Discuss good GS38 approved voltage tester in the Electrical Wiring, Theories and Regulations area at ElectriciansForums.net

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I not sure if sentiels comply even
,martindale voltage indicators have been used by electricity boards and throughout industry for decades ,there fused and the probe and robust lead instill confidence in using one
,the man asked for a recomendation ,i know which i would choose ,,
 
Martindale is good. One of the best. As for proving unit, you don't have to use one. Especially if you have to pay 3 times the price of the Voltage Indicator for one of them. But you must test it on a known live source to make sure it is working.
 
I suppose it's OK when you have the live incoming supply to prove the Voltage Indicator on ie. at the Consumer Unit, but in other situations it could be risky.

proving units are very useful

personally, at the top of a ladder, if i want to prove something dead, a proving unit is invaluable

The alternatives are: come down the ladder and find a live supply, or sod it and just crack on - of course you take the sod it option (and compromise your safety)
 
The origional question of this thread was if anyone could recomend a good GS38 voltage tester ,which i did by giving him the link to martindale ,they also make a proving unit ,if you wish to use one.
 
Just a quick question, how can you prove your tester on the incoming side of the consumer unit when the Electricity at Work Regs state that the front cover must never be removed unit power is isolated, ie, main fuse below pulled out? Therefore a proving unit must be used to complete safe isolation procedure on the consumer unit.
 
Martindale is good. One of the best. As for proving unit, you don't have to use one. Especially if you have to pay 3 times the price of the Voltage Indicator for one of them. But you must test it on a known live source to make sure it is working.

The proving unit works on the same principle as your insulation tester, to if you can not afford one, the use your insulation tester to prove your martindale tester works, set insulation tester to 250 V dc and clamp the test lead to the end of the voltage tester and press the button the apprioprate neons on tester will light up.;)

Personelly I always use the proving unit from martindales, another good reason for using martindale voltage indicators is that it does not cause nuisance tripping of RCD, unlike some other voltage indicator can.
 
I use my trusty test lamp & proving unit i forgot to give back when i handed back my tool kit to S.E.B.
Call it a leaving prezy !
Forgot and the big red marrigolds !
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just a quick question, how can you prove your tester on the incoming side of the consumer unit when the Electricity at Work Regs state that the front cover must never be removed unit power is isolated, ie, main fuse below pulled out? Therefore a proving unit must be used to complete safe isolation procedure on the consumer unit.

How do you measure Ze if you can't have the cover off and power to the incomming side?

Never used a proving unit personally, apart from my 2391 exam.
 
When measuring Ze, R1+R2, polarity, etc, this is classed as testing procedures where the main fuse is allowed to be re-instated to power the consumer unit for testing purposes only. When removing the consumer unit front cover for the first time, the main fuse below must be taken out and isolated.
 
When measuring Ze, R1+R2, polarity, etc, this is classed as testing procedures where the main fuse is allowed to be re-instated to power the consumer unit for testing purposes only. When removing the consumer unit front cover for the first time, the main fuse below must be taken out and isolated.

Utter rubbish, on the 2391 practicle exam, the main isolator on the board had to be locked off and then the cover could be removed. You could then use the known source (ie incomming supply) to test your meter and check that isolation on the installation has been carried out correctly.
 
I had this same discussion at night college last week with my tutor regarding using the incoming supply to test voltage indicators and he said you can not remove the CU front cover until it has been totally isolated, as per EaWR regs. He also said that it is not advisable to use another source to test meters therefore a proving unit should be used. I also have an e-mail from the NIC saying the exact same thing.
 
I had this same discussion at night college last week with my tutor regarding using the incoming supply to test voltage indicators and he said you can not remove the CU front cover until it has been totally isolated, as per EaWR regs. He also said that it is not advisable to use another source to test meters therefore a proving unit should be used. I also have an e-mail from the NIC saying the exact same thing.

You better ask him how I managed to pass safe isolation on my 2391 exam then!! and my last ELECSA assesment
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You CAN remove the cover of the CU provided the main switch and all MCB's etc, are in the off position.

This would then enable the safe isolation test to be carried out either side of the main switch.
 

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