Gary Fisher of Lougar Electric reviews the Super Rod Jakoda STH (Socket Tester Holder).
In my experience the best inventions usually tend to come from within our trade, so I was really excited to try out this little nugget from Duncan Thomson, a Customer Care Engineer/Electrician, who, along with the good folk at Super Rod, has helped to turn a useful, simple idea into a reality.
Most of you reading this will be familiar with that sinking feeling of realising youβve left your socket tester on-site or not being able to find a suitable place to house it to avoid damage. The Jakoda STH (Socket Tester Holder) with multi-function tester nulling feature solves this issue and essentially does exactly what it says on the tin!
Requiring no batteries, the unit is basically a hard plastic socket outlet, only 230 mm long, 60 mm in width and very light in weight, attached by a durable type 111 seven-strand 350 paracord rope to a high strength durable karabiner hook capable of holding up to 90 kg. To this, you can attach your plug-in tester (which is more than likely used on most works projects for checking polarity of power outlets), keeping the device safe and sound.
Thanks to its durable plastic hook, you can simply clip the Jakoda STH to the side of your toolbox, or even your trouser belt, for better accessibility when in constant use on-site. It also helps to ensure the tester is on show and in your eyeline at all times, eliminating the risk of leaving your tester on-site at the end of a project.
Find your tester easily
The unit also alleviates the issue of having to route around in your toolbox to find your small plug in tester (which is no doubt buried at the bottom), passing all the other sharp and awkward tools while you do so and potentially causing damage to yourself or the socket tester.
One thing that must be stressed is that this item is purely for use in a βdeadβ environment. Any live connection will only cause harm to the user and more than likely damage the device, so thereβs no trying to make this a βliveβ piece of kit β youβve been warned!
So, weβve established that this piece of kit is a cracking method for keeping a valued part of your arsenal safe and to hand. It does, however, have another function β the ability to βnullβ your MFT device (the mains plug part of your tester, which is used to test live results).
Within the socket tester itself, there is a nulling option, so before you start testing the power ring final and radial circuits you must remember to null the actual tester first so as to get a more accurate result on the circuits tested. All you need to do is simply your tester into the Jakoda STH and press the test button and your plug and leads of the MFT are nulled.
Overall, Iβve found this device to be a really handy addition to my toolkit, especially on jobs where testing needs carrying out regularly. Iβm even thinking of getting another one that we can use just for the testing side of the business and keeping that in the test equipment box separately.
Personally, I prefer to have it hooked around my trouser belt, which I find most useful, as itβs always there as Iβm walking around site testing and has saved an awful lot of time and hassle. I do also hook it to the side of my toolbox at times, as it reminds me to carry out tests.
Like most products that Super Rod gets behind, this is another simple but extremely useful tool which helps to make life on-site just that bit easier for us electricians. I just wish Iβd have come up with a similar idea a number of years ago.
Visit the Super Rod Jakoda STH (item code SRSTH) product information page here
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