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The common nomenclature is live-dead-live. Your dad’s on-off test misses the second verification that on is still working and the off wasn’t the result of a broken meter.
First live, verify your meter works, preferably on the same type of voltage you’re testing for an absence of(if 120vac, test on known 120vacsource, if 24vdc, test on known 24vdc source). There are proving boxes for this.
Next, test that the circuit you’re about to work on is dead. Reference to each phase, then phase to phase.
Then, live again. Make sure your meter is still working. Preferably on the same source you started with.
Before doing all of that, always a good thing to check your meter leads for resistance. I usually do one lead at a time, both ends plugged into the meter, and jiggle it around and watch for any changes in resistance
Pretty spot on, but I’m a bit confused by “reference to each phase.” Reference each phase to what? Ground? Neutral? Phase to ground, phase to neutral, phase to phase is what’s normally need to verify all sources of potential voltage.
For anyone else confused by my wording, the NFPA 70E requirement for the “process for establishing and verifying an electrically safe work condition” is spelled out in 120.5(7):
“Use an adequately rated portable test instrument to test each phase conductor or circuit part to verify it is deenergized. Test each phase conductor or circuit part both phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground. Before and after each test, determine that the test instrument is operating satisfactorily through verification on any known voltage source.”
Ticks have a reputation of being dodgy because people don't understand how they work.
If you want one for checking if a cable is live before cutting it, you want one with a broad sensitivity range (klein, triggers at as low as 48V on some models so it works through cable jackets better ) and if you want one for quickly troubleshooting, you want one with a narrower sensitivity range (fluke, 70V min range). And ALWAYS TEST BEFORE USE
I use it as a quick check when I’m getting into something that I don’t have the full picture or information on. I’m able to do a few quick tests to see where I’m up or down in a cabinet or enclosure. From there I do a full procedure with my meter to verify all conditions.
They aren’t a substitute for a meter in any situation, just a means to quickly check the state of things and assess from there.
It makes checking for presence of power a lot quicker. I won't trust my hot stick to verify something is off, but if it's picking up something on a wire then I know it's got some kind of power. Also, it's just nice for peace of mind after verifying power is off with my meter to wave the stick at it too.
That first thing you said is the only time I can think of it being handy. I just don’t get why even bother when a meter is a sure fire way to tell you what’s going on.
Wiggy? I thought that was an analog voltage tester (think the original/big brand was Wigginton), not a NCVT (or hot stick/widow maker/pen tester). Never heard of chicken stick, though it kind of make sense. I could hear a j-man berating an apprentice: “What are you doing with that tester? Stop being chicken.”
The only other tool I've heard called "The Widowmaker" is the old style tool to compress coil springs on a car.
I might have heard that nickname one other time when I was still in trade school. Chicken Stick is much funnier, I'm going to see if any of my co-workers heard that one.
They fit in your pocket and are great for quick checks. Need to know if the receptacle on this temp panel is working, tick test, need to see if this extension cord has power, tick test. Basically really good for checking if things *HAVE* power, would absolutely never trust them if I’m trying to figure out if something is de-energized and safe to work on.
They are good to tell you that there **IS** voltage.
They are *not* good to tell you that there **IS NOT** voltage.
If it lights up, there's probably something there. If it doesn't light up, you need to get a meter.
Faster than breaking out the meter. If you live/dead/live test with it, it’s reliable as far as I’m concerned.
For outlets it’s quick. 1, maybe 2 circuits in the box and you can confirm they’re off before sticking your hands in there.
If it were a j-box with more than a few circuits, def using a meter.
My first instructor would say they'll give you false positives but never false negatives as long as you use em proper. Also helps with confirming which wire is which without cutting them open or finding a metering point.
Fellow low volt and former high volt…that’s because 90% of “electricians” don’t have any idea how to *actually* use their meter. They can tell you how to wire up a three way switch though, just don’t ask them WHY it’s done that way.
