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Does newly purchased equipment require calibration? The short answer is “yes.” (May we suggest you consider drop shipping new equipment to our laboratory for calibration.) We field this question quite often. Relax and read no further unless you need to know the reasons why.

Often, we are asked this question by a time-pressured technician in a desperate voice who has just purchased new replacement equipment to remedy a work delay. And just as often, before we can answer the first question, we are also hypothetically asked, “This equipment is brand new. Surely it is good, or it would have failed quality checks before it left the factory. I really don’t need to waste money having this calibrated, do I?”

Unreservedly, the answer is still “Yes, you need to calibrate your new equipment” even though the cost of calibration is not the real issue, it is the time cost of work delays. The stressed-out technician has made a couple of huge assumptions: (1) the supplier checked the equipment before it was shipped, and (2) the quality check was reliable. Neither of these situations is guaranteed to be true. Even though much new equipment contains a slip of paper with a number stamped on it that broadly states “Inspection Passed,” further reading will also say the equipment is limitedly warrantied against manufacturing defects. Read on, the manufacturer will only cover the cost of replacing the unit purchased. These sheets of paper are not “Certificates of Calibration” or “Calibration Reports.”

Keep in mind, many instruments are manufactured by unknown companies irrespective of what brand name they carry in your market, perhaps in jurisdictions with different standards allowing for errors much wider than the buyer’s. New measuring equipment is frequently placed into service straight from the box, most often with few problems. But that piece of paper with the comforting “Passed” stamp—it is free to the buyer, but when the user discovers an issue, the remedy will be far from free.

Drop ship your purchased equipment directly to our laboratory for a quick turnaround!
48 Hour Calibration: 30% Expedited Service Fee
Next on Bench Calibration:  40% Expedited Service Fee

Calibrating Your Amp Clamp Meters

Clamp on ammeters (also known as Amp Clamps, Clamp Meters and Current Clamps) are used to measure electrical current flowing through conductors. They clamp around conductors allowing the user to measure current without breaking into the circuit. In addition to current, most clamp meters typically measure voltage, resistance, continuity and other functions commonly found in a digital multimeter.

Rest assured that HDCL will test multiple points across the range of your clamp meter and each measurement function. For more information please give us a call or submit an online quote request.

As always, we strive to calibrate your equipment and return it to you as quickly as possible. Our standard lead time is 5 to 7 business days.

If you need your equipment returned even more quickly than our standard lead time, just let us know. We offer two expedited services.

48 Hour Calibration: 30% Expedited Service Fee
Next on Bench Calibration:  40% Expedited Service Fee

HDCL OFFERS TWO LEVELS OF EXPEDITED SERVICE! Click here to learn more.

We know how important your equipment and tools are to you. They are your livelihood. At HDCL we also realize that scheduling annual calibration is only part of your job. Rest assured, it may be part of your job but it is all of our job! We strive to calibrate your equipment and return it to you as quickly as possible. Our standard lead time is 5 to 7 business days.

If you need your equipment returned even more quickly than our standard lead time, just let us know. We offer two expedited services.

48 Hour Calibration: 35% Expedited Service Fee
Next on Bench Calibration:  50% Expedited Service Fee

To all our loyal customers, please accept a heartfelt thank you from the entire team here at HDCL! We appreciate your trusting us with your test equipment. We look forward to serving you through 2019 and beyond.

Thanks are in order as well to the Ranch Steakhouse for hosting our holiday party for the second year running. The food and service is outstanding.

In 1891, inventor Seth Wheeler of Albany, New York, patented a toilet paper roll with tear-off sheets and a dispenser. Essentially, it's the modern toilet-paper roll as we know and love it.  Wheeler's mind was a cornucopia toilet paper ideas. He also received patents for a multirole toilet paper holder, a toilet paper fixture and a process for ornamenting toilet paper to give it a pleasing diamond-patterned look. He was the owner of the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company, the first business to sell toilet paper on a roll.
Not long after 1891 the debate started as to the proper way to insert toilet paper into a holder.  Toilet paper when used with a toilet roll holder with a horizontal axle parallel to the floor and also parallel to the wall has two possible orientations: the toilet paper may hang over (in front of) or under (behind) the roll; if perpendicular to the wall, the two orientations are right-left or near-away.
Obviously the patent intended the "over" orientation but I bet Wheeler never thought about small children and kittens! Interestingly, as the Washington Post reported in 1989, "60 percent of those who earn $50,000 or more prefer it to be over and 73 percent of those who earn less than $20,000 prefer under." I am not sure what that means.
I am certain by now the point of this article is quite plain as it relates to metrology. When it comes to your test equipment, beyond the user's manual, how you use your equipment matters, and so do your personal preferences. We at HDCL always take these factors into consideration and welcome discussions from our customers on how they use their equipment and what is most important to them.  All of this is tremendously important in providing calibration services that are appropriate and cost conscious. Give us a call, we have answers.