PAT Testing a School | Day in the life of a PAT Tester VLOG.

[@Harrock]

Hi im from germany .im a PAT- Engineer myself . I learned Radio and TV-Technician and than started to work as PAT-Engineer in 2021 .... my Company has their own Test Devices and a Test-App with is conected via Bluetooth to get all the data ... PE-Resisdence , touch leakage and so on. Its super easy ... my record was 552 Tests in a Night shift at a big Bank ... 61,3 tests/Hour ... that was insane . But every Office Desk was set up the same way

[@wendybainbridge2209]

They have put foil round the fuse because they didn’t have a replacement fuse it probably had blown

[@rampak1]

Your experience here, similar to what I have also had, is what makes me highly suspicious of PAT test companies who advertise a flat rate per item. The sort of prices they claim would no way be enough to cover a proper test of things like this. I used to base charges on an hourly rate so that the job could be done properly without skimping.

[@Budgies667]

thank you very much, from a budding pat tester,

[@caterhampattesting]

Glad it helped

[@abzmalik7917]

You can’t put a kitchen hot oven on a socket. Needs to be a separate circuit with the correct size mcb and hard wired into a cooker point.

[@caterhampattesting]

thanks for your comment. If the oven was supplied a plug fitted, either rewirable or moulded then you would expect that the manufacturer intended it for use with a plug. A lot of hired catering equipment will be fitted with 13a plugs. Obviously that doesn't mean that a plug will never show signs of burning or damage but that is why regular inspection and testing is a great way to identify any danger

[@kevinkeegan7211]

Hi great video & adformative. Do you how to or where toget hpat500 testing machine calibrated

[@caterhampattesting]

most calibration centre's will do that for you i am sure.

[@mathman0101]

Good job and well spoken through.

[@ramzg5402]

Hi, what PAT tester do you Use? How to become a PAT Tester? Thanks for the videos

[@caterhampattesting]

Seaward Apollo 500+

[@nathanhendry9845]

Great video Ben, Very thorough

[@joaorlazaro]

Very nice, thank you!

[@caterhampattesting]

Thanks, if my videos have helped then please consider donating using the “thanks” button or even becoming a member to help me create more videos!

[@Imakeelectronicchaos]

7:10 exact same happened at my school but worse cos in the lunch hall there is a hot plate and a food warmer and a really big high power fan all plugged into an extension lead with quite thin cable but the hot plate things have thick cable and the socket gets really hot to the touch and the wire of the extension lead feels hot enough to melt or be danegrous. I have tried telling them it’s bad but they won’t listen

[@Imakeelectronicchaos]

And the socket it’s all plugged into has cracked quite burnt plastic

[@crazylegs960]

The fuse is blow and it’s a way of using the foil to complete the circuit

[@caterhampattesting]

I did check that. The fuse hadn’t blown. People sometimes do this to increase the fuse rating on items

[@crazylegs960]

@@caterhampattesting I'm no electrician but that madness.

[@DA-of9sv]

Thinking about doing the 2377 City and guilds course. I'm hoping you don't have to be a spark before taking the course?

[@caterhampattesting]

No not at all. You just need to be a competent person but I would highly recommend a course by the company “pat test expert” which is a more practical course. The only thing you might find is a lot of job adverts require you to have the C&G course

[@billyfm8227]

Thanks great video.

[@andrewbirch3060]

I am new to pat testing but building experience all the time. The monitor on the ceiling hung stand that you found. I would class that as fixed appliance and not potable so why do you test it?

[@caterhampattesting]

all electrical appliances need to be inspected and tested in some form whether it is portable, fixed, movable... it all comes under the same umbrella now.

[@katiefinnegan4649]

I qualified C&G NVQ level 3 10 years ago, mostly hydro and wind power but thinking of setting up a PATesting side hustle business to top up income. I could do a couple of days every 2 weeks, Do you think it’s worth it? What could be achieved with a couple of days a fortnight? Do you go replacing fuses, rewriting plugs and moving cable?

[@caterhampattesting]

You might find it difficult just to test a couple of days every fortnight as you might find yourself not available when your customers require their testing.

[@nocode1603]

I done my c&g 2377 about 10 years ago we had quiet a big group on our course failed first time so did most of our class we also had 5 electrical engineering 3year failed biggest thing I had was a lot of retired people were doing the cours to help at charities witch was going to be my market you will probably be pitted against big national companies who say thay can test hundreds of units a day for £110 as a one man show I can't compete against that but I really do wonder just how much time spent checking fuse,case flex testing & recording the results??? Good luck 🤞

[@nahiyan0076]

Hi I want to be a pat tester. Just wondering how available the jobs are? Can I get jobs straight away after finishing the training? What qualifications do I need? Do I need to be self-employed or can I work with a company with ni? Have a nice day.

