Wireless socket tester

[JosephandAmber]

I often conduct EICRs alone. I'm curious if there is a socket tester on the market that can transmit to a handheld unit. The idea was that I could flick switches at the board without running up 4 flights of stairs to check whether it was the right one. Or failing that, a socket tester that makes a seriously loud sound when live.

 

[Pretty Mouth]

I have a martindale FD550 fuse finder which kind of does what you're looking for. Plug it in, then back at the CU, you put the probe on each breaker in turn and the one that give the strongest signal is the right circuit. Switch off the circuit and the signal (and tone) should stop.

That's the theory anyway, in practice it isn't all that reliable, and takes a bit of getting used to. I recon it finds the right fuse about half of the time, but it does go silent when you switch the correct circuit off. It has other uses too, so overall I'm glad I have it.

 

[James]

A lot of the fluke meters have a Bluetooth connection to your phone/tablet. ,might be worth looking at?

 

[James]

Another thought.
option 1
have a lamp on a 50m extension lead, plug it in and reel it out.
you can then see what breaker a socket is fed from.

other option is a ghetoblaster or similar, when the noise stops you have found the right breaker!!

 

[mainline]

I often conduct EICRs alone. I'm curious if there is a socket tester on the market that can transmit to a handheld unit. The idea was that I could flick switches at the board without running up 4 flights of stairs to check whether it was the right one. Or failing that, a socket tester that makes a seriously loud sound when live.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YMhYy4Idk4

 

[littlespark]

its called an apprentice..... aka "gopher"

 

[SparkySy]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YMhYy4Idk4

I bought a very similar one a while ago online for a job and then found the fault before I had a chance to use it, must give it a try!

I have the TIS870 and that does get some use, it is a good unit and works well 80% of the time.
I think noisy circuits are the worst ones to pin down.
Only thing is it's 13a plug in, I had a look at the Martindale and Megger ones as they are on 4mm leads so would be much more versatile!

 

[mainline]

I bought a very similar one a while ago online for a job and then found the fault before I had a chance to use it, must give it a try!

I have the TIS870 and that does get some use, it is a good unit and works well 80% of the time.
I think noisy circuits are the worst ones to pin down.
Only thing is it's 13a plug in, I had a look at the Martindale and Megger ones as they are on 4mm leads so would be much more versatile!

I've had it for must be 5 or 6 years, used it once

 

[7029 dave]

I have a martindale FD550 fuse finder which kind of does what you're looking for. Plug it in, then back at the CU, you put the probe on each breaker in turn and the one that give the strongest signal is the right circuit. Switch off the circuit and the signal (and tone) should stop.

That's the theory anyway, in practice it isn't all that reliable, and takes a bit of getting used to. I recon it finds the right fuse about half of the time, but it does go silent when you switch the correct circuit off. It has other uses too, so overall I'm glad I have it.

I have one, the trick is not to have the volume turned up too high on the amplifier.

 

[nicebutdim]

I have a fuse finder and find it very useful when presented with a board full of unidentified circuits. It needs to be 'tuned' by running across the board several times until it hones in on the circuit in question. So far it has been 100% accurate, but I wouldn't recommend one as a simple replacement for a socket tester for circuit identification - more useful in situations where circuits can not be isolated randomly.