Fluke Releases Wireless Electrical Testing System

The world of electrical testing for maintenance, upkeep and troubleshooting is experiencing a massive change, as the industry moves to wireless technology. Of course, there is still a need for some cable maintenance and electrical labels too, to ensure everything is up to code, but this leap to wireless is huge.
Fluke, a multi-national corporation specializing in electronic test tools and software, is shaking up its line of testing equipment and multimeters with the imminent release of its CNX Wireless System. The toolset incorporates testers to detect temperature, current and voltage from AC and DC inputs. These testers are able to communicate wirelessly with a multimeter, which can track three testers and run a test of its own, simultaneously, displaying four inputs simultaneously on one screen. The multimeter has a range of 20 meters, allowing for safety, convenience and a much more complete picture of the system being tested. From a safety perspective, wireless testing provides a major improvement, as it allows a technician (be they one from saltle.com/electrician-texas-service-areas/lakeway-electrical-services/ or from any other service) to stay a safe distance away from active electrical wiring while taking a reading. The wireless function will also save a large amount of time, as the location where readings are taken is often not the same place where the console or panel that turns a system on or off is found. Finally, it allows a technician to adjust various settings while getting real time feedback from the testing units, giving the clearest view possible of what is actually occurring in the system.

David Epperson, project manager for this set of instruments, said he had been thinking about wireless tools for a very long time, as they would allow local electrical technicians, similar to Home-Pro Electric (https://home-proelectric.com/on/kitchener-electrician/) to test multiple parts of a system at the same time. This is not only more efficient, but ensures the user is getting readings when the conditions are the same, which helps to avoid false conclusions or an incomplete picture of events.

Fluke PR Manager Leah Friberg explained, “If you were to take those measurements one at a time, not only are you repeating that start up sequence three times, the situation is going to be a little different.”

Epperson explained each testing device would save its own information in non-volatile storage, meaning the unit’s previously recorded memory wouldn’t disappear if the batteries ran out. Each tester can be set to record at intervals between one second and one hour, time stamping each reading for later use.

Friberg added that some users in test studies simply left their testers hooked up to the equipment they were monitoring and walked by with the multimeter periodically to do routine maintenance checks, rather than having to hook up a tester each time.

Adding a laptop to the mix allows users to view inputs from 10 separate testing units simultaneously or download stored information from a tester to create spreadsheets or graphs. Epperson explained that he wanted to keep the interface for the wireless devices as similar to the company’s previous products as possible, with minimal buttons and large readable screens. Adding the laptop software allowed him to keep the multireaders simple and easy to read, with only four inputs displayed on the screen at once.

Friberg explained the real fun would start when the wireless equipment was released and customers started to give feedback on what types of inputs and testers they would like added to the mix for a more complete picture in the future. “The next six months is gonna be a lot of fun for us to see what happens. We have a lot of pilot units already out. As people start to adopt the system, cause they’re not shy, they tell us what they’d like it to do next. That will be really fun to see.”