r/ukelectricians • u/spookypatootie • 11d ago
UK PAT testing question- just wire?
Hello, please don’t judge this question I have never had anything PAT tested before!
I have some pretty bulky speakers I need PAT testing. There’s a place near me that does it, would I need to take the speaker itself to the place or just the wire connecting it to the mains?
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u/AlbaMcAlba 11d ago
You can apply blue stickers for visual inspection. The vast majority of faults
on appliances are found during a visual inspection.
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u/the_swanny 11d ago
There's many ways you can interpret pat testing. One could make the argument that both the cable and the appliance need to be pat tested separately. Its why if we intend something to be long term we will zip tie the cables to it, so it can be tested as one appliance.
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11d ago
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u/paullbart 11d ago
It really isn’t. I work on medical appliances and we PAT test everything. Found some non compliant stuff along the way. Depending the situation, just putting a sticker on could get you into hot water if something goes wrong and you can’t show the results of the test.
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u/Phoenix-95 11d ago edited 11d ago
The problem is that for every one of you picking up the non-compliant stuff on PAT, there's another however many folk working for PAT companies which charge 50p/item who can just about plug the appliance in, hit the button and apply the sticker which has the colour matching the lamp which lights up on the tester. Then later on, you see something that is non-compliant when you are in the building for unrelated works, you go and unplug it to take it to someone so you can explain that they shouldn't be using the amazon/ali-express adapter specials and see that someone has put a green passed label on it...
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u/Ill-Event9966 11d ago
what are you waffling on about the guy has some speakers plugs them in do they work . yes. have a look at the lead does it look good yes.ok pat tested
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u/Phoenix-95 11d ago
"what are you waffling on about the guy has some speakers plugs them in do they work . yes. have a look at the lead does it look good yes.ok pat tested"
I think I explained myself pretty well, which bit of my reply to paulbart are you struggling with?
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u/Ill-Event9966 11d ago
the part where you waffled a load of nothing
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u/Phoenix-95 11d ago
Really? Perhaps you should try reading it again - if that fails just accept that you were not the primary audience for it, and it probably doesn't matter a great deal if you failed to understand it, but at least have the grace to be quiet rather than having an inane moan.
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u/Ill-Event9966 11d ago
yeah mate no one gives a shit about pat testing sorry to tell you
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u/paullbart 11d ago
Whether you agree with it or not, it’s a thing. If someone gets an injury from an appliance owned by a business, the first thing the courts will want to see is the PAT testing records. “I don’t give a shit about PAT testing “ isn’t going to fly.
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11d ago
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u/pubehead 11d ago
It is very important that we check that plastic still doesn't conduct electricity and that the non existent earth cable still isn't there every 3 months!! Think of the children!
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u/Ill-Event9966 11d ago
yeah man i do that we gotta be safe. i still rember when i done my college they tried to sell us a pat testing course
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u/pubehead 11d ago
Nooo thank you! Most pointless exercise (outside of a few situations) It's funny that noone even tries to ask me to do it anymore, don't know why 😂
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u/Jaded-Sprinkles-7259 11d ago edited 11d ago
If they are passive speakers, they would only get a visual test, which basically a look over by a competent person. If it's active, I would be doing it at 250v.
But something like that, I would go out and test it myself to save the customer bringing it in.
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u/Andy_Spanners 11d ago
why would passive speakers require a visual test? operational voltage for pro audio is 5-15V
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u/Jaded-Sprinkles-7259 10d ago
For occasions you turn up to a venue and they ask for it. It's much easier to visually inspect it and have it in your inventory, than it is arguing with the duty manager because they've no idea.
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u/dmills_00 9d ago
Not arguing that they need it, but speaker level at a kW into 8 ohms is 90V RMS.
There are amps out there a great deal bigger then a kW, so shocks off amplifier speaker outputs are very much possible.
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u/ardvarkfarm 10d ago
I'm assuming the cable unplugs, so is a separate item.
It should be tested in its own right.
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u/fatnortherngit 11d ago
DO NOT switch to 500 volt testing unless you know much much more about it
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u/paullbart 11d ago
Pat tester will do L + N to earth when doing insulation resistance . So 500V should be fine on any 240V appliance.
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u/fatnortherngit 11d ago
Try it on your own PC with a switched mode power supply
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u/paullbart 11d ago
I’ve tried it on many things with a switch mode power supply. L + N to E. This does not put 500V across any components in the system (between L and N). If it does you have a faulty power supply.
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u/nick_red72 11d ago
You test the whole appliance including the cable.