Calibration checksheet

[m4tty]

Hi,

I know it's been asked a few times but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

What i'm after is a template with the checks on to avoid having calibration every year. So you can make sure readings are not becoming inaccurate

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[initforthemoney]

You cant avoid calibration every year.

 

[tom1]

You cant avoid calibration every year.

thought if you used the check sheets calibration periods could be extended, 3 years springs to mind

 

[initforthemoney]

Thats an NIC thing.

Test meters should be properly calibrated.

I would want someone to go to if things went wrong.

 

[m4tty]

thought if you used the check sheets calibration periods could be extended, 3 years springs to mind

You know what I'm after tom. Anyone got a check sheet template. Elecsa also do this aswell as nic. Cheers

 

[a1]

I believe there is a result sheet in our download area.

On the bottom of one of the excel page, you will see tabs. it is one of those.

It also maybe listed as an EIC. So check there mate.

 

[m4tty]

Thats an NIC thing.Test meters should be properly calibrated.

I would want someone to go to if things went wrong.

I agree with you mate that they should be properly calibrated but if the readings are not altering between 3 year calibration then there's no point getting it done every year if you keep your own records that the readings are consistant I think thats good enough. Cheers

 

[initforthemoney]

Fair enough mate.

Just make sure your insurance is adequate.

 

[Andy™]

You cant avoid calibration every year.

why not? i check mine weekly, checking continuity, IR, earth loop & RCD trip. if anything does go wrong, it will be noticed within 1 week at the most. if it was done yearly, it could well be 364 days of incorrect readings.

 

[kme]

+1

Even if you DO calibrate every year, you should STILL be making regular checks on the meter accuracy.

Initforthemoney: And I`m afraid you are incorrect : It is not "an nic thing" or anything like. If you reglarly check your meter against a known source, and have the ability to "cross-check" against another meter, you do not need calibration until/unless the results become abnormal.

Hope that helps to clear up any confusion?

KME

 

[batty]

3 Year calibration how does anybody manage to keep a meter that long and still have it working perhaps they don't do much testing. My Fluke 1652 has gone wrong again and its only just over three year old. Been told its got to go back to Fluke and they want about

 

[initforthemoney]

+1Even if you DO calibrate every year, you should STILL be making regular checks on the meter accuracy.

Initforthemoney: And I`m afraid you are incorrect : It is not "an nic thing" or anything like. If you reglarly check your meter against a known source, and have the ability to "cross-check" against another meter, you do not need calibration until/unless the results become abnormal.

Hope that helps to clear up any confusion?

KME

Mr KME.

Where did you get the info from?

3 Year calibration how does anybody manage to keep a meter that long and still have it working perhaps they don't do much testing. My Fluke 1652 has gone wrong again and its only just over three year old. Been told its got to go back to Fluke and they want about

 

[Andy™]

3 Year calibration how does anybody manage to keep a meter that long and still have it working perhaps they don't do much testing. My Fluke 1652 has gone wrong again and its only just over three year old. Been told its got to go back to Fluke and they want about

 

[steptoe]

Thats an NIC thing.Test meters should be properly calibrated.

I would want someone to go to if things went wrong.

its not an NIC thing,

the law simply states you should have accurate test equipment and a method of showing it is accurate.

3 Year calibration how does anybody manage to keep a meter that long and still have it working perhaps they don't do much testing. My Fluke 1652 has gone wrong again and its only just over three year old. Been told its got to go back to Fluke and they want about

 

[kme]

As some of you may remember, my 1652 was repaired earlier this year. I bought it in 2004, from megger mark`s company.

He arranged the repair, which had to be through Fluke.

Apart from its brief sojourn to the east coast, it has not been calibrated since I bought it 6 years ago; because the test results on a known source, are consistent. Further, when I test it against another members`s MFT yearly (and my 2nd tester), it shows no deviation. Therefore it is in calibration, and doesn`t need to be posted off (where it is MORE likely to be damaged).

KME

 

[NozSpark]

Where I used to work we had an onsite cal lab for our test sets, test meters and calibrated tooling. Most things were calibrated annually, however some were done more often (some every 3 months).

Quite often a piece of test equipment would be taken away (usually in fully working condition) and come back U/S (bust),,,, and that was only 2 buildings away!!!

Personally I bought my Megger MFT 1502 in 2004 and since then it has only been calibrated once during a warranty repair in 2007; I do however use a check box etc and keep records of these checks (monthly)

 

[initforthemoney]

Mine gets done every year, without fail buy a reputable company in my area.

I dont trust check boxes.

Then again, who checks the check boxes?

 

[milovisk]

We have been banging our heads against a brick wall for a number of years regarding this point. However more recently the NICEIC seem to be backtracking and insisting that calibration is a requirement. That could coincide with the fact that they are now in bed with Acute Sales / Accutest the former who sell instruments and other bits on behalf of the NICEIC and are now are calibration service partner advertised on the NICEIC website.

