Strange Martindale Display

[securespark]

Can't remember if I posted this before or not...

 

[333rocky333]

I have one of the yellow socket+ see ones a certain combo says you have a "phase fault".

I asked the rep in Rs what that meant, he then phoned his Techy guys, and even they did not know, they said they would get back to me but they never did.

 

[industryspark]

One or more of the led's/lights stopped working?

 

[ericmark]

Untitled

• ericmark
• 25 Jan 2010
• 1

not sure but I love Photoshop!

Says:-

It can also be used as a basic fuse finder - when the correct fuse is pulled the buzzer stops! Shows 28 faults.

With three Neons!

 

[333rocky333]

No lights on, can be any of 8 of there faults on there list.

 

[Chri5]

They do fail, my last one did some very odd things, so odd I double tested everything with the fluke.

My fault for leaving it in with some breaking tools and throwing the bag about.

 

[ericmark]

Before these were readily available I made my own unit to test 110v split phase systems.

Also three lights. Two LED's with diodes and limiting resistors between L1 and Earth and L2 and Earth DC in opposing directions so would not light if no earth and showed if both phases present. Also a Neon across phases to show there was power when earth was missing.

I used with great success to test 110v extension cables.

The Martindale must have something similar I would not expect to find any microprocessors to analyse and it is also likely to have diodes or similar to control what is lit.

However I class them same as neon screwdriver. Not totally useless but no replacement for proper test kit.

They show nothing that an earth loop impedance meter would not show but the reverse is not true. Since nearly every job needs an ELI meter why play with these DIY tools?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Says:-

Shows 28 faults.

With three Neons!

3 lights means it can display 8 different states.

No lights on, can be any of 8 of there faults on there list.

So now we are up to 15.

Since nearly every job needs an ELI meter why play with these DIY tools?

Coupled with a plug-in timer they make handy alarm clocks which cannot be turned off without getting out of bed, will not stop until they are unplugged, and can be placed in hard-to-get-to sockets.

By the time you've unplugged the damned thing you're up and awake.

 

[333rocky333]

3 lights means it can display 8 different states.

No lights on, can be any of 8 of there faults on there list.

So now we are up to 15.

How's that 15 or am I missing something

 

[securespark]

The Martindale works fine. Tested it onsite in another outlet to ensure all neons functioning.

But only the central neon illuminated? No idea what that represents!

 

[GaryMo]

Did you investigate further with a meter for a sanity check?

 

[ericmark]

Since nearly every job needs an ELI meter why play with these DIY tools?

Coupled with a plug-in timer they make handy alarm clocks which cannot be turned off without getting out of bed, will not stop until they are unplugged, and can be placed in hard-to-get-to sockets.

By the time you've unplugged the damned thing you're up and awake.

Spot on that's a great idea!!!!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

How's that 15 or am I missing something

8 states including 1 which is all off.

i.e. all off + 7 others.

If the all off state indicates 8 possible faults that's 8 + 7 others = 15.