Martindale PD240 240 V Proving Unit, Yellow

A Very Simple & Very Important piece of kit

Any homeowner who does DIY work on their electrics should have one of these, as well as a 2 probe voltage tester. It is the best way to ensure that the circuit / socket etc you are working on is 100% definitely dead and could prevent death or serious injury.It's very easy to use - once the battery has been put in, just stick your probes into the holes and you should get a reading of 240 volts, thus ensuring that your probes are working correctly. You can then use your probes on the electrical socket you're working on, testing all combinations (i.e. neutral + earth, neutral + line, earth + line) to ensure that it's dead (if it's live, your probes should light up, as they did when you tested them in this tester initially), and then finally, you should test your probes again in this tester to make sure they are still working and have not failed after the initial test. It seems a bit over the top to do this test before and after, but it could save your life.The unit states that it only takes an alkaline battery, but I used a 9 volt lithium one from Energizer and it seems to work fine. I prefer lithium batteries and they don't leak / corrode (well, so they claim) so hopefully I won't dig it out of my toolbox in 6 months time to find the battery has leaked all over it!It's a shame it doesn't come with a protective case though. It's quite a pricey tool so some protection for it would have been nice (would prefer a case than a battery).

Small size with handy belt clip for use on person or with cable tie enabling it to be lashed to top of steps through those convenient holes provided on top platform on all fibreglass ones I've seen.

First one I received I returned thinking it was faulty. When I tried it on my Drummond MTL20 test lamp it only showed 50v. I assumed that the proving unit was faulty so I returned it and received a new one. This was exactly the same (50v reading). As my life depends on this I was not to confident that the proving unit was OK. Returned replacemet and got full refund.

What more to say - it just works as expected.

Good quality product, more portable than other products, good value for money

Valuable device to check circuit tester.

Fitted the battery and the checked the voltage with a 2 probe voltage tester. Only 50V showed for a brief moment followed by a burning smell and 0V output. Checked with a second volt meter and 0V showed. Changed the battery and still 0V. The battery compartment smells of burning. Disconnected the battery and returned to Amazon. Not what I expect from Martindale especially for a bit for safety equipment.