Review on INDUSTRIES 61 164 SureTest Circuit Analyzer by Chad Moser

This review relates to the Ideal 61-164 network analyzer. We are not electricians we are homeowners and my husband enjoys playing with electricity, wires etc. This unit works as advertised. The display is bright and easy to read. He doesn't need batteries. The quality of the gauge is excellent, it says Made in USA. Not cheap but you pay for what you get right? We tested it with a 250 foot spool of Romex 14AWG wire. It reports the correct impedance compared to the Keysight U1273AX DMM = 0.66 ohms on all three wires. We used what Keysight calls the "Smart Ω" device, after calibrating this feature (which Fluke calls the "relative reference") you can measure the resistance in the milliohm range. The ideal meter reports: Hot = 0.71 ohms, Neutral = 0.66 ohms, Ground = 0.66 ohms, Hot up, the difference is attributed to the switch. Another very accurate test is Design Line Load (ELL), we used a heater so Amprobe ACDC-54NAV clamp meter reports 5.44A, this meter reports 5A, with the same heater Amprobe reports 10.22Ah, this meter reads 10A. Straight to the money! Another very interesting test was a 15A and 20A load using the same reel of 250F wire and a 15A load. The Ideal meter reports a voltage drop of 18.2%, when using 20A it's 24.3%, wow! When we tested it the current voltage was 115V. Using a 250F cable and a 20A load reduced the voltage to 87.5 volts! How to use it, maybe Ideal can tell us. However, it tests GFCI switches very well.