Recommendations for PAT machine anyone?

[The Ghost]

Hi just wondering if anyone on here uses a PAT tester and feel any particular brand or particular PAT tester is better than any other? I use a Seaward Primetest 50 at the moment.

 

[westward10]

This is just a pass/test meter I believe but if you are only doing small quantities it is fine. We do have better spec Seawards which give figures for readings but I would not go crazy with one.

 

[The Ghost]

Yes definitely a pass fail meter. Which is fine I do small quantities. It is just today a landlord who I did an EICR for and some PATs' asked for a certificate because the letting agent want one. So the plug labels are not good enough. I suppose this will become a trend now. I was thinking downloadable but maybe not. Thanks for the tip not to go crazy.

 

[westward10]

Wouldn't be difficult to set-up a cert in Exel and print off but you would have to manually input.

 

[Rpa07]

I bought a second hand Seaward 300 which sings AND dances. I have it for the times it’s required - nice to have a bit of class that tests properly.

 

[ruston]

I have an old all singing all dancing Ethos (Seaward) too.
Not really worth the investment.
It downloads to the records automatically and gives bluetooth barcoded lables and automatically scans and records to the item numbers. I have not used it for ages , except for the earth leakage facility.

 

[Moley]

I used to use a Seaward Supernova and it was excelent. Currently using a Megger 420 and in my opinion it's nowhere near as good.

 

[The Ghost]

I have iPat which is really quite nice for a cert. I notice it has some figures you can put in which my lowly machine does not do or show. It is seeing the figures which makes me think I ought to get a better pat tester that does the Kva and so on.

 

[bigspark17]

I use easy pat sofware. Matches the certs up nicely with the easycert as usually both the eicr & pat come hand in hand.

 

[ruston]

The problem is it is not lucrative and is soul destroying unless , as above it is part of another project.

 

[Deleted member 105166]

We have a Robin SmartPAT 5000, which has just gone in for its 19th annual calibration! The download facility is great and easy to use, to produce certificates. Maybe worthing picking one up, if you're happy with an older model, they do sell on ebay sometime less than £100, obviously allow £30 for a calibration.

 

[The Ghost]

Just found a Robin 3000 on ebay for £75 it does look like a bit of kit. And I am a sucker for gadgets.

 

[Deleted member 105166]

Just found a Robin 3000 on ebay for £75 it does look like a bit of kit. And I am a sucker for gadgets.

IIRC the 3000 does not store/download, so you have to record the results manually. Look for a 5000 or a 5500, the 5000 is better nowadays as it has a serial port, whereas the 5500 has a 3.5" floppy drive for data transfer.

 

[pirate]

Well guys, I only do basic stuff for landlords...so it's Pass or Fail...maximum number of appliances is about 20, so I don't need online downloads and all that fancy stuff. I do use an adapter for testing appliances that are hard wired through a connection unit or flex outlet, but for my limited use I am happy with my
http://www.pat-test-training.co.uk/micropat-tester-for-pat-testing/
which is cheap to have calibrated annually, fast turnaround, and is simply an easy way of ensuring compliance for landlords.
Not fancy, but simple...like me!

 

[suffolkspark]

If its small quantities just use a multifunction tester?

 

[suffolkspark]

Delete

 

[mhar]

It is a moronic task compounded by low current earth bond tests. Second hand Supernovas can be pretty cheap, are downloadable and do high current earth bond tests which significantly speeds up testing. The negative is having a mains lead but you can buy extensions for the earth bond clip which are auto nulled