25
Just had a cheap voltage tester fail on me in the middle of a job
I grabbed my usual $15 non-contact voltage tester from the truck last week while wiring up a new panel in a basement in Oakville. It beeped and lit up like normal, so I thought it was fine. But when I touched the wire with my multimeter afterwards, it was actually dead. The tester gave me a false positive, and I almost trusted it to start working on a live circuit. I took it apart when I got home and saw the internal sensor was cracked. Has anyone else had a cheap tester give them bad readings like that?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
cora_west510d ago
Did you try replacing the batteries" is a fair question Kelly, but a buddy of mine had the same issue with a cheap tester last year. He swapped out the batteries twice and it still gave him a false reading on a neutral wire that was actually hot. He opened it up after that and found the whole circuit board was cracked in half.
2
smith.lee6d ago
Used to be pretty casual about which tester I grabbed from the truck too, figured a beep is a beep. Then I had a $10 one give me a false negative on a live wire in a drop ceiling last month, checked it with a meter and it was hot. @cora_west5's buddy situation sounds exactly like what I saw, the whole circuit board in mine was loose and barely hanging on. Made me realize cheap testers are basically a gamble with your safety.
2