# Testing your tester.



## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

Poll time....

This poll question was suggested by fellow member of ET....:thumbsup:


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Chris1971 said:


> Poll time....
> 
> This poll question was suggested by fellow member of ET....:thumbsup:


What if the tester you're testing your tester with doesn't test because you're tester doesn't work?:blink::laughing:


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## Chris1971 (Dec 27, 2010)

HARRY304E said:


> What if the tester you're testing your tester with doesn't test because you're tester doesn't work?:blink::laughing:


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## wendon (Sep 27, 2010)

HARRY304E said:


> What if the tester you're testing your tester with doesn't test because you're tester doesn't work?:blink::laughing:


You mean how many testers could a tester tester test if a tester tester could test testers?


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## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

HARRY304E said:


> What if the tester you're testing your tester with doesn't test because you're tester doesn't work?:blink::laughing:


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

Almost always. :thumbsup:


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

Actually, they have just been calibrated.


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## Celtic (Nov 19, 2007)

I read an electricians test one time...:
Q:How do you test your gloves?

One of the answers was:
A: Let your helper do it.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

wendon said:


> You mean how many testers could a tester tester test if a tester tester could test testers?


 
40 hours worth a week, when a tester tester is testing testers.


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## TattooMan (Feb 10, 2012)

Yup.


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

I know a lot of guys hate tic testers, but one reason I like them is because it's so darn easy to do before-and-after tests with them.

-John


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## captkirk (Nov 21, 2007)

Once a year my supply house has a vendor day, i bring my fluke in to have it calibrated...they happily do it for free...


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

At a minimum I touch the leads together with it set to ohms, I've caught plenty of open and flaky leads and probes that way.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

wendon said:


> You mean how many testers could a tester tester test if a tester tester could test testers?


:laughing:


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

If you are testing voltage for lockout verification, you put your tester on a known live circuit, then on the subject circuit, and then back to the known live circuit. If you have done the lockout correctly and if your testing device is working you will see, live, dead, live.


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

isn't tester verification one of the first things we learn?

~CS~


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Every time I use it, I test it.


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## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

Wirenuting said:


> Every time I use it, I test it.


 That is not testing if it can detect voltage.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

don_resqcapt19 said:


> That is not testing if it can detect voltage.


Your right, but it does tell me if the battery is dead before I walk in the building. 
That's why the continuity light is on at the top.


But it gets tested on a known item before each use.


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## RGH (Sep 12, 2011)

...do you test-touch-test..?..or test and toss tester in bag..?...I always Carry my greenlee tester in my shirt pocket...I don't trust it but it is tested everyday and is a very good 1st check...and for quick and dirty test when doing resi chit...


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

RGH said:


> ...do you test-touch-test..?.quote]
> 
> if you mean physically touch, i was apprenticed to old timers who insisted on _'backhanding' _
> 
> ...


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## RGH (Sep 12, 2011)

no steve...many moons ago when I was in school we were taught to..test the meter...test the circuit..re-test the meter...hence..test-touch-test...I still do this on anything over and including 277/480...for sure and usually do it several times a day even on lessor voltages 120/208...re-testing the meter...I just find it reassuring so to speak...we have all seen strange chit happen and we should never be to safe...:thumbsup:


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

RGH said:


> no steve...many moons ago when I was in school we were taught to..test the meter...test the circuit..re-test the meter...hence..test-touch-test...I still do this on anything over and including 277/480...for sure and usually do it several times a day even on lessor voltages 120/208...re-testing the meter...I just find it reassuring so to speak...we have all seen strange chit happen and we should never be to safe...:thumbsup:


Same here and I think it is even more important today when we use battery powered electronic meters.


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## drsparky (Nov 13, 2008)

If I doubt a tester reading I test my tester with another tester. If they don't match it's off to calibration.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

LARMGUY said:


> Actually, they have just been calibrated.


SO????????????????????


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## fanelle (Nov 27, 2011)

If im using a DMM I will initially double check its readings with a wiggy. If i`m just verifying if a circuit is dead or not I will use a wiggy and a tic tester. I figure if I use two testers and they both tell me the same thing no reason to recheck them on a known live circuit.


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## Lone Crapshooter (Nov 8, 2008)

If I am clearing equipment I always use the test-touch-test method. If I do not have a live bus I use a Piezo generator that we call a squeeze tester. I do not believe in self testing equipment. Generally I do not test meters when I am troubleshooting unless I am getting squrrely readings.


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## Dhfisher (May 6, 2011)

An old tried and true method of testing is simply test it against your partners instrument at the beginning of the day, or in shop time in the morning. With the greater sophistication of testing instruments sometimes we have to devise a method of our own until a recognized and approved method is set in place. Common sense is the best instrument of all, also I understand there are people out there who could f*** up a bowling ball. Darwin awards anybody?


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