Our META Test Compared to Standard Safety Testing

Circuit Panel Inspection 

·  Our master electrician will take your panel cover off and give it a detailed look through. Checking for things such as loose connections, damaged wiring, or signs of corrosion. What we are looking for are signs of potential dangers that lay within your panel. 

·  In addition we inspect the grounding system which includes the ground rod and water meter.

Circuit Breaker Test 

·  We pull each breaker out individually and inspect all the connections similarly to the panel inspection. 

·  Monitor breaker vitals, which means checking that we are getting the right voltage readings throughout the breaker. 

·  Hooking our equipment up to each breaker individually to simulate its normal operation. The way we simulate this normal operation is by putting it “under a load”, what this means is we draw a controlled amount of power to simulate it running an appliance in your home. This initial simulation is just to see if your breaker performs the way it should under its rated amount of power. 

·  At this point we then simulate an “overload test”, this means we draw more than the breakers rated power to determine whether it trips (shuts off) the way it was designed to. If it fails that means the breaker is unsafe for your protection and must be replaced. 

·  Some panels have Ground Fault Protection breakers, if this is the case our equipment can simulate a shock hazard which would cause a breaker to trip (shut off) and again determine whether it is safe or not.  

·  In addition, some panels may have Arc Fault breakers, if this is the case, our equipment can simulate an arcing condition (fire hazard) which would cause a breaker to trip (shut off) and again determine whether it is safe or not.  

Receptacle Testing 

·  We go around to each receptacle and inspect all vitals. We check for correct voltages and wiring in each outlet. 

·  Our equipment has to ability to compare the voltage readings from your panel to each outlet, what this tells us is if there are discrepancies between those two numbers there is a potential problem with the wiring of your home from the panel to that receptacle. 

·  Similarly, to the circuit breaker load test we put the receptacle we are testing under a load to see how it performs as if it was running an appliance. From this test we can get a very in depth look as to how the tested receptacle works normally and if it is safe for operation. If we determine that it is unsafe, we mark it and purposefully obstruct the outlet so it cannot be used. 

·  Our equipment will also allow us to see how your Ground Fault receptacles perform. Ground fault receptacle are typically found in your kitchen, bathrooms, outside and anywhere near water. They are the outlets with the two buttons in the middle of the plate. When we test the ground fault functionality, we are simulating a controlled electric shock hazard through our tester to determine if it trips off properly.  

·  Finally, we have various adapters to test the non-standard outlets, typically the ones used for a dryer or air conditioners and perform the tests listed above. 

Circuit Panel Inspection 

·  Most electricians will be able to perform a visual* panel inspection. It is a valued service but typically not done under normal circumstances. 

Circuit Breaker Test 

·  An electrician will only be able to visually* inspect your breakers and see if there is any corrosion or worn connections.  

Receptacle Testing 

·  Traditional methods used by electricians can determine if receptacle is wired correctly. However that is the extent of their test.