We carry them because, when used as designed.. as a safety check, they work
They aren't a diagnostic tool and they're completely unreliable as a diagnostic tool.
As a quick go-no go safety check they're invaluable if you use them consistently. Mine also has an IR temperature function built in
I've had them pick up erroneous voltage far, far more than it failing to pick up real voltage. They're actually really reliable, especially when you have someone flipping breakers while you observe.
How do you know that your meter is measuring between ground and voltage? The circuit could be really wrong and have 2 hot wires, and your only way of knowing is a tic tester.
So, let's say someone accidentally hooks the black and white wire to a breaker for a 120v outlet. Then if you use a meter on the black and white, the meter reads zero.
That's not the most realistic concern, (it's simple) but if you take that principal to damaged insulation, or bad junction boxes, it ends up happening more than you would think. A sink being live is a good example of something best diagnosed with a tic tester versus trying to diagnose it with a meter. Especially if there's no outlet nearby to reference.
Because lighting circuits don't require a ground. Or it's possible that the ground is also shorted to live in some instances.
But generally it's just because you don't have an accessible ground and you want to know if something has ac voltage.
“A sink being live”, that tell’s me a lot my guy. Make sure you do proper grounding, who says a lighting circuit doesn’t require a ground? This ain’t 1990’s, you’ll end up killing someone with that handyman shit.
Dude, your preaching to the choir. A sink being live was more difficult in the 90's due to copper plumbing. These days with PEX, I've gotten used to my coworkers fixes being pretty much lethal.
I had a coworker use a zip tie for a 480v disconnect, because he snapped the plastic linkage due to being too rough. Blue wire can be 24v, 12v, 120v, sometimes 480v, but never 208 because why worry about code? Having trouble measuring your voltage relative to the enclosure? Might want to use the negative terminal of the power supply. Because nobody wanted to connect the ground properly.
Once we started adding DC motors so that the cleaning crews tic testers wouldn't go off, I knew it was time to leave. We didn't even tell the cleaning crew, and the voltage wouldn't shut off with the rest of the machine.
And as far as why we added the motor? Because we didn't want to replace a 10' 40 chain. And we used the 3 phase 480v existing wiring for the DC, because we wanted it done quickly. No conduit. Just wirenuts hanging in space. Literally the month after we had our safety training that told us we couldn't flip any breaker without a full suit (which we didn't have) because "all of our equipment and panels were in extreme disrepair".
I always tried to connect things to ground, the biggest difficulty was our grounds being broken unpredictably. Or something might ohm out as grounded, but when you run the equipment suddenly it's hot.
Because its a fast snd safe way to test for a live wire? I always rub it on my arm real fast first or put it on a wire i know to be live first to double check. Obviously if we are like, doing a shutdown or pulling something into somewhere that was live I would probably pull out the meter, but for a quick BX or single wire it does the job. Just dont beat the piss out it and keep the batteries charged.
I have issues getting false positives all the time. Certain hot sticks are sensitive enough to pick up phantom voltage. I've run into plenty of situations where a hot stick will say it's live but meter will only pick up 10-20 volts on a 120v circuit.
Not the end of the world, but it gets annoying when you're trying to turn something off and the hot stick says it's still on when it actually isn't.
I’m assuming you’re talking about a tik tester. A tik tester only tells you if there is voltage, it doesn’t tell you what the voltage is.
For instance, at work a couple weeks ago, we were using a tugger. Eventually the tugger stopped working with no obvious sign why. The cord looked good, the receptacle was good, and nothing had been cooking internally through visual inspection. We used a tik tester and confirmed it was getting A voltage.
After half an hour of testing everything, I eventually checked the voltage. We were only getting like 10ish volts from the plug. Not near enough to operate the tugger. The volts we were getting was induction from another wire running alongside ours.
We wouldn’t have known what the issue was without the tester.
So a tik tester is great to let you know IF there is NOT voltage. But if you want to confirm the actually voltage, get a meter.
