Multifunctional Testers - Which one have you got and how long has it lasted?

[Dobes_88]

Megger 1720 since 2014 - hasn't skipped a beat!

 

[James]

Fluke 1653
Been great and in use for 9 years so far

 

[Rigpig]

Martindale Et 4500 from test meter..... Had it 2 years and no complaints so far.

 

[GBDamo]

Trusty old Dilog 9083P. Bought used from another spark who was upgrading. Very easy to use which makes it ideal for me. Worked well for 3 years and sails through its annual calibration.

I also have one of these, getting on for five years old and still fine, recently calibrated OK.

It's a bit clunky and not at all sexy but it does all the tests only thing it's missing is a 1MOhm IR function.

I would genuinely like to know what makes the other £400-£600 pounds, to get the Meggers and Flukes, worthwhile.

 

[Deleted member 105166]

I would genuinely like to know what makes the other £400-£600 pounds, to get the Meggers and Flukes, worthwhile.

Sometimes if doesn't have to - it depends on an individual or businesses circumstances, for example:
Dilog 9083P £325+vat
Megger 1741 £875+vat
The Megger is £550 more than the Dilog.
For a business, an MFT is a capital expenditure as opposed to a revenue item.
Typically a business will apply the '25% reducing balance' method of depreciation.
In year one (the year of purchase), the Dilog would charge £81.25 depreciation to the P&L and retain £243.75 on the balance sheet as fixed assets. Whereas the Megger would charge £218.75 depreciation and carry forward £656.25 asset value. So in year one, the Megger has actually only cost you £137.50 more, i.e. less than one typical morning's work, to have the latest tool you fancy, drool over and work hard for.
Fast forward to 2024 when Megger bring out their newer flagship MFT, the book value on the balance sheet of your 1741 is just £155, but the street price for a second hand one is still around £400 and every apprentice wants one, so you easily make £250 profit on resale when you sell it, which offsets against the year one depreciation on your new tester.
Conversely the residual value on secondary and tertiary brands, is often beneath the 25% reducing balance curve, giving you little or no profit on disposal.

 

[GBDamo]

Sometimes if doesn't have to - it depends on an individual or businesses circumstances, for example:
Dilog 9083P £325+vat
Megger 1741 £875+vat
The Megger is £550 more than the Dilog.
For a business, an MFT is a capital expenditure as opposed to a revenue item.
Typically a business will apply the '25% reducing balance' method of depreciation.
In year one (the year of purchase), the Dilog would charge £81.25 depreciation to the P&L and retain £243.75 on the balance sheet as fixed assets. Whereas the Megger would charge £218.75 depreciation and carry forward £656.25 asset value. So in year one, the Megger has actually only cost you £137.50 more, i.e. less than one typical morning's work, to have the latest tool you fancy, drool over and work hard for.
Fast forward to 2024 when Megger bring out their newer flagship MFT, the book value on the balance sheet of your 1741 is just £155, but the street price for a second hand one is still around £400 and every apprentice wants one, so you easily make £250 profit on resale when you sell it, which offsets against the year one depreciation on your new tester.
Conversely the residual value on secondary and tertiary brands, is often beneath the 25% reducing balance curve, giving you little or no profit on disposal.

Okay, so i make a £10,000 MFT with few discernable benefits over a £325 one yet they'll sell like hot cakes?

 

[Deleted member 105166]

Okay, so i make a £10,000 MFT with few discernable benefits over a £325 one yet they'll sell like hot cakes?

Probably stretching a point there.
But (crystal ball time) when AFDDs are perfected and made mandatory for new circuits >=32A in the 19th Edition in 2025 and Megger launch their shiny new £1,600 MFT1951 with onboard arc fault simulation, they will sell loads of them.

 

[fairlight]

Ethos 8400.
The leads are pants, tried to buy megger leads for quality, but on the Ethos the blue/green leads have to be piggy backed for a high current Zs test, which the megger leads don't do. A big downside is that the no trip test is strictly 3 wire, which means you cant test at switches on RCD protected circuits, that's a real disadvantage. The IR test is not press and hold, it does a test over a few seconds and averages. That's a disadvantage for fault finding because I want to hold 500v on the fault for a while, if it starts low and rises that's usually damp....I cant use my experience of what the meter is telling me. Eats batteries as well.
Mines been back to Ethos twice (had it less than a year). The last time because Zs readings always came back as 0.01 ohms....(PFC off the scale!). They sent back a new meter with the old serial number peeled off and applied to the new meter. On the plus side the auto RCD test is awesome.
Based on my experience I'd say don't buy.

 

[stevethesparks]

I've had a metrel eurotest for about 15 years now without a glitch.
Also got a megger 1720 and kewtech, we had a megger 1730 until one of the lads dropped it, megger wanted £ 250.00 just to look at it , from what I've heard it's their standard reply. It's still sat in the office waiting for me to make a decision.

I had a similar problem with a 3 month old 1711, they are a beautiful instrument to use, but do appear to be susceptible to drops. I pointed out there advertising shows a truck driving over a 1700 series and survives. They were adamant that as the drop was 1.2 metres, it wasn't covered by warranty.
I then purchased a 1721, and within a day or two, Megger had a change of heart and offered to repair my 1711 free of charge - of which they did.
Anyone want to buy a perfectly good 1711?
Be persistent with Megger, I'm sure they wouldn't want the bad publicity.

 

[bibby3316]

Thanks for the plug Dan - if anyone does want any info, we're always happy to help people find the right tester and we do have a fair few MFTs in stock to choose from!




We're always happy to provide a competitive, no obligation quote for repairs.
Just drop us a message on [email protected] or call 0113 248 9966 - ideally with a fault description - and we'll see what we can do!

Would you have any advice for a mature trainee as to which multifunction tester to go for, that would be value for money, but a worthwhile investment?

 

[telectrix]

my 1553 is 11 years old. never failed, never been repaired, and has passed every calibration.

 

[Strima]

Would you have any advice for a mature trainee as to which multifunction tester to go for, that would be value for money, but a worthwhile investment?

What's your budget?

 

[Midwest]

my 1553 is 11 years old. never failed, never been repaired, and has passed every calibration.

Hope you had your fingers crossed when yo said that!

 

[static zap]

my 1553 is 11 years old. never failed,

... Respected for its worth - and probably never dropped 2m onto a painted concrete floor ...
Life expectancy must depend on part if it treated kindly , or slung in back of van jostling with reels of T&E.

 

[Strima]

my 1553 is 11 years old. never failed, never been repaired, and has passed every calibration.

My 1552 is 9 years old, had the cable plugs repaired once but apart from that has never missed a beat.

Except last month when testing a TPN board full of RCBOs, it got a bit warm after the twentieth time test... ?