The ESCR tester comprises a temperature bath with test tube racks holding up to 10/50 test tubes. Each test tube has space for 10 specimens. For sample preparation, a notching unit with notching blade is supplied. The notched specimens are pre-stressed using the bending clamp and inserted into the specimen holder using the transfer tool. Up to 10 test tubes are placed in a rack, which can be removed from the ESCR test bath for sample preparation and inserted into the bath for testing. The 50 Station unit can hold up to 5 sample racks and can thus be configured as a 10/20/30/40/50 station unit. 30 samples can be viewed through the front window and up to 50 can be tested simultaneously.