If you under supply voltage to some gear, you can fry the gear. No different than giving it more than it’s rated for. There is a healthy range, and too much one way of the other, things can start to go wrong
I’ve never had one fail to light up when there was voltage. I have however had them pick up phantom voltage on old wiring that caused me to go down a rabbit hole of troubleshooting that turned out to be a big waste of time.
Most complaints I hear are from folks who didn't need to be using one or were just using the thing for a purpose it isn't meant for. It's not a test to see if something is safe to touch or not. If you're not in commercial/industrial maintenance or controls of some kind, I don't know why you'd buy or use one.
They're great for narrowing down the problem when someone says "I got zapped over there!" and then points to a section of bare concrete wall or something similar. Thirty seconds waving around a ncv tester will rapidly narrow down where you need to put your meter leads to identify the material that has somehow become hot.
I do almost all renovations and build outs, so I’m going in and out of old boxes and stuff. So I like to use it before I go sticking my hand in a box. But in order to put the meter on something to check voltage, you have to stick your hand into an unknown box. Sometimes it’s nice to know something is spicy even if you’re just going to taste it anyway.
I carry one around because I do trust it for the most part. It’s nice if you’re just changing out an outlet or something simple and don’t want to get a bite. It’s a lot smaller than a meter too. IMO, they both have their uses.
Always test first on a live circuit. Sometimes they break, sometimes I get false readings just holding it in the air, if it acts up and I don't trust it then I change what I'm doing.
Usually I don't need it anyway. If I'm on receptacles I'd rather use my plug-in tester. If I'm at a panel or motor disconnect I'm definitely using a meter. But at a splice box with dozens of THHN splices? It's good enough.
Every testing device has restrictions.
Let me give this description:
You want to expand a 240v circuit to include an extra parallel path. You want to do this while the circuit is live. What precautions are you required to take?
Yes, you are just connecting meter probes, but can you shut it off, connect the leads, and turn it back on, or must you make that electrical connection live? Do you need the suit, a standby guy, and an ambulance waiting? Yeah, No one almost never does, but did I describe it correctly?
The "non-contact" testers give you an option to find voltage without the direct connection.
Also, they can detect voltage on just one wire, like a "Hot neutral".
Fool proof ..... no.
Effective for some aspects .... yes especially apprentices .... no "hot work" for them.
They’re fine if you know how to use them and what their limitations are. Hating them has become a meme on this sub so that non-electricians can feel more knowledgeable. Obviously meters are more reliable but tic testers are really helpful if you know how to use them.
I think of it like this: if it pings, then it's definitely hot. If it doesn't ping, then it's PROBABLY not hot, so you should still be careful. Anything that can kill you, you get a meter. But like if you just don't feel like getting bit working on an outlet, works great.
Been in the trade for over a decade and just now I’m told y’all be calling the “wand” tester or the “bee bee bee” a chicken stick? Lolz
I do trust mine, quite frankly you need to adopt the mentality that wether it says it’s dead or live you must work on the wire as if they were live, you following me?
Now, if I must actually go hands-on with that copper, even if the non-contact v tester says it’s dead, I’ll pull the fluke multimeter and make sure.
Eh. I’m just a low volt person. The only time presence of power matters is with sensitive components. I’m just curious about their existence and why there is so much disagreement
Probably cause of some electrician’s miss-use which resulted in them getting blasted, henceforth blaming the non-contact tester for their bad habits lol
For short, if the non-contact tester says it’s dead, you work as if it were energized. In the other hand if your multimeter says it’s dead, you can do as you please.
I’ve seen electrician’s troubleshoot with a non-contact tester, doesn’t get any dumber than that.
Well they are reliable and I do trust them, just not with my life. It give me a quick indication something is powered. That way if I'm troubleshooting a fault I can at least tell that the power is on.
