CEF offering calibration for £35 + VAT.

[HappyHippyDad]

My title looks like an advert!

It was time for my MFT to be calibrated so I started ringing around. Wilts (Rexel) are my choice for buying all my gear although they are usually expensive for calibration, as they were this time £75+VAT. I rang CEF next and they were £35+VAT. I asked why they were so cheap as they said they are making a few changes since a recent survey revealed to them that most electricians think they are expensive (as they are).

They did say they plan to keep the price at £35 (we'll see), so just giving you guys the heads up for those that don't already know

 

[peterhyper]

I just called cef and they said it was £74 for my mfm to be calibrated. I said that I heard that it was £35 and he said that's only on calibration days (he didn't know when the next one was).

Thought it was to good to be true that cef were cheap for something!

 

[mattg4321]

On the 'calibration' days they check over 100 testers in my local branch. Can't imagine there's any 'calibrating' going on. A quick check it's in range on a couple of settings and then print the sheet out imo.

No 'fails' reported from the last 'calibration' day at local cef according the manager.

I use my mft every day. I've had it for 10 years. I'll know if its throwing funny results - as it did about a year back.

Another scam we have to pay for. Along with a yearly assessment, new books every 3 years, pointless exam every 10 years, part pee every year, £1.50 notification fee etc etc

 

[Voltstick]

On the 'calibration' days they check over 100 testers in my local branch. Can't imagine there's any 'calibrating' going on. A quick check it's in range on a couple of settings and then print the sheet out imo.

No 'fails' reported from the last 'calibration' day at local cef according the manager.

I use my mft every day. I've had it for 10 years. I'll know if its throwing funny results - as it did about a year back.

Another scam we have to pay for. Along with a yearly assessment, new books every 3 years, pointless exam every 10 years, part pee every year, £1.50 notification fee etc etc

Just picked up on this and you are right there is definitely no calibrating going on , my Megger was giving me very low readings on mu checkbox so I took it in thinking it could be adjusted and for £18 seemed too good to be true. It came back out with flying colours not even one digit out of tolerance, it was all done in 5 mins while having a bacon butty.
Because of this I sent my checkbox in for repair to a company in Stafford who then came back to me saying the checkbox was bang on, however I was still getting low results. I sent the megger to them along with the cert and basically what I had been given was a load of rubbish, they said they had seen several of these certificates from cef mainly from CEF own calibration company ACS where every reading was exact to the digit which they say never happens which indicates generic certificates being printed.
On top of this all loop readings were calibrated at 1 ohm, 10 ohms , 100 ohms , 1000ohms which I am told by the calibration company is impossible as no calibration machine on the market does this as they rely on the local loop of the building to start with then there are standard value resistors that increment the value , so loop reference values should be different in every building again proving these certificates are dodgy. I would check yours guys because they may cost £18 but you may as well print them yourself. Ended up costing me almost £200 with the price I paid for initial cal , checkbox cal , then Megger repair / adjustment. The £18 is a con to get you into the CEF store , similarly with free days. Who works for free guys these days. So back to the professionals for me and will never use CEF again

 

[core2000]

Just picked up on this and you are right there is definitely no calibrating going on , my Megger was giving me very low readings on mu checkbox so I took it in thinking it could be adjusted and for £18 seemed too good to be true. It came back out with flying colours not even one digit out of tolerance, it was all done in 5 mins while having a bacon butty.
Because of this I sent my checkbox in for repair to a company in Stafford who then came back to me saying the checkbox was bang on, however I was still getting low results. I sent the megger to them along with the cert and basically what I had been given was a load of rubbish, they said they had seen several of these certificates from cef mainly from CEF own calibration company ACS where every reading was exact to the digit which they say never happens which indicates generic certificates being printed.
On top of this all loop readings were calibrated at 1 ohm, 10 ohms , 100 ohms , 1000ohms which I am told by the calibration company is impossible as no calibration machine on the market does this as they rely on the local loop of the building to start with then there are standard value resistors that increment the value , so loop reference values should be different in every building again proving these certificates are dodgy. I would check yours guys because they may cost £18 but you may as well print them yourself. Ended up costing me almost £200 with the price I paid for initial cal , checkbox cal , then Megger repair / adjustment. The £18 is a con to get you into the CEF store , similarly with free days. Who works for free guys these days. So back to the professionals for me and will never use CEF again

Which CEF was this? My local CEF charged me £35+vat.
Was calibrated by a company called TIC. Was nearly 6 months ago though but had the same generic calibration values.


Was yours a recent thing?

 

[Pete999]

I just called cef and they said it was £74 for my mfm to be calibrated. I said that I heard that it was £35 and he said that's only on calibration days (he didn't know when the next one was).

Thought it was to good to be true that cef were cheap for something!

Always got an excuse for disputing price offers aint they