Mft calibration prices

David1906 said:

I bought a secondhand mft and I will be using it on site and the calibration has run out , we have to have a calibration certificate when using any mft on commercial and residential site work, which is what I do for a living

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Er what. You are using a unit which isn’t calibrated. Seeing as you claim to be SE it’s a small business expense

Murdoch said:

Er what. You are using a unit which isn’t calibrated. Seeing as you claim to be SE it’s a small business expense

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I said I will be using it on site , I don’t claim to be se I am . I’m not an experienced tester mate

mort2376 said:

Wholesaler trade day. Think I paid £45+vat.

Done by a professional company with fully traceable certificates.

Just means only 1 day without your tester.

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Fully traceable to what standard

David1906 said:

I said I will be using it on site , I don’t claim to be se I am . I’m not an experienced tester mate

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Murdoch said:

Er what. You are using a unit which isn’t calibrated. Seeing as you claim to be SE it’s a small business expense

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I’m just looking for a good price from people who have took them for calibration, I’d rather pay 50 quid than well over a hundred if I can I’m not made of money

David1906 said:

I’m just looking for a good price from people who have took them for calibration, I’d rather pay 50 quid than well over a hundred if I can I’m not made of money

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£100 which comes off your income is hardly a high price to pay to have proper equipment to use

Uncalibrated - what’s the point?

Murdoch said:

£100 which comes off your income is hardly a high price to pay to have proper equipment to use

Uncalibrated - what’s the point?

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Alright chill out , I bought a secondhand mft that calibration had run out hence I’m on a budget , I don’t need to go into details about it , just wanted info on where to go and prices wish I never asked

Murdoch said:

£100 which comes off your income is hardly a high price to pay to have proper equipment to use

Uncalibrated - what’s the point?

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If your going to be funny about it don’t bother replying with snarky messages pal

David1906 said:

No offence but you obviously don’t know the rules and regulations with using mft’s

how do you book it in mate , looked on their website and nothing about calibration. Did you ring up or take it in to their shop

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I just ring up and ask for a price. It always seems to be better (by quite alot), than the others. I do have a trade account with them, but I don't spend any other money with them.
They usually have a set day of the week when they take the testers to whomever it is that calibrates them. You then have to wait a few days (can't remember how many) to get it back.

Nice one mate thanks for the advice I’ve never had to get my own one calibrated, there’s a cef around the corner from me I’ll ring them tomorrow

David1906 said:

If your going to be funny about it don’t bother replying with snarky messages pal

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Get off your high horse then.

Seemingly you don’t want to hear things you don’t agree with

Keeping up with constantly changing regs, exams, products, testers etc is just things you have no choice but to do

David1906 said:

I don’t use a wholesaler I work self employed for a electrical company mate

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phone some local ones and ask when they are having another cal day. Most have around 2 a year.

I honestly don't know if CEF use the same company to do all of their calibration days around the country,
(probably not at a guess?)..
But for example this company ACS https://www.acs-calibration.co.uk/ state on their website..

Calibration Days​

ACS offers a unique calibration opportunity, holding calibration days on-site in different locations throughout the UK. These will be held at your local branch of City Electrical Factors (CEF).ACS representatives will be on location on the specified days and will be able to show you the very latest state-of-the-art test equipment, which is required under current legislation. The onsite 'drop-in' service has been designed, to make it quick and easy for you to get your equipment calibrated. There will also be an opportunity to take advantage of many special promotions that are available for test equipment from leading manufacturers.​

and they also say they can offer same-day drop off & collect..

On-site Calibration Day
An on-site calibration day is where our engineers attend specific branches on scheduled days with our mobile calibration facility. This enables you to call in with your test equipment, get them calibrated and pick them back up later that day. Or if required while you wait! Therefore making it simple for customers to get equipment calibrated, without it being out of service for too long.

There is a contact button on their website so may be worth asking?

I have never used them or CEF for any calibration services.. So can't offer any first hand experience and/or costs!!

But..
Many years I used a mobile guy, who would offer on-site calibration at wherever you were..
until he stopped doing his mobile service..!!

Then I used an old forum sponsor Specialist Instrument Services ISSWWW...
https://isswww.co.uk/calibration Because they had a branch within 20-25min drive from me..
and could do same day drop-off & collect calibration service..
But then the branch was closed down!!

I dislike sending any meters away via post for calibration as it just adds more delays plus the risk of loss/damage in transit!

My most recent calibrations have been carried out by a small local company who are within 10 miles of home..
So I can easily arrange a mutually convenient drop off and collection date/time..
Their last charges were approx £65 for a Multi-function meter and £35 for a single function meter, (plus VAT).

Hope that helps to de-mist some of the Calibration clouds!!?

Murdoch said:

CPS membership requires you to produce a calibration yearly

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I’m QS for our company and the niceic accept that I test the MFT against known values, as I said early these companies they do not calibrate your tester they test against the same known values I do, scam

Philip01 said:

I’m QS for our company and the niceic accept that I test the MFT against known values, as I said early these companies they do not calibrate your tester they test against the same known values I do, scam

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Yeah that’s called testing the calibration of the mft and if it’s not within the values it gets recalibrated surely you should know that then , how is it a scam when it’s done to industry standards and regulations, if the mft’s aren’t checked by qualified people who test these values yearly you could potentially be getting readings that are not true ?

Philip01 said:

I’m QS for our company and the niceic accept that I test the MFT against known values, as I said early these companies they do not calibrate your tester they test against the same known values I do, scam

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That's fine as long as your own standards are calibrated to a traceable standard. Ultimately your standard should (must?) have an unbroken chain of calibration back to National Physical Laboratory.

im a QS and niceic are more interested in my monthly own calibration chart than the yearly calibration from a tracable standard.
we do both here as its company policy and i dont pay for it!

I got my MFT and Checkbox done…keeps everyone happy and ticks the boxes. I drop them off the day before, collect following day, have a brew, see a few manufacturers. At one time you could get 1 done for free for every £X you spent on the day

Philip01 said:

I’m QS for our company and the niceic accept that I test the MFT against known values,

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So how often do you get your checkbox calibrated then to verify the "known" values are stable and providing accurate results.
Also how do you check / verify the RCD / RCBO trip times and tripping current

Philip01 said:

as I said early these companies they do not calibrate your tester they test against the same known values I do, scam

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Do you realise the difference in cost of the checkbox you use to "verify" your MFT's are within normal operating limits and the equipment a UKAS certified calibration lab uses to calibrate an MFT or other test instruments.

I would suggest you have been mislead by the NICEIC who have clearly not differentiated between verification and actual true calibration but that is nothing new where they are concerned

Philip01 said:

do you imagine they strip down your MFT and alter the values not at all they do test against a set of known values

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I do believe someone with very little knowledge of what they do has turned you against these calibration companies
So if they have a meter that is well outside of the acceptable calibration limits do they scrap it or strip it down and repair it, a few years back I sent one of my MFT's back to Metrel to be checked over and overhauled it cost £200 and a number of parts within the instrument were replaced

What do the NICEIC accept as a reasonable drift from your "known" values before proper calibration / repair is required

newfutile said:

im a QS and niceic are more interested in my monthly own calibration chart than the yearly calibration from a tracable standard.
we do both here as its company policy and i dont pay for it!

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The NICEIC standards have been dropping for many years and this just confirms it

UNG said:

The NICEIC standards have been dropping for many years and this just confirms it

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NICEIC have liked monthly check with a resistance box and RCD on a known circuit for many years, they used to accept proper cal cert on a 2 year basis. Personally I think yearly proper cert is minimum acceptable especially given the rough environments are test gear can be subjected to.