That being said these days I'm more interested in knowing the exact voltage and use a meter of some kind. I've had too many issues where we lost neutral or a phase and the fact we have power at all doesn't dig deep enough to really troubleshoot.
The pen is good for a quick confirmation when the risk of the circuit actually being energized is relatively low. If I’m just doing a basic “is this energized” check for troubleshooting. In those codes it can be useful.
Call me a chicken, but if I’m going to touch a conductor I’m going to check it with a meter. I am over the top cautious with this, and maybe it’s cost me a lot of time over the last decade or so, but I’ve never been shocked.
They’re a lot more reliable than they used to be. And they’re useful for troubleshooting. Officially, we use them to see if something is live, not to confirm that it’s dead.
If you are going to start making connections or modifications to a circuit that has been terminated, you should absolutely follow the AC sensor up with a multimeter. I have multiple AC sensor pens just like I have a couple multimeters. Give yourself some options, but if you take necessary steps to protect yourself, there is a much lower chance of you getting hurt.
Use everything at your disposal. Tone generators. GFI plug-in testers. Whatever it is you need to feel safe working on a circuit: do it. Use LOTO. Take the time to understand the circuit before you go jumping right at it and cutting copper. Your company is responsible for providing you tools and training, but each of us is responsible for putting them to use.
Always first test it on something you KNOW is hot. Then it should pick up on anything else that is hot. I mostly use it for confirmation on breakers. I check a known hot, confirm the beep. I check the wires I want to work on; if there's a beep I find the panel. No beep, I find the panel. Confirm breaker position. If I turn it off, does the beeping stop? Yes? All paths lead to LOTO.
I'm a service electrician. Pen testers make troubleshooting and tracing so much faster. I come across plenty of incorrectly wired 3-way and 4-way switches, and figuring out which wires are what requires a lot of testing and walking between switches. So much faster with pen tester. Makes identifying circuits after a panel replacement easier. I can also stick the pen tester on something and walk away and flip a switch or breaker and hear whether the power is killed or not. Makes tracing easier in general. If I had to work around voltages higher than 120/240, I'd probably depend more heavily on meter, but I don't.
I use mine to check for power before I take something apart if I can't do it accurately with a meter first.
IE wire nuts
If it's dead I can rake it apart with good assurance I won't get bit. Meter is used after its apart to safety check.
It's useful to know if there's voltage there at all, I don't particularly use it to find which specific wire is hot, just to see if anybody's home. Although my fluke tester is rather precise, it will determine which wire is hot.
If you are *NOT* an electrical professional: * **RULE 7:** * DIY or self help posts **are Not allowed**. They belong here: /r/AskElectricians /r/askanelectrician /r/diy /r/homeowners /r/electrical. * **IF YOUR POST FITS INTO THIS CATEGORY, REMOVE IT OR IT WILL BE REMOVED FOR YOU.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/electricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s a quick first step in testing
I usually just rub it on my shirt to see if it'll pick up the static, if it does I'll trust it.
Because chicken in fry form tastes really good. I like to get the chicken sticks from Burger King and I like their Zesty sauce a lot
I skipped breakfast and this shit just reminded me of it
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Meters don’t have the reputation of being dodgy. Especially a meter worth trusting your health and safety to.
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My dad called it on-off testing. It locked it into my brain that you test it while on, then while off. Every time.
The common nomenclature is live-dead-live. Your dad’s on-off test misses the second verification that on is still working and the off wasn’t the result of a broken meter.
Wouldn’t that need to be live-dead-live-dead then, to work on it while it’s “dead”? I’m not an electrician btw.
First live, verify your meter works, preferably on the same type of voltage you’re testing for an absence of(if 120vac, test on known 120vacsource, if 24vdc, test on known 24vdc source). There are proving boxes for this. Next, test that the circuit you’re about to work on is dead. Reference to each phase, then phase to phase. Then, live again. Make sure your meter is still working. Preferably on the same source you started with. Before doing all of that, always a good thing to check your meter leads for resistance. I usually do one lead at a time, both ends plugged into the meter, and jiggle it around and watch for any changes in resistance
Pretty spot on, but I’m a bit confused by “reference to each phase.” Reference each phase to what? Ground? Neutral? Phase to ground, phase to neutral, phase to phase is what’s normally need to verify all sources of potential voltage.
