EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Test Equipment Electrical Safety testers with 62353 standard

Hi, can anyone recommend an appropriate electrical safety tester that supports the new 62353 standard. We're looking in to getting a few new ones. We've been having trouble with our existing tester, the Fluke ESA615. Any benchworking or portable testers you'd recommend?
thank for your time in advance!

Rigel is the obvious answer ...

... and also has the advantage of being British!

Indeed Rigel are the ones we use and have proved to be quite reliable.

You could also look at the Datrend vPad-Rugged 2 (https://www.datrend.com/product/vpad-rugged-2/). This is easy to use and has good templates if you need to generate reports. It can even produce PDF reports from test results on a user template.

Although a Canadian company they have agents and service support here in the UK and seem to be responsive to user needs. After a demo I spotted some improvements that could be made to the user interface software and these were implemented within weeks.

As always it depends on your needs and how you intend to use the meters (auto/manual) and if you need to feed the data into an external database.

But the Rigel is hand-held, of course.

It looks like the Datrend range has really expanded in recent years, Mike (I tried their early infusion pump tester - the Infutest 2000 - fifteen years ago, and liked it very much). If I was setting up again now as a "mobile technician" I would seriously consider* the vPad-Rugged 2 - mainly because it looks so er, rugged - and (surely the main point), it reminds me of the Good Old Rigel 233.

But even more than that - it looks like it could be the modern successor to the venerable medTester!

* Depending how the price shapes up, naturally.

Thank you Geoff and Mike, we were leading towards Rigel, any particular model? i assume were talking about the 288+?

No; you're assumption is wrong there. In your opening post you mentioned 62353.

62353+
288+

The 288+ is the more capable of the two ... but do you need those extra features and/or accessories?

Why not seek quotes for both models, then make up you mind?

you're assumption - your assumption
you mind - your mind

I was hoping to snare the Grammar Police* with those, but they must still be in deep cover.

* Mind your words, or they'll mind them for you.

I recently purchased the 288+ and highly recommend it. I rigel/seaward provide good product support if needed too.

But how about this* for a completely different approach to it all!

* Pity that the EST only has AAMI and NFPA options (as well as 110 Volts working).

We've recently trialed (And trialing!) the Vpad rugged 2 that mike recommended and its performing really well, the criteria i'm looking for in any electrical safety tester is:
-support the new 62353 standard
-Allows step by step function for testing
-Portable / rugged and easy to carry
-Option to add peripherals (such as keyboard mouse)
-easy to use with enough customization
-Records can be downloaded easily without the hassle of software downloads

From the initial demo, the device is packed with features and ticks all the boxes above. it runs on an android tablet as the interface, (yes there are security issues here) which allows quite a lot of potential for a portable tester, you could download manuals, have an excel sheet or quick notes for guides or videos to help with testing if need be. the tests run through in semi- automatic mode and can stop after every test if you choose (step by step) with power on / off delay, as mike said, records can be instantly turned to PDF through the tablet and download straight to the pc via micro usb to usb connection, no software or gimmicks required. One of the amazing features showcased in the demo was if the standard changes, the app can be updated to update the software through WiFi. it also has a bar-code scanner to incorporate preset records. its still early days but its looking promising as a tester, only time will tell if stands up to the resilience it claims to be, android has a lot of potential for modernizing too. i also found out the repair and service center is based in Bristol i think so it doesn't go to Canada if for some reason you encounter repairs, so downtime is minimal.

Hope this helps.