Speaking with Tony Cable who does most of the technical presentations for NICEIC he insists that calibration should be carried out to manufacturers reccomendations and in fact that is the consensus view within the hierarchy of the NICEIC. The confusion seems to revolve around certain area assessors who are too stubborn to accept this and change what is sometimes a rather uninformed and naive point of view.

Checkboxes were introduced as an aid to the contactor so that most failures could be picked up between calibrations to avoid costly site revisits however they certainly don't check everything on your tester and the assessors and contractors alike seem to conveniently forget that it is as much about checking that your meter is still compliant with the regs and not purely about base accuracy. This only gets checked at annual calibration.

As an example the NICEIC approved calibration service from their website is called Certific8 and is in fact carried out by accutest, below is what is says on the website

Technical Information

What is Calibration and why is it important?

What is Calibration?

Calibration is the process of comparing the accuracy of an Instruments Readings to known Standards whos traceability is maintained by National or International standards.

At Certific8 it also means that your equipment gets cleaned and the case & leads safety checked. You would be amazed at how many Instruments arrive at our laboratory for calibration with taped up test leads, damaged probes and cases with holes in! We aim to keep you equipment inventory in tip top condition by making sure that you get the most from your investment.

Why is it Important?

Within the Contracting Industry, Calibration is important to anyone issuing Test Certificates to clients (Including BS7671 / 17th Edition, Part P and Portable Appliance Testing results.)

Without Calibration you do not have a recognised method of ensuring that the equipment used during these tests is accurate. You may fail installations or appliances that are perfectly fine or more importantly you may issue a pass Certificate on an installation that should have failed and could possibly be dangerous. Put simply, for such a small cost, let's all ensure we do this right.

I have a Checkbox; Can I not just use this and check my own Instruments?

Checkboxes were never intended to replace an annual calibration check. They are intended to be used to confirm on-going accuracy between your annual calibration. Most checkboxes only have a very limited number of values that can be used to check against, compare this to the whole list of readings that you receive from a calibration laboratory who will be checking your equipment on calibrators which costs many thousands of pounds.

By using a lab you can be sure that every range on your equipment is comprehensively checked giving you and your customer peace of mind in the results obtained.

More and more customers are requesting calibration certificates of equipment used on their sites. Showing them a checkbox or a certificate showing half a dozen readings obtained from a checkbox is not really good enough.

The UK's leading test equipment manufacturers including Megger, Fluke & Seaward all recommend annual calibration in a calibration laboratory to ensure ongoing accuracy verification of their equipment.

Also the NICEIC sell a checkbox private labelled in their own name and in the documentation and on the NICEIC website it says as follows

Checkbox 2 NICEIC

CB2 The NICEIC check box provides a quick and simple method of checking the ongoing accuracy of electrical installation test instruments. It does not replace the calibration requirements but provides a ready check on instrument accuracy helping to minimise incorrect certification and costly revisits to confirm installation compliance.

 

[Apache]

Mine gets done every year, without fail buy a reputable company in my area.I dont trust check boxes.

Then again, who checks the check boxes?

So you only check the accuracy once per year? That worries me. Could be wrong for 364 days.

I tend to think that the repeatability of the results is the most important thing - does your meter give the same [or very similar] result as it did when it was calibrated? I can fully see that if you only tested your meter against a single 2ohm resistor I would take your point, but the check boxes use a range of values across the usual measuring range. A discrepancy should show up. It doesn't replace the person using the device to think if the result given is to be believed.

Lets apply a little science here - once set these precision instruments shouldn't drift - and ensuring their output is consistent should suffice. If you have damaged leads taped clearly they should be replaced.

I really would like to know from someone who calibrates meters how many [as a percentage] of instruments sent in for routine calibration require any adjustment.

 

[milovisk]

Usually between 10 - 15% need some form of intervention but that is not the point it could be 1 in every 200 but it is still important to pick up that 1.

It is like asking how many 4 year old cars fail the MOT my guess would be less than 10% but you still need to have it done.

As I said above it is just not about accuracy, it is also about compliance

Using your checkbox can you tell the following

1. Your meter can output 200mA on continuity down to short circuit?

2. Your meter can drive 1mA into 0.25M at 250V, 0.5M at 500V and 1M at 1000V

3. Output current for each RCD range?

4. Linearity throughout all ranges

Just a sample of the tests done at calibration not done on your checkbox, some expensive checkbox do check what I have mentioned in point 2 but most people are not using these.

Your tetser could give out 50V for 500V but still measure accurately something that I have seen on quite a number of times but using your checkbox this would pass on an ongoing basis.

Would you then consider it right that you are checking installations at 50V instead of 500V

Just looking at accuracy is the gae old trap that NICEIC inspectors fall into because they do not understand instrumentation just like we metrologists do not understand all of the ins and outs of electrical installations