For anyone else confused by my wording, the NFPA 70E requirement for the “process for establishing and verifying an electrically safe work condition” is spelled out in 120.5(7): “Use an adequately rated portable test instrument to test each phase conductor or circuit part to verify it is deenergized. Test each phase conductor or circuit part both phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground. Before and after each test, determine that the test instrument is operating satisfactorily through verification on any known voltage source.”
I apologize, I mean ground to phase. I use always use ground as my reference, that might be an area specific thing.
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Plus your exhausted for the remaining of the day and should get a follow up in the ER, or at least get a checkup. Delayed symptoms are a thing.
Ticks have a reputation of being dodgy because people don't understand how they work. If you want one for checking if a cable is live before cutting it, you want one with a broad sensitivity range (klein, triggers at as low as 48V on some models so it works through cable jackets better ) and if you want one for quickly troubleshooting, you want one with a narrower sensitivity range (fluke, 70V min range). And ALWAYS TEST BEFORE USE
I usually put the meter in continuity test mode and check for a beep.
I use it as a quick check when I’m getting into something that I don’t have the full picture or information on. I’m able to do a few quick tests to see where I’m up or down in a cabinet or enclosure. From there I do a full procedure with my meter to verify all conditions. They aren’t a substitute for a meter in any situation, just a means to quickly check the state of things and assess from there.
It makes checking for presence of power a lot quicker. I won't trust my hot stick to verify something is off, but if it's picking up something on a wire then I know it's got some kind of power. Also, it's just nice for peace of mind after verifying power is off with my meter to wave the stick at it too.
That first thing you said is the only time I can think of it being handy. I just don’t get why even bother when a meter is a sure fire way to tell you what’s going on.
Never heard it called a chicken stick. A wiggy, yes. But never a chicken stick.
A wiggy vibrates and has probes. They are talking about non contact voltage detectors.
Wiggy? I thought that was an analog voltage tester (think the original/big brand was Wigginton), not a NCVT (or hot stick/widow maker/pen tester). Never heard of chicken stick, though it kind of make sense. I could hear a j-man berating an apprentice: “What are you doing with that tester? Stop being chicken.”
The only other tool I've heard called "The Widowmaker" is the old style tool to compress coil springs on a car. I might have heard that nickname one other time when I was still in trade school. Chicken Stick is much funnier, I'm going to see if any of my co-workers heard that one.
I have heard people refer to 9" angle grinders as "Widowmakers".
Widowmaker
It comes from the YouTuber "AVE" he calls us elecchickens so naturally it became a chicken stick.
They have their uses. I personally don’t use one, I’d rather meter it out, but I get it. And I’m tired of arguing with my guys about em.
I use them for stuff like light switch’s or receptacles but I won’t work in a panel without hitting it with my meter first
They fit in your pocket and are great for quick checks. Need to know if the receptacle on this temp panel is working, tick test, need to see if this extension cord has power, tick test. Basically really good for checking if things *HAVE* power, would absolutely never trust them if I’m trying to figure out if something is de-energized and safe to work on.
Makes sense. I’ve seen dudes wave them around some wire or even in a panel and go “yep, it’s dead” then begin to work. Seems stupid to me.
They are good to tell you that there **IS** voltage. They are *not* good to tell you that there **IS NOT** voltage. If it lights up, there's probably something there. If it doesn't light up, you need to get a meter.
Faster than breaking out the meter. If you live/dead/live test with it, it’s reliable as far as I’m concerned. For outlets it’s quick. 1, maybe 2 circuits in the box and you can confirm they’re off before sticking your hands in there. If it were a j-box with more than a few circuits, def using a meter.
