There’s no playing games when electricity is involved because it can be deadly if not handled properly. There comes a time when you’d have to carry out a simple maintenance check with electrical appliances and equipment, whether they are safe to use, or require some repair and replacement, and while visual examination is part of the process, you can’t take this as the sole reliable test.
Thorough inspection that helps detect faults is carried out with the use of one of the specialised types of 3 phase tester, but of course PAT (Portable Appliance Testing) can be done only by professionals or people who’ve undergone particular training to get the gist of how the testers work, how the appliances function, and how the procedure goes.
Having the right testing equipment isn’t enough as you would have to know how to use it as well as understand the results to consider yourself skilled for them. Since there are different testers, not every type is suitable for everyone. You can choose based on how frequently you would use it, as well as the amount of appliances, opting for one of the PAT basic checkers, PAT basic testers, or one of the professional 3 phase tester.
As the names suggest, where there is basic it means these testers are ideal for beginners, easy to access, perform insulation, leaking, and extension lead, suitable for a variety of appliances, including IT, but what they aren’t equipped with is memory to store the testing results.
When it comes to professional PAT testers, as they are designed to test and tag larger amounts of appliances, there are printers, scanners, and custom configured tags as part of the testers, allowing to streamline and print out the results of the procedure immediately. On the plus side too, they are equipped with memory and WinPATS software.
Where there are portable appliances there should be regular testing, at least yearly but it all depends on the appliances and where they are used, to avoid accidents from happening. While visual examination may not be as efficient as PAT inspections with specialised equipment checking both inside and out, it’s still recommended to do it because chances are you might spot certain changes: overheating, exposed wires, or damages to the plugs or supply cables.
Just because new appliances are new it doesn’t have to mean they are perfect, so be sure to check them visually before plugging them in.
