what is the name of that tester?

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wyreman

Senior Member
Location
SF CA USA
Occupation
electrical contractor
I was checking back to the meter for a loose neutral, found the source and called poco - it was their problem
troubleman came while i am still there and asked if i had a hairdryer or other heater

i said i already packed mine up should i break it out
he said no that's fine i'll use mine

and he grabbed this big round heater/fan type machine w a shoulder strap
+ two alligator clips to grab on the meter socket
it had a dial for the load up to 30 amp i believe

he said to me "you never saw one of these before"?

i then looked it up on ebay and there was one for about $500 but i cannot remember what it was called
or find it in my google / ebay search :/
does anyone know?

:slaphead:i thought it was called like a digger, fat b**rd or something like but that is not it:slaphead:

i've just been using my suretest now with the adaptor anyway but it would be nice to have a real load like that sometimes...
 

wyreman

Senior Member
Location
SF CA USA
Occupation
electrical contractor
sure thats right but there was a brand name that i had found on ebay

there is nothing listed under portable load bank
thx tho!
 

Ponchik

Senior Member
Location
CA
Occupation
Electronologist
You can build one for less than $100.


I connected (4) 1650Watt hair dryers together on a wooden box, with a current measuring loop. With this i can verify that breakers up to 20Amp trip, I can check voltage drop, I can put a strain on the circuit and loose connection will show up. when don't know what breaker i am looking for, I hook up my load bank the breaker trips.
 

wyreman

Senior Member
Location
SF CA USA
Occupation
electrical contractor
:thumbsup:
Thank you!
Useful machine tough and rel compact
:happyyes:


+++"Peace on earth, goodwill towards men"+++
 

meternerd

Senior Member
Location
Athol, ID
Occupation
retired water & electric utility electrician, meter/relay tech
It's called a "Beast of Burden". Loads each leg to 30A. The Mega Beast is the same thing, but can load the circuit to 80A. Usually the first thing we use when we get a call for flickering lights or voltage complaints.
 

Ponchik

Senior Member
Location
CA
Occupation
Electronologist
has to be hard, portable and quick to deploy
also look professional

My new tester that i am working on is very easy to deploy, it will have about 60amps on each leg and i think it looks very professional.
 

roger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Fl
Occupation
Retired Electrician
Are those testers for inside the meter socket?
They are used for many things. We use them for putting loads on generators, checking overall sags in a facility, adding heat in a room to see how the cooling system copes, etc.... They can be connected anywhere from the service gear to the end of a branch circuit.

Roger
 

Hv&Lv

Senior Member
Location
-
Occupation
Engineer/Technician
Are those testers for inside the meter socket?

Here that is POCO property. So, am I correct in assuming that this is something a linesman, not a JW would use in our area?

You are correct. The OP said it was a POCO employee that brought it out.

Personsally, I pull the meter and check with a couple of heaters before calling the POCO on my personal work. and yes, if it is on our system, I have the seals to put back on after I am done.;)
 
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