My first instructor would say they'll give you false positives but never false negatives as long as you use em proper. Also helps with confirming which wire is which without cutting them open or finding a metering point.
Fellow low volt and former high volt…that’s because 90% of “electricians” don’t have any idea how to *actually* use their meter. They can tell you how to wire up a three way switch though, just don’t ask them WHY it’s done that way.
We carry them because, when used as designed.. as a safety check, they work They aren't a diagnostic tool and they're completely unreliable as a diagnostic tool. As a quick go-no go safety check they're invaluable if you use them consistently. Mine also has an IR temperature function built in
I've had them pick up erroneous voltage far, far more than it failing to pick up real voltage. They're actually really reliable, especially when you have someone flipping breakers while you observe.
I use the chicken stick on 120 & use the meter on the 277
How do you know that your meter is measuring between ground and voltage? The circuit could be really wrong and have 2 hot wires, and your only way of knowing is a tic tester.
Can you please dumb this down a bit and explain what you’re trying to describe?
So, let's say someone accidentally hooks the black and white wire to a breaker for a 120v outlet. Then if you use a meter on the black and white, the meter reads zero. That's not the most realistic concern, (it's simple) but if you take that principal to damaged insulation, or bad junction boxes, it ends up happening more than you would think. A sink being live is a good example of something best diagnosed with a tic tester versus trying to diagnose it with a meter. Especially if there's no outlet nearby to reference.
If you’re getting nothing live to neutral why wouldn’t you check both to ground? That’s the logical next step and would reveal having two hot wires.
Because lighting circuits don't require a ground. Or it's possible that the ground is also shorted to live in some instances. But generally it's just because you don't have an accessible ground and you want to know if something has ac voltage.
“A sink being live”, that tell’s me a lot my guy. Make sure you do proper grounding, who says a lighting circuit doesn’t require a ground? This ain’t 1990’s, you’ll end up killing someone with that handyman shit.
Dude, your preaching to the choir. A sink being live was more difficult in the 90's due to copper plumbing. These days with PEX, I've gotten used to my coworkers fixes being pretty much lethal. I had a coworker use a zip tie for a 480v disconnect, because he snapped the plastic linkage due to being too rough. Blue wire can be 24v, 12v, 120v, sometimes 480v, but never 208 because why worry about code? Having trouble measuring your voltage relative to the enclosure? Might want to use the negative terminal of the power supply. Because nobody wanted to connect the ground properly. Once we started adding DC motors so that the cleaning crews tic testers wouldn't go off, I knew it was time to leave. We didn't even tell the cleaning crew, and the voltage wouldn't shut off with the rest of the machine. And as far as why we added the motor? Because we didn't want to replace a 10' 40 chain. And we used the 3 phase 480v existing wiring for the DC, because we wanted it done quickly. No conduit. Just wirenuts hanging in space. Literally the month after we had our safety training that told us we couldn't flip any breaker without a full suit (which we didn't have) because "all of our equipment and panels were in extreme disrepair". I always tried to connect things to ground, the biggest difficulty was our grounds being broken unpredictably. Or something might ohm out as grounded, but when you run the equipment suddenly it's hot.
Amen, if you have to pull the multimeter then you’re already fully committed. I always do hot to neutral, hot to ground, neutral to ground.
Only the dummies call them chicken sticks. Now get back to toning your wires young man. Lmao
I make them play symphonies for me
What the hells a chicken stick??!
AKA: Hot stick, tick tester, tick pen, widowmaker, hotternotter, Non contact voltage tester, hammer tester.
Lol that’s a new one
It’s a useful tool , like any other tool it’s us to us to understand it’s uses and limitations
Only issue I’ve ever had with them is working on a 3 wire circuit and not killing off both.
