Product Tests & Reviews

Here at Test Meter we do our very best to help pair our customers with the perfect product for their needs. We love hearing the new ways our customers make use of the instruments we sell, so we were buzzing to tell you about this one!

We stock a multitude of Seaward Solar instruments that together form the market’s most comprehensive solar PV testing range. There are advanced options for solar PV testers, irradiance meters, and solar tools, which are also available in a range of great value kits.

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You work as a designer for a manufacturer of multifunction electrical test meters. For the last few years you've made meters which provide a standalone solution to most of the testing requirements of the 17th Edition of BS7671. Your meters are robust, reliable and easy to use. But you need to sell more meters. So what do you do to differentiate your new products from the rest of the fold?

Amid rising energy prices and an uncertain trading environment, energy efficiency - the so-called ‘fifth-fuel’ - is becoming an evermore important factor in decisions made by business owners and managers. In fact, Carbon Trust research has shown that up to 20% of energy costs are spent on unnecessary or wasted energy so the potential saving is very significant. Luckily, Chauvin Arnoux has provided a comprehensive solution to identifying inefficiencies and waste: the Energy Efficiency Business Solution (EEBS) - available right now from Test-Meter - which features a power quality analyser and thermal camera for picking up on both electrical and thermal wastage.

Professional-Electrician.com’s Norman Bradshaw recently took on the task of reviewing the Chauvin Arnoux PEL 103 Power Energy Logger, a datalogger that features remote communication and comprehensive data-gathering capabilities, and used his article to ask why more electricians are not taking advantage of datalogging in order to meet client demand for greater energy efficiency.<!

Throughout October 2016, Seaward Solar are offering free webinar demonstrations that will showcase the features of the new Seaward PV200 photovoltaic tester and IV curve tracer in detail.

Infrared thermography has been used for decades by skilled, trained users in a huge range of applications, from structural surveying of buildings through to electromechanical fault diagnosis, from tracking wild animals to clandestine military activities.

Ask any seasoned thermographer and they’ll regale you with tales of expensive, finicky equipment that had to be treated with kid gloves, was bulky and chomped through batteries. It wasn’t long ago that thermographic cameras had their own specialised on-board cooling systems.

As any electrician knows, it’s very straightforward to trace cables… providing you can see them. As soon as they’re buried in walls or under floor spaces, finding cables becomes a laborious combination of educated guesswork, luck and dogged persistence, aided by an insight into whatever was going on in the crazed mind of the person who installed them in such a bizarre topology.

Cable finders such as the Martindale CD1000 and CEM CLS20 claim to put an end to all your cable-finding problems. But do they deliver all they promise? And which should you spend your money on: the CLS20 (currently £119 + VAT), or the CD1000 (£259 + VAT)?

The Megger MFT1735 Multifunction Tester is the latest addition to the popular MFT1700 series of Megger multifunctional installation testers. The MFT1735 builds upon the impressive specification of the MFT1730, now offering extensive earth testing features such as ART (Attached Rod Technique) and stakeless earth testing.

The Kewtech KT65DL Multifunction Tester is the most advanced multifunction installation tester within the Kewtech range and arguably the most complete ‘all-in-one’ solution on the market. The KT65DL will cover all aspects of installation testing including a three wire earth resistivity test, but also doubles up as a PAT tester for testing portable appliances to the recommended minimum requirements.