On 14/03/2019 12:06, Terry Casey wrote:
In article ff9a9243-3888-4584-8c76-a0cf3eea7a95
@googlegroups.com, says...

On Wednesday, 13 March 2019 17:38:11 UTC, John Rumm wrote:

Testing vintage kit is well beyond the scope of PAT testing,

It is PAT testable. A lot of testers don't understand the issues though.


Let's see. Vintage radios and TVs using 'live chassis'
construction techniques, especially if the mains connection
was via a reversible plug/socket arrangement on the back of
the receiver.

Uninsulated control spindles so that, if the felt washer
between the knob and cabinet is missing, a fine probe in the
gap could come into contact with the potentially live spindle,
depending on the design of the knob. If the knob isn't secured
by an inaccessible strong spring clip, the securing grub screw
can also be contacted with a suitable probe.

There are some where the live chassis is accessible with a regular mark
one finger!

At the rear, again a sutable probe through the ventilation
slots could contact the chassis or other live parts.

But would any of these result in a PAT fail?

If so, how can a fan heater pass a PAT test as the live
element is accessible through the much larger slots in the
exit grille?

Folk whose hobby is restoring vintage sets frequently complain
about the loss of rare items because most charity and second
hand shops refuse to accept them because they have no-one able
to PAT test them or simply because the mains lead has
red/black insulation, although it is perfectly legal on any
set built pre-1970, so these sets go to the tip instead.

Perhaps the solution is if that is your thing, to visit all the likely
shops and leave them a card saying if you get any donations of this kind
of kit, please let me know and I will come get it.

(or failing that, offer to do free PAT testing for them on the
understanding you can keep any "interesting" stuff that won't pass the
test).


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/