Device for checking power, data, tv and phone points

Hello,

Unfortunately none of the companies offering independent inspections is willing to test power, data, tv and phone points. Is there a device I can buy that can help me with this task during PCI? One of my power points is 32amps and I would like to check that it can actually handle such load.

Thanks!

Measuring voltage potentials is easy, measuring amps actually drawn is easy, measuring amps that might be drawn... that's tricky.

Testing the load of a circuit (i.e. measuring amperage capacity) is not that straightforward - to do what you appear to be asking, you'd actually have to load the circuit with 32 amps and then see if anything tripped (or started smoking....). I'm not aware of any devices out there that'd do this (if I ever had to do it, I'd custom-make a mains-voltage resistor array - and make sure I stationed someone at the main cutoff switch and had a good class E fire extinguisher handy!).

To determine if a circuit can carry a certain load then you can check the rating on the circuit breaker yourself. After that, it basically involves checking that the wires are correctly sized to carry the load - which, if you really want to go that far, would probably involve taking off plasterboard.

You could engage an electrician to do electrical testing for you (it's a licenced trade, and not many - if any! - building inspectors would be licenced for electrical work), although I'm not sure that it's going to actually add much value to you (unless you have any specific reason to suspect that your wiring isn't up to standard?).

Hey,

The main reason is that I might use this particular power point in a year or so and then when it doesn't work it will be on me to prove that it was not working right from the beginning. I understand what you are saying but it's surprising that such a common task is not automated. It's 21st century after all .

If you have a 32Amp socket you can be assured that it will be capable of delivering. Power is one of those things that is still very tightly regulated.

As for your other concerns yes there are tools that can test data, from simple continuity testers you can get at Jaycar to proper testers that cost thousands. There are also similar tools available for coax too. Though would suggest to test it properly would probably cost you way too much, so best test is does it work as intended.

For the 32 amp socket get the details of the sparky who installed it. A socket this size will almost certainly be wired straight to the meter box on its own circuit breaker and cable (they aren't daisy chained like 10 amp power points). It's a fairly passive setup. Get the gauge and approx length of cable plus size of circuit breaker and ask another sparky to confirm if it's right.

For Ethernet cabling you can get a simple Ethernet cable tester at Jaycar and some computer stores. One person stands at each end of the cable and you confirm the lights on each tester match for the 4 pairs in each cable. The testers usually light up the 4 pairs in sequence so it's easy to tell if one end has a pair missing or in the wrong order. The only thing that can go wrong here is an incorrect order of wires or unterminated wires and it's an easy fix yourself or get sparky to do it.

For regular 10 amp power points there are cheap power point testers from Jaycar which will give some peace of mind regarding the basics, residual current, missing earths etc plus they can test tripping the circuit. They are not professional grade tools though. Any issue at all found here just get the sparky back to address.

Thanks guys!

Array would something like this https://www.jaycar.com.au/power-point-a ... r/p/QP2000 do the job?

Yes it will test power points and RCD trip points. Though in reality unless you understand how the tests you doing work, that is what are you testing for you are pretty well wasting your time.

Ok, what is the easiest way to test them? Hair dryer? I can imagine any portable device that can generate a reasonable load?

Sorry to be blunt but your answer kind of proves my point. To fully and properly test power circuits you need to know what you are doing.

These testers do not test load there really isn't anything that can. Though a hair dryer isn't a bad idea same too with a bar heater. When I used to test UPS capacity we would use a 2400w bar heater.

These test that active and neutral are around the right way and that the RCd trips correctly. But even with RCD you need to know what the trip point is of the breaker and setup the tester to test to that trip point.

No need to be sorry . I just want to make sure this house works and I'm not entirely comfortable with assuming everything will be fine because it is a highly regulated industry.

I have done close to 10K new home and pre purchase property inspections and electrical faults are someting that very rarely crops up.
In any case you will be under builder's warranty if anything crops up. On balance I think your concerns are misplaced.

Well as said power is something that is not easy to test properly.

Take your 32amp circuit for example. What physically limits what a circuit can take is the size and length of the cable. A circuit breaker is then installed to protect the cable. So you could well go and get something that can draw 32 amps and test it and it may work fine but what you might not see is that cable is overheating because it is undersized. It would only take prolonged use for that to then become a fault. So testing will not pick that up.

This is one of the reason that the electrical industry is still very regulated and inspected at frame stage. Plus of course it is about your safety not quality and longevity like other trades.

That said final fit off is not quite inspected to the same degree, have seen places where complete power points are missed or active/neutral around the wrong way. That's where the testers you have linked to come into their own.

AJW, thanks that makes perfect sense.

@buildingexpert your customers are lucky that you check electrical installations for them. I've contacted 5 inspectors in Brisbane and none of them does that.

No we don't check electrical, and in any case electrical is excluded from the reporting standard of AS 4349.1
I was merely saying that in my experience incidence of electrical faults is negligible.