Basic PAT Testing mistakes you can easily make

Martindale Electric

Basic PAT Testing mistakes you can easily make

Published: 9 June 2022 · Category: Technical articles

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Basic PAT Testing Mistakes Application Note Things that frequently go wrong Even if you are an experienced user of portable appliance testers, you might end up making one of these common mistakes. Check out our list to see how you and your team can avoid these mistakes. Martindale offer one day training courses for people new to PAT testing which are also suitable for refresher training. 1. Not doing the tests in the required order 2. Forgetting to switch the appliance on If on a Class 1 appliance you do the insulation test first, Think about the situation where the live wire is broken you don’t know if the conductive earth path is good. (In inside the appliance and touching the outer casing. When Class 1 appliances most PATs use the earth wire as the you do the insulation test, everything inside the appliance return signal path, which is why you don’t need to use a should be at 500V. The tester detects (via a probe or probe for the insulation test). If the earth path isn’t tested the earth wire) any voltage escaping to the appliance and proven good, you can’t rely on the insulation test. housing. But if you haven’t switched it on the voltage can’t get through the live wire, nothing will escape and you will have an incorrect pass of a dangerous appliance. 3. Not checking the fuse is conducting (see 2 above). You don’t have to do a separate fuse test – the operation test will prove that the appliance is both on and the fuse is okay. 4. Touching the appliance The truth is...