste of time.. And money!

 

[Risteard]

Perhaps not but in my opinion it's more reliable. A proper instrument calibration is like an mot.. A snapshot at one point in time. After being bashed about on its return journey it can all be a waste of time.. And money!

It absolutely isn't more reliable, but without doing it you have no means of ensuring that following calibration that the instrument hasn't become inaccurate.

 

[davesparks]

Perhaps not but in my opinion it's more reliable. A proper instrument calibration is like an mot.. A snapshot at one point in time. After being bashed about on its return journey it can all be a waste of time.. And money!

A calibration is not like an MOT, an MOT is just a comparison against a standard. True calibration is the act of checking against a reference standard and the adjustment of the instrument to be correct.

 

[a-z electrics]

A calibration is not like an MOT, an MOT is just a comparison against a standard. True calibration is the act of checking against a reference standard and the adjustment of the instrument to be correct.

Exactly what happens when I take my car for an mot!!

 

[davesparks]

Exactly what happens when I take my car for an mot!!

Then your MOT tester is doing it wrong if he makes any alteration to the vehicle as part of the MOT test.
You should report them to VOSA and they will investigate with a high probability of legal action being taken