OK, so Ive now had the Di-LOG DL6790 CombiVolt 2 from our forum sponsor isswww for a while now so I thought it time to give it a review.
first impressions, doesnt feel like cheap chinese tat,(although on investigation the label says 'made in china' ! )
actually feels quite rugged, with that nice soft rubber grip feel to it, rather than just hard shiny plastic.
first things first, pull out the little tab isolating the batteries in transit, remove the protective cap(that is attached to the lead for safe keeping), that covers the GS38 compliant probes, and stick it into the nearest socket in the house,(by the way, the 2nd probe neatly slots into the main body of the tester),
instruction manual carefully strewn on the floor somewhere, Im a bloke, I dont need destruction manuals.!
anyway, it lights up and works, so have a rummage for instructions and lets see what it actually does, apart from light up and beep/buzz.
test range, 12-690v AC + DC , not that I'll be needing much of the 690v DC !
an ascending row of red LEDs on the left give a quick visual indication of a voltage present, with a pair at the bottom indicating either AC or DC flowing, underneath is a large LCD display giving out the actual voltage,
fairly posh for something in this price range.
above the LCD on the right is a yellow LED for continuity, which glows and buzzes for doing quick bell tests on unknown wires,
handy to use rather than your multimeter set to the wrong scale/range,
this is a really good function, as this little tester is auto-functioning it will automatically select voltage in the first instance every time, so if you go to do a continuity test and there is voltage present it will simply buzz up a warning, the red LEDs will light and the voltage will be shown on the LCD display,
rather than blow up your costly DMM cos you had it on ohms and put 230v across it,
the next BIG thing about this little wizard is one of the things Im quite taken by,
Phase rotation, now if you do not work on 3 phase this is a redundant feature, but who knows, some day you may just require it, and it is now a requirement of the test procedure in BS7671/2008 to be able to verify this.
simply place the two probes on neighbouring phases and one of the two green LEDs will light up to indicate in which direction the phases are running,
repeat again for the next pair, and finally the 3rd pair, really very simple, and without the need to go out and buy either a dedicated phase rotation meter or upgrade your existing MFT.
and now for the BIGGIE, those of you that know me may well be surprised by this, I have not used a neon since the 2nd day I got this,
this little guy does single touch testing,
simple touch the main probe unto a live conductor and if there is a voltage present then it lights up and buzzes, OK, so it doesnt show the voltage, but neither does a neon, and this one doesnt expose you to the possibility of becoming part of the potentially lethal circuit. now of course you know the wire is at a voltage potential you can find yourself a suitable earth reference for the other probe and take an accurate voltage reading of how many volts are actually on the cable, I have found this feature invaluable for the same reason I previously found the (now defunct) neon indispensable, fault finding, especially on borrowed or broken neutrals.
this little guy has been by my side since I got it,
pretty much invaluable, wish I had actually bought one ages ago,
all in all, I could definitely recommend this to anyone that is needing a cheap and cheerful basic tester, although its not really that basic TBH, it does quite a bit more than I would expect for the price range.
for me, the last two items I mentioned would probably justify the price alone.
stars out of 5
*****
clicky
first impressions, doesnt feel like cheap chinese tat,(although on investigation the label says 'made in china' ! )
actually feels quite rugged, with that nice soft rubber grip feel to it, rather than just hard shiny plastic.
first things first, pull out the little tab isolating the batteries in transit, remove the protective cap(that is attached to the lead for safe keeping), that covers the GS38 compliant probes, and stick it into the nearest socket in the house,(by the way, the 2nd probe neatly slots into the main body of the tester),
instruction manual carefully strewn on the floor somewhere, Im a bloke, I dont need destruction manuals.!
anyway, it lights up and works, so have a rummage for instructions and lets see what it actually does, apart from light up and beep/buzz.
test range, 12-690v AC + DC , not that I'll be needing much of the 690v DC !
an ascending row of red LEDs on the left give a quick visual indication of a voltage present, with a pair at the bottom indicating either AC or DC flowing, underneath is a large LCD display giving out the actual voltage,
fairly posh for something in this price range.
above the LCD on the right is a yellow LED for continuity, which glows and buzzes for doing quick bell tests on unknown wires,
handy to use rather than your multimeter set to the wrong scale/range,
this is a really good function, as this little tester is auto-functioning it will automatically select voltage in the first instance every time, so if you go to do a continuity test and there is voltage present it will simply buzz up a warning, the red LEDs will light and the voltage will be shown on the LCD display,
rather than blow up your costly DMM cos you had it on ohms and put 230v across it,
the next BIG thing about this little wizard is one of the things Im quite taken by,
Phase rotation, now if you do not work on 3 phase this is a redundant feature, but who knows, some day you may just require it, and it is now a requirement of the test procedure in BS7671/2008 to be able to verify this.
simply place the two probes on neighbouring phases and one of the two green LEDs will light up to indicate in which direction the phases are running,
repeat again for the next pair, and finally the 3rd pair, really very simple, and without the need to go out and buy either a dedicated phase rotation meter or upgrade your existing MFT.
and now for the BIGGIE, those of you that know me may well be surprised by this, I have not used a neon since the 2nd day I got this,
this little guy does single touch testing,
simple touch the main probe unto a live conductor and if there is a voltage present then it lights up and buzzes, OK, so it doesnt show the voltage, but neither does a neon, and this one doesnt expose you to the possibility of becoming part of the potentially lethal circuit. now of course you know the wire is at a voltage potential you can find yourself a suitable earth reference for the other probe and take an accurate voltage reading of how many volts are actually on the cable, I have found this feature invaluable for the same reason I previously found the (now defunct) neon indispensable, fault finding, especially on borrowed or broken neutrals.
this little guy has been by my side since I got it,
pretty much invaluable, wish I had actually bought one ages ago,
all in all, I could definitely recommend this to anyone that is needing a cheap and cheerful basic tester, although its not really that basic TBH, it does quite a bit more than I would expect for the price range.
for me, the last two items I mentioned would probably justify the price alone.
stars out of 5
*****
clicky