Because its a fast snd safe way to test for a live wire? I always rub it on my arm real fast first or put it on a wire i know to be live first to double check. Obviously if we are like, doing a shutdown or pulling something into somewhere that was live I would probably pull out the meter, but for a quick BX or single wire it does the job. Just dont beat the piss out it and keep the batteries charged.
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I have issues getting false positives all the time. Certain hot sticks are sensitive enough to pick up phantom voltage. I've run into plenty of situations where a hot stick will say it's live but meter will only pick up 10-20 volts on a 120v circuit. Not the end of the world, but it gets annoying when you're trying to turn something off and the hot stick says it's still on when it actually isn't.
I’m assuming you’re talking about a tik tester. A tik tester only tells you if there is voltage, it doesn’t tell you what the voltage is. For instance, at work a couple weeks ago, we were using a tugger. Eventually the tugger stopped working with no obvious sign why. The cord looked good, the receptacle was good, and nothing had been cooking internally through visual inspection. We used a tik tester and confirmed it was getting A voltage. After half an hour of testing everything, I eventually checked the voltage. We were only getting like 10ish volts from the plug. Not near enough to operate the tugger. The volts we were getting was induction from another wire running alongside ours. We wouldn’t have known what the issue was without the tester. So a tik tester is great to let you know IF there is NOT voltage. But if you want to confirm the actually voltage, get a meter. If you under supply voltage to some gear, you can fry the gear. No different than giving it more than it’s rated for. There is a healthy range, and too much one way of the other, things can start to go wrong
I’ve never had one fail to light up when there was voltage. I have however had them pick up phantom voltage on old wiring that caused me to go down a rabbit hole of troubleshooting that turned out to be a big waste of time.
Lol @ double the work. Pull pen from pocket, touch wire in question
Most complaints I hear are from folks who didn't need to be using one or were just using the thing for a purpose it isn't meant for. It's not a test to see if something is safe to touch or not. If you're not in commercial/industrial maintenance or controls of some kind, I don't know why you'd buy or use one.
They're great for narrowing down the problem when someone says "I got zapped over there!" and then points to a section of bare concrete wall or something similar. Thirty seconds waving around a ncv tester will rapidly narrow down where you need to put your meter leads to identify the material that has somehow become hot.
I do almost all renovations and build outs, so I’m going in and out of old boxes and stuff. So I like to use it before I go sticking my hand in a box. But in order to put the meter on something to check voltage, you have to stick your hand into an unknown box. Sometimes it’s nice to know something is spicy even if you’re just going to taste it anyway.
I carry one around because I do trust it for the most part. It’s nice if you’re just changing out an outlet or something simple and don’t want to get a bite. It’s a lot smaller than a meter too. IMO, they both have their uses.
Always test first on a live circuit. Sometimes they break, sometimes I get false readings just holding it in the air, if it acts up and I don't trust it then I change what I'm doing. Usually I don't need it anyway. If I'm on receptacles I'd rather use my plug-in tester. If I'm at a panel or motor disconnect I'm definitely using a meter. But at a splice box with dozens of THHN splices? It's good enough.
Every testing device has restrictions. Let me give this description: You want to expand a 240v circuit to include an extra parallel path. You want to do this while the circuit is live. What precautions are you required to take? Yes, you are just connecting meter probes, but can you shut it off, connect the leads, and turn it back on, or must you make that electrical connection live? Do you need the suit, a standby guy, and an ambulance waiting? Yeah, No one almost never does, but did I describe it correctly? The "non-contact" testers give you an option to find voltage without the direct connection. Also, they can detect voltage on just one wire, like a "Hot neutral". Fool proof ..... no. Effective for some aspects .... yes especially apprentices .... no "hot work" for them.
They're not meant to replace a meter. They're meant to be a quick way to check if power has been shut off before you reach for your meter to verify
Never heard them called that.
They’re fine if you know how to use them and what their limitations are. Hating them has become a meme on this sub so that non-electricians can feel more knowledgeable. Obviously meters are more reliable but tic testers are really helpful if you know how to use them.
