ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area electrical safety

A very good tester is one called “Modiewark” used by line crews extensively. Made in Australia. Used for <230kV but can be tested on a 120V circuit.

heh!
"Human Wiggys......sounds like a good promo for those wierd tv shows lately....


btw,
were any here shown 'backhanding' as i was?

the theory being any potential applied to the back of the hand would cause musclar contraction forward....

I have a Greenlee "pen" type tester. Blinks red and chirps when near AC. Problem is, it will blink and chirp just by touching it sometimes -- to the point where it can be distracting with such "false hits." It does have a slotted end that can be inserted into a receptacle, though. Other than the false hits, it has helped confirm suspicions on a few occasions where "Creative Wiring 101" must have been the order of the day. (I have seen the very same model, 1110, sold at Home Depot. They keep them locked in the display with the Klein tools, etc.)

As to a Human Wiggy, the WORST is when one didn't set out to test the circuit. The SURPRISE! is sometimes worse than the "zing."

I saw a guy up on a ladder upgrading a service who brushed his elbow against some strands of the entry cable while he was working on it. I think he was more embarassed than anything else -- he let out quite a few "choice words."

Also saw the old "short it with the lineman's pliers" method of determining which breaker serves the circuit. I prefer using a "chirper" -- much less dramatic and quite a bit more safe ;-)

Not recommended where said breakers are Federal Pacific, I assume.

If there is no neutral present, I use one of those screwdrivers with a resistor and a light in it, the ones Sven mentioned. Otherwise I use an indicator with 2 probes and 2 LEDs indicating DC, AC and DC polarity or a DMM.
My dad uses the "human wiggy" way with standard european wires (= 230V to ground).