pen testers

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aarifisher

Member
How come a pen tester does not detect voltage on the grounded (neutral) conductor even when there is a current flow since its alternating current ?
 
A

aarifisher

Member
yes your right but since its AC which means every 2nd half of the cycle the power is coming from the neutral trough the load to the hot and then back to the source.
Also voltage is a difference of potential so what's the difference which side of it you are ?
 
LarryFine

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
It's the voltage relative to ground, the earth, that these detectors respond to. The neutral's potential is (normally) at ground, so there's no voltage to detect. Whether the neutral is sourcing or sinking current has no bearing on this.
 
T

tommyrice

Member
tick-tester

tick-tester

I have ruined a few sets of linesmans pliers because I was too lazy to use my wiggy.Even when I do a test on something i know is hot then test the circuit in question,the tick-tester shows the circuit to be dead,i cut into it, and blow a hole in yet another pair of pliers.
 
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rcwilson

Senior Member
Location
Redmond, WA
The pen testers are the best thing to find the bad bulb or socket in series Christmas lights, especially the icicle style. My wife has me putting up about 10-15,000 lights each year. Couldn't do it without the Fluke pen detector.

They also go off in my pocket when I walk through a 350 kV or 500 kV switchyard.
 
J

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
They almost never give a false positive, they often give false negatives.

They are good for detecting voltage, they are not so good for detecting no voltage.
 
SG-1

SG-1

Senior Member
Location
Ware Shoals, South Carolina
rcwilson said:
The pen testers are the best thing to find the bad bulb or socket in series Christmas lights, especially the icicle style. My wife has me putting up about 10-15,000 lights each year. Couldn't do it without the Fluke pen detector.

They also go off in my pocket when I walk through a 350 kV or 500 kV switchyard.
Click to expand...

Mine goes off in my pocket during dielectric testing.
 
qcroanoke

qcroanoke

Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
Location
Roanoke, VA.
Occupation
Sorta retired........
rcwilson said:
The pen testers are the best thing to find the bad bulb or socket in series Christmas lights, especially the icicle style. My wife has me putting up about 10-15,000 lights each year. Couldn't do it without the Fluke pen detector.

They also go off in my pocket when I walk through a 350 kV or 500 kV switchyard.
Click to expand...

Now that is good to know! I usually carry a string that works and test the bulbs out of the unlit set in the one I know is good.
I put up a bunch myself. Gonna have to go buy one!
 
J

jeremysterling

Senior Member
Location
Austin, TX
jim dungar said:
They almost never give a false positive, they often give false negatives.

They are good for detecting voltage, they are not so good for detecting no voltage.
Click to expand...

Mine ( greenlee GT11) will pick up phantom voltage on a dead conductor grouped with live circuits in long conduit runs. My high impedance multimeter will show ~16V, but we both know there is nothing there. A low Z meter will prove the circuit dead.

I agree 100% with the second half of your statement.
 
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