Volt Pen
- Thread starter augie47
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
I have had a milwaulkee , an ideal and a greenlee. I liked the milwaulkee and greenlee the best. If I had to pick one over the other I would pick Greenlee
My Fluke has worked well for years. But with all instrtumernts it is impasrastive not to simply trust them but to test it with a known voltage source first, then test for voltage presence or per the manufacturers instructions to assure that it is functioning, then retest for voltage with a known source.
ptonsparky
Tom
- Occupation
- EC - retired
The local CED has a pen that works pretty well. I don't know who makes it for them.
My Fluke says for 90v and above IIRC. Seems like 80 v would still hurt.
My Fluke says for 90v and above IIRC. Seems like 80 v would still hurt.
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
My favorite is the Greenlee GT-11
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
The instructions with all of those devices say something like the following:
When using the Tester, if tip does not glow, voltage could still be present. (Fuke)
If no indication, voltage could still be present. (Klein)
Do not assume that no voltage indication means the circuit is de-energized. (Ideal)
When using the Tester, if tip does not glow, voltage could still be present. (Fuke)
If no indication, voltage could still be present. (Klein)
Do not assume that no voltage indication means the circuit is de-energized. (Ideal)
K8MHZ
Senior Member
- Occupation
- Electrician
The same caution should be used when using any type of test equipment.
curt swartz
Electrical Contractor - San Jose, CA
- Location
- San Jose, CA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Of all the ones I have tried and my guys have tried we all agree the Fluke works the best.
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
Amprobe. The plastic doesn't crack as easy as the Greenlee or Fluke and it doesn't make any racket .
david
Senior Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
I like the type that use a more standard battery. I hate having to find a specific battery for those type of devices
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
That's another good thing about the Amprobe it uses plain old AAA.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
Other types of test equipment can be tested using the live-dead-live method. Because of the way that non-contact testers work, you really can't do that with them. If the conditions on the known live source are not EXACTLY the same as the conditions on the circuit being tested, you have not really done a live-dead-live test.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Don you are correct. It is a tool and you need to know how to use it. Often we are testing a switch with no light and we want to make sure it is not hot. The light comes on when the switch is turned on then we know we are good and we can disconnect the wire with the switch off.
I would not want to cut into a wire with that as my only defense
I would not want to cut into a wire with that as my only defense
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