How to choose the right PAT tester
When deciding on the right PAT tester for your needs, the very first thing that you need to consider is the number of electrical items that you need to test.
If you will be doing your own testing in-house and have less than 100 items then a manual PAT tester should be adequate. These types of machines don't have built-in storage capacity so you will need to record the test results by hand.
The modern basic manual PAT testers are mostly automatic and run through the required tests in an automatic sequence. You are then provided with a pass or fail result on the screen. Test equipment that falls into this category is as follows:
- Seaward Primetest 50
- Seaward Primetest 100
- and the Kewtech KT71
At the higher end of the manual test equipment market are machines suitable for professionals such as service companies and facilities managers. People like this may need to test frequently but have no need for results storage. These testers give you results readings on the screen:
- Seaward Primetest 200
- Seaward Primetest 220
If you do require a tester with a memory and download capabilities, but only have a few items to test, then the Seaward Europa PAC Plus could be suitable.
If you are thinking of starting your own pat testing business or want to test more than 100 items then you are better to get a downloadable tester with a memory to store test results. Testers such as:
- Fluke 6500
- Fluke 5500
- Megger PAT4
- Seaward Europa Plus
- Seward Primetest 300
- Seaward Supernova Plus
These PAT testers have large memories to store 1000's of test results. They also allow you to download the results into a software package.
More information of specific brands of testers:
- Fluke PAT testers
- Kewtech PAT testers
- Megger PAT testers
- Metrel PAT testers
- Robin PAT testers
- Seaward PAT testers
- Transmille PAT testers