Primetest 350 PE test

[StOuennais]

Hi I have two Primetest 350's one calibrated only last week, when I try to do a Protective Earth (PE) Conductor test on either tester both give an Alarm "Incoming Mains Fault" and gives details

Live 30V
Neutral 30V
Live-Neutral 3V

I have tried different mains leads into units, supplies from different houses but both units will not progress past this stage of test
PS I also tried an auto test which included the PE test with same results.
Checked both fuses in both testers and these are OK.

Can anyone tell me where I am going wrong as I do not believe both units can have same fault, especially as one has only just be calibrated.

[Jim Wallace]

Hi

The PrimeTest checks the incoming mains supply before performing any mains powered tests. The warning means that the unit has detected a problem with the mains supply and the measured voltages between line-earth, neutral-earth and line-neutral are shown on the display.

Possilbe causes
a) incoming supply is incorrect
b) fuse in mains cord
c) fault in mains cord
d) fault in tester

As you've tried different power cords and different supplies that would tend to rule out a,b, and c. If the tester was calibrated last week the PC conductor current test would have had to be functioning correctly to verify the calibration. Also seems unlikely that both testers have developed the same fault at the same time.

Are you certain the power cords are good?

[StOuennais]

Hi Jim,

Totally my fault, I did not look at the test lead diagram I was using the IEC test lead and not the black "Special" lead, got that sorted and now tests work OK, on another note I can upload/download data from PC to one of the testers but I can only download data to PC from the other tester and not upload data to tester from PC using the same RS232 lead and USB adapter are there any setting in the tester that need setting up, baud rate, 8 none 1 are the same on both.

[ringer]

I made exactly the same mistake - thinking you needed to plug in to the mains via the IEC socket. I (we) would have found out quicker what was wrong if a more helpful error message was presented. A suggestion for the next firmware update would be to improve this error message to make it more meaningful.

[Jim Wallace]

Ringer - that's for the feedback. The error message in this case is a bit of a "catch all" because the tester cannot determine the exact nature of the problem, only that the mains voltages it measures are incorrect.
Maybe if we added additonal info such as a list of common problems or thinks to check? We could probably assign one of the function keys to "more info" which could then present a check list.

Hi StOuennais - odd that you can only communicate in one direction. Are you sure the upload memory is not full on the tester?

[StOuennais]

Hi Jim,

Yes I'm sure there is plenty of memory as it tells me it has 87% free, using the same leads setup config and commands one tester accepts the uploaded data and I see the interface flashing as the data in inputted into the 350 but when I try with the other tester nothing happens, please see my other post as even when uploaded I cannot use the data.

[Jim Wallace]

Hi

I'm sure there is a simple answer. I'll find out more info when I'm back in the office. If we can't fix it on here I'll find someone who can help you.