AC Non-Contact Electric Voltage Alert Detector?

[dct73]

@Electroman187

As a master electrician with many years of industrial experience(i.e. high voltage), I always kept one of these clipped to the inside of my pocket. I’ve owned two different Fluke models - one that’s always on and one with on/off button. I prefer the one without the button - they’re no longer available. Out of thousands and thousands of uses, I’ve never found the operation to be inconsistent. You just need to be consistent with your methodology and always ensure the unit is working before actually trying it on a potentially live circuit. Sometimes if a known live circuit was nowhere nearby to test, I would simply rapidly run the tester back and forth across my shirt. The static created is enough to activate it.

The important thing to remember is that this only a tool and is only as good as the environment and application it’s being used on. I usually used this tool for diagnostic purposes, troubleshooting, etc… If I had to actually handle the wire/terminal of the circuit, then the circuit would be de-energized and locked out or special provisions would be made for live work.

That said, I’ve never tried the unit linked at the top.

So you’re saying I’m holding the probe against the wire wrong? I must need a master electrician to show me how it’s done. I’ll have to try that static test. Could come in handy.

[Electroman187]

@dct73

So you’re saying I’m holding the probe against the wire wrong? I must need a master electrician to show me how it’s done. I’ll have to try that static test. Could come in handy.

Funny guy No, they’re not complex to use, but the use of them implicates playing around with live electricity. Play on! Uh, i mean be careful >)

There are a few tips or tricks to know if you use them often.

• beware ghost voltages - you will get false “hots”

• the sensing range scales with voltage - higher voltage, greater sensing range(distance)

• the tip of the probe is not the most sensitive - this is especially evident when working with lower voltages(this may be different model to model, but holds true to the ones i’ve used)