ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Testing Residential Circuits

I have made myself a loadbank with 4 1875Watt small size hair dryers and a receptacle on the side. when i plug the load bank in and turn on all of the units it draws about 50Amps at 120 volts (give and take)at that current a 20 amp cb breaks in an instant. Then at the same time i can check for voltage load with the units off and measure for voltage with the units on then take the difference and calculate VD%. Furthermore, when i have the load bank pluged in a GFCI with only one tester/hair dryer on i short across the neutral and the grounding on the receptacle installed on my load bank and that trips the GFCI.

Which tells me that the GFCI trips under load.

You may want to try www.loadbanks.com

Edward

iwire--

Excellent point about the KO unit. It performance tests the magnetic trip components, and of course the contacts and the mechanical parts (pivots and linkages).

Do you think that the bi-metallic strip that comprises the overload trip mechanism would be less likely to have a problem than the magnetic part? I'm thinking so.

And BTW, thanks for serving as moderator. I find this forum to be an invaluable resource and sometimes a source of real entertainment (I'm thinking of the car salesman's flying rug story...)

Dave55--I'll be at ElectricWest in Anaheim in early Feb, I'll ask the Ideal people what the scoop is on the SureTest units, and report back.

Cheers,

Cliff

Yesterday, I talked to the tech person at Ideal for the Sure-Test product line.

She said that the Sure-Test is being revamped/improved based on comments from users. For instance, an improved display panel with backlighting is being added.

Evidently it'll be several weeks before the new units are in the distribution pipeline.

I like the current models, we'll see if they drop any features that I like. IF so, I may run to the supply house and pick up one of the old ones! Am I gettin' old, or what?

Cliff

Cliff... I feel the same way as you. I must be an old dog and unwilling to change. I really like the old Sure Test, and have used one for years.

I always wondered when it would go by the wayside. It was originally manufactured by the inventor, then Daniel Woodhead (the version I have) picked it up, and they sold it to Ideal. It's been a challenge keeping up with a supplier and asking questions.

I'm always skeptical about "improvements."

Revamping/Improving sounds so much better than...we're having problems getting parts for the units, or it's not a very profitable line. Anyway, I appreciate the information & in the meantime I had to "settle" for a Fluke Ammeter/Multimeter.

Dave