INDUSTRIES 61 164 SureTest Circuit Analyzer Review

Tools are known to break. I had two, and most people I spoke to had at least that many. It's great for running lots of tests and doing them quickly, but it's very prone to crashing and repairs are too expensive.

We needed something to test just over 300 outlets and provide basic network analysis. There was a fire at another facility, now everyone is in CYA. Easily proved the integrity of the circuit and suitability for use. Just because we went back and tested the same socket as a control to find deviations from what was supposed to be the correct configuration. There was good agreement and consistency. For the information we needed, this device did exactly what we wanted it to do.

Someone installed grounded outlets on ungrounded wires in our 1960's house. This device helped us identify affected outlets. Most things in the house were ungrounded. We also found some wrong reasons and reversed polarity. From what we found, licensed electricians grounded all outlets, lights, and switches. It was an expensive project so we used it to test their work in retail stores which was an added convenience for us as consumers. I recommend this for consumers with old houses!

The product description and documentation does not mention the six seconds the logo is displayed before it is available for use. For a home inspector using this dozens of times a day, this delay is unacceptable. I contacted the manufacturer to see if there is a way to adjust the logo display time. They said no, but they also said that the device was never intended for everyday use by home inspectors and that commercial use voids the warranty. This is quite expensive for a non-commercial device.

Be careful with that thing. I would only recommend it to an electrician or someone who knows about electrical installations. The first socket I tested ran without any problems and showed us a voltage drop of about 10% with the old wiring. It was a notoriously good outlet with a construction site. The next socket I tested was recently replaced by our landlord and I wanted to check if the floor is okay. Well, at first the tool worked fine, but when I was doing a ground resistance test I got a…

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…