We all see this happen all too often: A plant gets dinged on an audit because some auditors find test equipment in a tool room where there is no record of calibration. You know what happens next: Pressured by time, and wanting to satisfy auditors, the manager orders a "sweep" of the tool room and gathers up anything that has a meter needle, scale or digital display and sends them in to be calibrated.
So we end up with a steady stream of el-cheapo test equipment from the employee's tool boxes. You know, things like multimeters bought at Radio Shack, Sears, Wal-Mart, etc. If it were up to me, I'd slap a reject sticker on everything that ain't Fluke or Biddle or Simpson or other professional equipment that has published specifications and calibration procedures, but on the other hand, sure, we don't mind charging a customer more than triple what was paid for a $10-15 meter. But then finding specifications/accuacies is near impossible because one manufacturer often makes equipment for several stores, and nobody knows anything about what they're selling ("You got questions? We have no clue.")
So how best to treat the cheap stuff? Does anyone know where to find the specs for consumer grade test equipment? Or is it in our best interest not to even bother with them and advise our customers to place "calibration not required" or "not for quality measurements" or other similar stickers on the equipment and leave them behind?
So we end up with a steady stream of el-cheapo test equipment from the employee's tool boxes. You know, things like multimeters bought at Radio Shack, Sears, Wal-Mart, etc. If it were up to me, I'd slap a reject sticker on everything that ain't Fluke or Biddle or Simpson or other professional equipment that has published specifications and calibration procedures, but on the other hand, sure, we don't mind charging a customer more than triple what was paid for a $10-15 meter. But then finding specifications/accuacies is near impossible because one manufacturer often makes equipment for several stores, and nobody knows anything about what they're selling ("You got questions? We have no clue.")
So how best to treat the cheap stuff? Does anyone know where to find the specs for consumer grade test equipment? Or is it in our best interest not to even bother with them and advise our customers to place "calibration not required" or "not for quality measurements" or other similar stickers on the equipment and leave them behind?
No kidding - it's a real thing? What are the pigtails?