RTS Engineering stands behind every tester shipped,
and that goes above and beyond just design integrity or even warranty
issues. The design and construction of the PD Tester is not just skin
deep. Each tester contains two industrial computer systems and
redundant self-protection circuitry to isolate the computers from all
aspects of operator error. As-built photographs of every tester are
retained for the life of the tester, should one ever require service
due to abuse or operator error (whether covered by warranty or not).
One such case (and the
only case of a required repair to a
tester) involved the accidental penetration of the enclosure by a
forklift operator. The customer opted for a "self-repair remedy" using
factory supplied instructions and components. Within 24 hours of the
damage, a detailed repair manual was written, including complete
photographic-based instructions from the as-built photographs of the
tester, describing how to replace the user-damaged components. (Even
though the forklift destroyed one of the two computers, there was no
charge to the customer beyond the actual replacement cost of the parts,
and no charge was made for the specialty repair manual. That tester is
still in active service today.)
The image below shows one of the Load-Banking model testers, which is
the most complex of tester systems. This version of tester uses
double-redundant protection circuitry, because even though it needs to
protect itself from unexpected power, it must also protect the operator
from unexpected power too.