With the PAT tester possibly being the most expensive, but essential, item of equipment in your kit, it is important to get the choice right.

Even if you aren't buying your very first tester, it is still important to consider your choice carefully as there may have been new improvements and innovations since you last bought a PAT machine.

So before making a final decision, go through our checklist of considerations:

  1.      Budget: obviously what you can afford is one of the main considerations and we would always recommend buying the best you can afford and sticking to your budget. There is little point in spending beyond your means and this only makes your finances more difficult.
  2.      Amount of Testing: if you are testing only a few items sporadically it would be wasteful to get a tester with lots of features you won’t use costing a lot of money. However, if you are the opposite and test frequently, buying a machine which isn't up to the job would be frustrating.
  3.      Result Recording: how you want to record your results depends on personal preference, how much testing you are doing and whether you have the patience to sit and fill in ledgers by hand. If you are happy to record results manually, a basic tester would be suitable, however if you have lots of testing to carry out, recording manually would be very laborious and time consuming, in this case a downloadable tester would be more suitable.
  4.      110V Testing: if you are going to be testing 110v equipment you will need a tester which is capable of carrying out tests on this type of equipment. Check the specifications of the tester before purchase to identify if it is suitable.

If you have any questions about your choices contact us on 0845 365 39 40 and we will help you navigate the different options to find the best tester for your personal circumstances and budget.

Written by Sara Thomson