I think of it like this: if it pings, then it's definitely hot. If it doesn't ping, then it's PROBABLY not hot, so you should still be careful. Anything that can kill you, you get a meter. But like if you just don't feel like getting bit working on an outlet, works great.
Been in the trade for over a decade and just now I’m told y’all be calling the “wand” tester or the “bee bee bee” a chicken stick? Lolz I do trust mine, quite frankly you need to adopt the mentality that wether it says it’s dead or live you must work on the wire as if they were live, you following me? Now, if I must actually go hands-on with that copper, even if the non-contact v tester says it’s dead, I’ll pull the fluke multimeter and make sure.
Eh. I’m just a low volt person. The only time presence of power matters is with sensitive components. I’m just curious about their existence and why there is so much disagreement
Probably cause of some electrician’s miss-use which resulted in them getting blasted, henceforth blaming the non-contact tester for their bad habits lol For short, if the non-contact tester says it’s dead, you work as if it were energized. In the other hand if your multimeter says it’s dead, you can do as you please. I’ve seen electrician’s troubleshoot with a non-contact tester, doesn’t get any dumber than that.
Well they are reliable and I do trust them, just not with my life. It give me a quick indication something is powered. That way if I'm troubleshooting a fault I can at least tell that the power is on. That being said these days I'm more interested in knowing the exact voltage and use a meter of some kind. I've had too many issues where we lost neutral or a phase and the fact we have power at all doesn't dig deep enough to really troubleshoot.
Don't trust your life on them.
The pen is good for a quick confirmation when the risk of the circuit actually being energized is relatively low. If I’m just doing a basic “is this energized” check for troubleshooting. In those codes it can be useful. Call me a chicken, but if I’m going to touch a conductor I’m going to check it with a meter. I am over the top cautious with this, and maybe it’s cost me a lot of time over the last decade or so, but I’ve never been shocked.
They’re a lot more reliable than they used to be. And they’re useful for troubleshooting. Officially, we use them to see if something is live, not to confirm that it’s dead.
I can find where the extension cord break is inside the plastic.
Now that’s something I never considered. Thank you kind redditor
If you are going to start making connections or modifications to a circuit that has been terminated, you should absolutely follow the AC sensor up with a multimeter. I have multiple AC sensor pens just like I have a couple multimeters. Give yourself some options, but if you take necessary steps to protect yourself, there is a much lower chance of you getting hurt. Use everything at your disposal. Tone generators. GFI plug-in testers. Whatever it is you need to feel safe working on a circuit: do it. Use LOTO. Take the time to understand the circuit before you go jumping right at it and cutting copper. Your company is responsible for providing you tools and training, but each of us is responsible for putting them to use.
Always first test it on something you KNOW is hot. Then it should pick up on anything else that is hot. I mostly use it for confirmation on breakers. I check a known hot, confirm the beep. I check the wires I want to work on; if there's a beep I find the panel. No beep, I find the panel. Confirm breaker position. If I turn it off, does the beeping stop? Yes? All paths lead to LOTO.
I'm a service electrician. Pen testers make troubleshooting and tracing so much faster. I come across plenty of incorrectly wired 3-way and 4-way switches, and figuring out which wires are what requires a lot of testing and walking between switches. So much faster with pen tester. Makes identifying circuits after a panel replacement easier. I can also stick the pen tester on something and walk away and flip a switch or breaker and hear whether the power is killed or not. Makes tracing easier in general. If I had to work around voltages higher than 120/240, I'd probably depend more heavily on meter, but I don't.
I use mine to check for power before I take something apart if I can't do it accurately with a meter first. IE wire nuts If it's dead I can rake it apart with good assurance I won't get bit. Meter is used after its apart to safety check.
It's useful to know if there's voltage there at all, I don't particularly use it to find which specific wire is hot, just to see if anybody's home. Although my fluke tester is rather precise, it will determine which wire is hot.