B
brman
Ok, yes I know there are 1000s of posts on which tester is best but my brain is starting to fry with all the options so I'd really love someone to sanity check what I am thinking....
My problem is that I have used all three of these testers but only for specific tasks and I am not experienced with these measurements so am likely to miss stuff. I am on a budget and happy to consider secondhand but do have some concerns with buying sight unseen on ebay and also need to consider cal costs, knackered leads etc. So....
Megger 1552: I have used one of these for all the basic tests (ie. continuity, loop tests, resistance, RCDs etc). I liked it - it is solid,easy to understand and most tests (eg cont and loop) don't need you to press the start button. On the other hand RCD tests could be a pain as it has no auto mode.
New is outside my price range but there are plenty on ebay going for around £300 so the only real problem is my reservations of buying on ebay.
Fluke 1652: I've been offered a 2nd hand one by a mate for £300. I've not seen it yet but supposedly all the bits are there, it is good nick but the cal ran out recently. I've only used one for RCD testing (which was easy enough and has auto test) and it looks a solid bit of kit but I did notice a colleague swearing when he was using it as he was getting variable continuity measurements (constantly having to re-null) and needed 3 hands to hold the probes and press the test button. There again they didn't have the probe with a test button which I assume solves that problem?
Metrel 3100: I've gone for this over the 3000 as I have had a brief play with one (RCD testing again) and it had the remote commander. To me this looks pretty important but what do you more experienced guys think?
The big plus on this is that I could afford a new one so no warranty or cal problems.
I guess my first question is am I right in assuming all these will do everything I'll need for standard jobs (if there is such a thing!)?
I got the impression that the order of preference here is probably Megger->Fluke->Metrel but would the supposedly superiority of a 2nd hand megger outweight the advantage of going new with the metrel? Particularly as the Metrel appears to do a fair bit more.
And are all those extra features really useful on the metrel? I am perfectly capable of looking up fuses etc in the book so I don't really need the tester to do that for me.
And where would you put a known good but 2nd hand Fluke in all this? Does £300 sound a reasonable price?
Any pointers very welcome before I spend all my hard earned....
btw. I should add that I doubt I will be doing major electrical installation work and I am not even 100% sure I will be going the full self certification route (I may end up calling in a more experienced pro on more complex jobs anyway) but I do want the ability to fully check installations I work on and also ensure anything I do is up to scratch, even if it is not notifiable.
Toby
My problem is that I have used all three of these testers but only for specific tasks and I am not experienced with these measurements so am likely to miss stuff. I am on a budget and happy to consider secondhand but do have some concerns with buying sight unseen on ebay and also need to consider cal costs, knackered leads etc. So....
Megger 1552: I have used one of these for all the basic tests (ie. continuity, loop tests, resistance, RCDs etc). I liked it - it is solid,easy to understand and most tests (eg cont and loop) don't need you to press the start button. On the other hand RCD tests could be a pain as it has no auto mode.
New is outside my price range but there are plenty on ebay going for around £300 so the only real problem is my reservations of buying on ebay.
Fluke 1652: I've been offered a 2nd hand one by a mate for £300. I've not seen it yet but supposedly all the bits are there, it is good nick but the cal ran out recently. I've only used one for RCD testing (which was easy enough and has auto test) and it looks a solid bit of kit but I did notice a colleague swearing when he was using it as he was getting variable continuity measurements (constantly having to re-null) and needed 3 hands to hold the probes and press the test button. There again they didn't have the probe with a test button which I assume solves that problem?
Metrel 3100: I've gone for this over the 3000 as I have had a brief play with one (RCD testing again) and it had the remote commander. To me this looks pretty important but what do you more experienced guys think?
The big plus on this is that I could afford a new one so no warranty or cal problems.
I guess my first question is am I right in assuming all these will do everything I'll need for standard jobs (if there is such a thing!)?
I got the impression that the order of preference here is probably Megger->Fluke->Metrel but would the supposedly superiority of a 2nd hand megger outweight the advantage of going new with the metrel? Particularly as the Metrel appears to do a fair bit more.
And are all those extra features really useful on the metrel? I am perfectly capable of looking up fuses etc in the book so I don't really need the tester to do that for me.
And where would you put a known good but 2nd hand Fluke in all this? Does £300 sound a reasonable price?
Any pointers very welcome before I spend all my hard earned....
btw. I should add that I doubt I will be doing major electrical installation work and I am not even 100% sure I will be going the full self certification route (I may end up calling in a more experienced pro on more complex jobs anyway) but I do want the ability to fully check installations I work on and also ensure anything I do is up to scratch, even if it is not notifiable.
Toby
