confused:

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al hildenbrand

Senior Member
Location
Minnesota
Occupation
Electrical Contractor, Electrical Consultant, Electrical Engineer
The voltage.

A continuity test applies the battery voltage to the circuit, any where from 1.5 to 9 volts.

A megger applies hundreds and sometimes over a thousand volts to the circuit.
 

electricalperson

Senior Member
Location
massachusetts
a megger will tell you if the insulation is bad causing intermittant problems such as breaker tripping and a continuity tester will just tell you if there is no resistance between the 2connections such as checking a single pole switch
 

electricalperson

Senior Member
Location
massachusetts
al hildenbrand said:
The voltage.

A continuity test applies the battery voltage to the circuit, any where from 1.5 to 9 volts.

A megger applies hundreds and sometimes over a thousand volts to the circuit.
also what he said. and dont grab the leads while using a megger :grin:
 

brian john

Senior Member
Location
Leesburg, VA
A continuity tester should be utilized to located and isolate shorts in wiring and never used to to test cables or any distribution equipment for possible shorts.

A megger can be used for predictive maintenance if utilized when equipment is new to establish a base line, then periodically for tracking equipment insulation values at a point based upon company standards or published standards the equipment can be slated for replacement prior to failure (in theory).

A megger will show a short from carbon in a fault distribution equipment a continuity tester won't unless the equipment is so trashed it is visibly obvious.

In the picture below a continuity tester would show no fault the megger shows issues.

Standard school paper, pencil lead (carbon), 1000 VDC test voltage

 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
k billa said:
what is the difference between megging out and just doing a continuity check?:

Both are useful for finding shorts. A megger is useful for finding damaged insulation that is not to the level of a short yet.

Continuity meters use a very low voltage for their tests - something like 1 to 3 volts.

Meggers use a much higher voltage 500V or more.
 

k billa

Member
thank you

thank you

i really appreciate the responses. i hope my classmates take advantage of this forum and use this information to their fullest.
 
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