Non contact voltage tester?

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I bought a klein ncvt-3 a year or so ago and its been ok. I like that its got audible signal as well as visual and a flashlight in one. I don't need audible or flashlight but it's nice. It's been giving me troubles if I bump it, it will falsely beep. The flashlight also turns off. Battery change doesn't resolve it. What are some reliable and good testers? 120,240 and I also like low voltage for door bells and such.

 

[rlitman]

All non-contact voltage testers will give off a false alert when bumped. That's inherent in the technology.

 

[Fixed]

Yeah, my Kline one does the same thing

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[ecotec]

All non-contact voltage testers will give off a false alert when bumped. That's inherent in the technology.

That is called "potential".

 

[ecotec]

I prefer Fluke and Santronics.

 

[larry_g]

That 'false' beep is a feature, it tells you the battery is working. You must then check it against a known circuit to confirm that it will read in the presence of voltage. Only then can you trust your safety to it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[nh_yota]

Just remember that you can't rely on a NCVT tester for accuracy. They should only be used as a first level test or when you're not going to get shocked when it's wrong.

 

[speedfreek1210]

I've never gotten more than about a year out of a NCVT. Flukes included.


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[6PTsocket]

That 'false' beep is a feature, it tells you the battery is working. You must then check it against a known circuit to confirm that it will read in the presence of voltage. Only then can you trust your safety to it.

lg
no neat sig line

That's what they said in our safety lecture.

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[bonneyman]

I picked up one of the GB's for a buck at a pawn shop. Seems to work as advertised.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NBA8F8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Ilikeike]

I have a few "pen" style ones laying around fluke,klien,greenlee.., I don't use them much,but the best I have is the Greenlee 2010 I've had for at least a decade, adjustable sensitivity,it works very well.

https://www.zoro.com/greenlee-voltage-detector-24-to-1000vac-11-in-l-2010/i/G1291631/?gclid=CJ_ItZ3F1NICFUS2wAodBP4FqQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

I normally just grab a normal touch style tester.

Just here at my desk at work

I even still use my old knopp,I have too many laying around.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Who do you think makes a better NCVT. Klein, Santronics or Fluke?

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Fluke 2AC or the Santronics 3000 are the two i'm currently looking at. I'm leaning towards the fluke as i've read reviews of the santronics audible alert not functioning out of the package.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

And would i really benefit with the NCVT-3 which reads down to 12v? What would be down at 12v? I would think anything in a house uses a transformer to run down the voltage from 120v so would i benefit from the NCVT-3 or would the Fluke 2AC be fine?

 

[rick carpenter]

I recently bought a Sperry VD6505 voltage detector. The 6505 works when you push the oblong black button, so no on-off switch. I can dial it down to find by touch the hot wire in a power cord or dial it up to find 'something' hot a few inches away.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I ordered:

- http://en-us.fluke.com/products/electrical-testers/fluke-1ac-ii-a1-electrical-tester.html

and

- http://www.kleintools.com/catalog/combo-tip/11-1-combo-screw-tips

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Hopefully that Fluke works for you. That's the one I have and I don't like it because it isn't sensitive enough and there's no way to adjust the sensitivity. I have to place the tip of mine on the side of a power cord that has the internal hot wire for it to light up reliably and it often won't light up at all if I stick the tip into the hot pin of a outlet that I know is turned on. The tip pretty much has to be touching a hot wire directly for it to give accurate results, but that is often not possible. Mine could have just been a bad one that was built outside of spec, but you might want to be careful opening the packaging just in case yours works like mine and you have to return it.



I remember the GJ thread a few months ago where you decided to buy the Sperry VD6505 Rick. How has it been working out for you? Have you found it to have any quirks, and is the sensitivity adjustment proving to be robust and reliable?

I ended up canceling the NCVT because of your recommendation and the fact that i don't always want to have to stick it completely in an outlet. I actually took another look at my NCVT-3 and pulled both springs out in the cap a bit because i was thinking that the batteries were pushing back on the cap spring and losing connectivity at the bottom of the tester and sure enough, that's what it was. I was able to make it disconnect every time until i pulled the springs out, so i guess problem solved and i saved myself 25$ on a new tester. I actually like the sensitivity of this one, if i could find a smaller one with the same sensitivity i didn't have to adjust, i'd be all over it.

 

[rick carpenter]

I remember the GJ thread a few months ago where you decided to buy the Sperry VD6505 Rick. How has it been working out for you? Have you found it to have any quirks, and is the sensitivity adjustment proving to be robust and reliable?

I haven't put it to real use just yet, no projects around the house. But I've played around with it and do like the adjustable sensitivity. I can swipe it close to an outlet to see if it's hot, and then adjust it to find the hot wire. I can locate hot wiring behind resi drywall if it's close enough to the drywall, but if the wire is too far back in the cavity I'll lose it. But at least I can tell which way the wiring goes immediately from the switch/outlet then make educated guesses about the run before I go into balls out demo mode. I expect to use it plenty when we start rebuilding flooded homes around here and when we go demo flooded homes in LA early June.

I did make a little belt pouch for it to keep it from getting all banged around in a toolbag.