Page 2 - Chris Fox

On the 11th March 2020, The World Health Organisation (WHO), responsible for assessing the global developments of COVID-19, characterised the outbreak as a pandemic¹. As of 31st March 2020, it is reported that the pandemic has affected more than 179 countries, with more than 823,000 cases confirmed worldwide².

WHO confidently write that ‘all countries can still change the course of this pandemic’, and in order to supress and control the virus, it advises that countries should take measures to ‘detect, test, treat, isolate, trace and mobilise their people in the response’³ to the global emergency.

For many years, Residual Current Devices or RCDs have been commonplace in the vast majority of electrical installations.

RCDs provide additional protection against electric shock by constantly monitoring the current flowing through Line and Neutral conductors within a circuit, or an individual item of electrical equipment. Under usual circumstances, the current flowing within the two conductors is equal.

This is a common question that is answered often by our technical support department. The solution below applies to the Megger MFT1710, 1711, 1720, 1721, 1730, 1731 and 1735.

The word DUCTER was registered by Evershed & Vignoles in 1908 – a shortened version of ‘conductor tester’ that has since evolved into an adjective; similar to HOOVERing a floor or MEGGERing an electrical cable.

Evershed & Vignoles developed the original ‘Ducter’ and were one of the companies that evolved into Megger. Interestingly, Evershed & Vignoles also developed the World’s first high resistance ohmmeter in 1889.

A new addition to an impressive line-up of low resistance ohmmeters, the Megger DLRO100 series is comprised of three instruments; each model available as a mains powered unit or as a battery/mains powered unit.

The most advanced model is capable of remote operation, asset tagging, communicating wirelessly using Bluetooth and is also DualGround compatible for additional safety. These features coupled with a CAT IV 600VAC/500VDC safety rating and IP54 protection against dust and water ingress position the DLRO100 as a stalwart benchmark for any opposition in the market.

Regular inspection and testing of a Solar PV installation not only qualifies that the system remains electrically safe for continued use, but that it operates as efficiently as originally intended.

The IET guidance note (Code of Practice for Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic Systems) provides engineers with a more user-friendly approach to installing and maintaining a PV system than that of BS EN 62446; the international standard upon which the guidance note is based.

April 2016 saw the arrival of a new batch of Megger multifunction testers. The untrained eye won’t spot any aesthetical or ergonomic differences between the existing MFT1700 series and the 2016 units, however the newer models offer additional, valuable testing features at very competitive prices.

The common misconception of a lack of electric vehicle charging points in the UK is the prime argument for reasons against investing in an electric vehicle.

If truth be told, there are currently 1,500 public EV charging points across the UK. And with the government investing £30m into eight pilot regions, this number is expected to increase to 8,500 over the coming years.

Wireless Technology

Wireless communication is an integral part of today’s society with nearly 800 million households worldwide using a WiFi network. In fact, at the end of 2013 there were more wireless mobile devices on Earth than people.

The Megger MFT1720 is one of the most popular testers within the Megger MFT17XX range. Domestic installers who might undertake future three-phase installation work will consider the MFT1720, as will any engineer conducting EICR’s or undertaking volumes of domestic and commercial installation work. In short, The Megger MFT1720 is a great all round multifunction tester suitable for domestic, commercial and some industrial electrical installations.