[@nocode1603]

Hi what you might find is as did I im a spark did my c&g in college our course was a lot of electricians like my self heating engineers janitors but a lot of retired guys doing the corse to test stuff for a church or a charity to wich I asked how much are you going to charge only to be told I'm doing it for charity not grate as a fledgling business out of nearly 20 people only 3 passed first time I didn't 😮we had 3 electricial engineering students took the 2nd year all faild n never resat so to recap its difficult then customers question your every move price thay think we go around with a pac of stickers n just dish them out how rong are thay....🤯

[@anthonyholdsworth1275]

Hi great video, I am very new into this and have done a handful of sites now, I have just today been doing a primary school and have come across the IT racks for ipads and the big comms unit. So I am in need of your help, 1/ do I need to visual check laptops and ipads I am led to believe I need to? 2/ the mains cable runs into the back in the centre secured cupboard, do I need to take of the front panel to do the tests? and 3/ the comms cabinet has one mains 3 pin socket but several inside into what looks like an extention, it is very unlikely that I will get this shut down to test, so do I just do a visual? Thanks in advance, Tony

[@caterhampattesting]

thanks for your questions. I would normally do the following myself. Just the test/inspection of the chargers. Yes, you will maybe need to remove the panel to inspect / test any power / extension cables. I also do not recommend pulling the power of the comms rack without the permission of the IT company. This type of work will need to pre planned but time should be made to test them.

[@Swiftskypie]

I'm looking at starting pat testing do you know any good online courses and is there a pat tester machine you would recommend. Thanks

[@caterhampattesting]

Thanks for the message. I would avoid the DIY online courses and try and go on an in person course with hands on equipment demonstrations too. In terms of a machine, it has tough to know what type of items / industries you will be testing in. Could be worth you getting a basic machine 2nd hand to test the water and then see where it takes you!

[@hainman1]

Hi Ben,wee Question,we have been issued with the Same Apollo machine as your using but one of them has started throwing up ‘no mains power’ when trying to do tests Tried another 240 lead and still nothing Have you came across this issue on your machine??

[@caterhampattesting]

I've only ever come across that of you are trying to perform tests that require mains voltage to complete, such as RCD tests or touch current tests which need to power up the appliance

[@adriangoodwin4801]

Please don’t PAT test switches and servers or ups amount of call outs we get once you guys have been around is crazy just do a visual inspection it’s more than enough

[@caterhampattesting]

Thanks for your comment. As mentioned in the video, we will only test this in partnership with the IT company as part of a planned shut down. The equipment does need to be tested as part of planned maintenance as we have come across equipment with exposed internals, faulty extension leads and damaged cables.

[@stuartbeveridge5125]

Cable tie to tight ? . Pull it hard enough and it will break well before any insulating. As a electrical engineer i would go around ensuring this is done so dont 'say this is wrong.

[@caterhampattesting]

Thanks for your comment. I didn't say it was wrong, I just said that it is something to look out for as I have come across this many times where the outer insulation has been damaged by cable ties. Also when cables are tied together like this it is a PAT testers nightmare as it makes our job very difficult.

[@paulmorrey4298]

Thanks

[@scottsaul]

They wrap it in tinfoil so that the fuse will never blow .It's highly dangerous the type of thing used for a quick fix then the problem never gets rectified !!!

[@caterhampattesting]

absolutely

[@johnbaldock6353]

I'm just starting on my PAT test career, but i was told anything above ground level we dont touch. Never use ladders and never work at height. Right or wrong??

[@caterhampattesting]

anything above ground level still needs to be tested whether it is stage lighting, projectors or equipment such as kitchen extractors which are often plugged in on top of kitchen units. Obviously you should only be working at height if competent to do so but for someone to say that anything above head height is not be touched is wrong.

[@elivai]

When you're processing the laptop power adapters, do you make it clear that it's only had a visual inspection or do you just slap a generic pass label on it? As far as I can tell it's not required but I've come across some cheap visual inspection labels. Is it ever sensible to do it?

[@caterhampattesting]

my test records that I give to the client will detail that they have only had a visual inspection.

[@elivai]

​@@caterhampattesting ​Thanks for the reply! I'm not a professional PAT tester FYI, all I did was a training course. I refurbish IT equipment for charity and we PAT test the laptop chargers & IECs before sending them out to the recipients. If we're only keeping records in-house and just labelling the appliances themselves, do you think it would be a good idea to use visual inspection labels over pass labels? Is there any reason not to? To be honest I'd love to make a system to export the PAT records- maybe when I get time, thanks for the idea! And thanks for uploading so many videos, watching your explanations and the day-in-the-life-of videos have been so helpful to me as a newcomer. Especially liked the breakdowns on C7s and power adapters since that covers 90% of the things we do! My boss thinks I shouldn't be getting my info from KZbin videos but it's hard to argue when you're opening the 5th edition and showing what it says right in front of the camera. Hoping to find space in the budget to buy a copy soon!

[@DraelectricalsUk]

Use a socket tester

[@Grippojr]

How is this a trade?

[@caterhampattesting]

How is what a trade?

[@nikossolomou9507]

Test the 3A fuse you found wrapped in foil. 99.99% certain it will have blown and an idiot wrapped it in foil to make the circuit again WITHOUT PROTECTION!!!

[@caterhampattesting]

it wasn't blown but previous fuses had blown so they wrapped this one in the hope that it would stop in the future.

[@Jim804]

What is the rate per test, or does it vary per item.

[@caterhampattesting]

all depends on the customer… I get anything from 80p to £20 an item depending on where and what it is.

[@ohoh7uk]

Are they sherwood lables lol

[@caterhampattesting]

sorry no idea what you mean

[@650GSF]

i am a site maintenance guy in a secondary school, and have to test about 500 items a year, the IT technician does all the IT equipment, must be over a 1000 items between us. I bought all my own equipment just before COVID hit the world, thinking I would do a little side line to earn a bit more money, at the weekends and evenings, I was all ready to go and COVID hit about 2 weeks latter, talk about bad bloody timing :-(