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reppy007
07-04-2012, 11:51 AM
Just curious about what kind of appliance whould you guys usually ask a customer to turn on if you were on a call and seemed to be getting good voltage,orginally you got the call as a dim lights order.Everyone is different and will ask the customer to turn on a certain appliance,to check voltage,which one or ones worked or work the best for you?....I usually ask for the microwave.

BigClive
07-04-2012, 04:57 PM
The microwave isn't that high a load. Even a kettle would draw about twice as much as a typical microwave. I'd go for the oven, a heater or the laundry dryer. (or the whole lot)


"Hi, I'm doing a load test on your house and need you to turn on your vibrator madam."
"I beg your pardon?"
"A load test madam. You'll need to get your vibrator and use it so I can ascertain if there's a power issue."
"Oh... Which one?"
"All of them madam. At full power."

T-Man
07-04-2012, 08:23 PM
Oven is a good load. Some of our Troubleshooters are using asuperbeast or hair dryers to increase load.
Now The vibrator deal. . . . . . . .I wish I'da thought of that when I was shooting trouble. . .Good one Clive, good one.

http://www.arnettindustries.com/pdf/Superbeast.pdf

Lineman North Florida
07-04-2012, 08:27 PM
Here in Fla it's usually the air conditioner. :D

reppy007
07-05-2012, 02:12 AM
What I was indicating,is that I wanted to use the microwave to see if things were balancing out,I too know that its not a heavy load.......and I dont really have the nuts to ask a customer to plug in her electric Vib.:D

zapped74
07-07-2012, 11:09 AM
with one of these you can put 80 amps on either leg if there is a nuetral problem it will show up with that much imbalanece:cool:

reppy007
07-07-2012, 11:26 AM
with one of these you can put 80 amps on either leg if there is a nuetral problem it will show up with that much imbalanece:cool:

Id love to see one and use one,Ive heard alot about them,but to be honest,I havent had too many times when I couldnt find if there was a neutral problem,now a dim lights due to a connection on the hot legs at the early stages is more difficult....you know like the last place you look,taking the lugs off of an overhead transformer,and finding pitted marks on them.

birdog37
07-07-2012, 11:57 AM
Burden of the beast is definitely the way to go,no customer contact,just some good old results from this device.You can regulate how much by flipping switches and @ the same time watching your volt/amp meter.

Pootnaigle
07-07-2012, 03:54 PM
Ummmmmmmmmm Once again we made our beast out of a heating element from a coffeepot and a small fan. when ya turned the element on it put bout 5-7 amps of load on one leg.A built in voltmeter would show a rise or dip in the voltage but ya hadda be careful not to let the element run for long cause it would get sum more kinda hot n burn up.I reckon we musta been the Poor boy trubble finders. Talking with the customers was often a waste of time since they would tell you about every problem they had for like 6 years or they wouldnt know anything about anything and say stuff like "My Dad said I needed to call ."

Divemaster
07-08-2012, 09:38 PM
I carry one of the wifes old curling irons on the truck, compact and all I've got to do is plug it in and it is pure inductance.

burnitup
08-19-2012, 01:02 AM
Superbeast is a great tool and will also help find some future problems

Bob Mc
03-11-2013, 12:54 PM
I carry a toaster which I can plug in. Most service panels have a construction outlet by them. Also if no one is home you can use clip cords in the meter socket to test the hot legs and the neutral of the service.
Bob Mc