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Calibrating Electrical Test Tools
You buy the best products to do the best work. The higher the quality the better performance, this is the case for products, and electrical tests tools are no different. This doesn’t mean that your tools are invincible to errors though; many people and places get their measurement equipment calibrated regularly including electrical tools. You may be wondering why would I send my electrical test instruments to be calibrated — what are they going to do, unplug it and plug it back in, then slap a sticker on it? (We do give it a sticker to say when the equipment was calibrated, and when it should be calibrated again, not because we gave it the good ole unplug it and plug it back in.) No, we give your equipment the highest degree of attention by calibrating with standards which are calibrated by ISO 17025 accredited labs, traceable to the International System of Units, and compliant with ANSI/NCSL Z540.
Why Calibrate? As important as it is to be using your equipment, consider what happens if your equipment is has become less accurate or worse unsafe to use. What If your process involves slim tolerances or high accuracy? Calibrating your equipment ensures that your readings are accurate and that your products are of the quality you say, and greater than that, nobody gets hurt.
Calibrations play a major role in quality assurance and reliability of measurement equipment. Here is a list of some of the devices we can service:
- Calibrators
- Current Clamp Meters
- Data Loggers
- Multimeters
- Electrical Testing Instruments
- Modular Measuring Systems
- Oscilloscopes Desktop and Handheld
- Probes and Accessories
- Special Multimeter and Measuring Kits
- Thermometers and IR Thermometers
- Temperature probes, TC’s and RTD’s
What Makes Electronic Tools Inaccurate?
Just as with any kind of measurement equipment, time and recurring use can slowly shift your device out of calibration. Shifting is usually what calibration is there to correct, while this may seem to be a minor change, these slow drifts can add up over time — especially if you have older equipment.
That small drifting is already enough to make a calibration needed, but what if you dropped a multimeter or a clamp meter? You don’t know if that has caused it to go out of calibration and become inaccurate. Even with larger machines, an overload can throw your machine off; most devices have breakers for this reason, but it may not detect a quick overload, or if the voltage is large enough it can skip through the device entirely.
When to Calibrate?
- When you are doing any critical projects.
- After your equipment has gone through any sort of event (an overload, equipment fell over or was dropped).
- When needed, whether it’s monthly, semi-annually, or yearly.
Summary
Electrical Tools are never something to mess with. Many of them have currents that run high voltage that could seriously harm someone. Calibrating your equipment isn’t merely a sticker, it’s proof of a high degree of quality. If you’re looking to get your equipment calibrated or are unsure if it needs to be calibrated contact us. We can see if your process should include calibrated equipment.
