Volt stick - do you use them?

[zsoltimatrix]

Hi guys,

I found volt sticks to be very handy but quite unrealible as well.

What do you think about them?

 

[Jimmy Boy]

Open bin lid

Insert Volt stick

Close bin lid

 

[danzor]

Use it, but don't rely on it! I check with leads just to make sure!

 

[UNG]

As with all test equipment check it on a known supply when you use it

 

[mogga]

they have their place like checking for power without having to open FCUs ect also great for "Counting" on PIRs but as said unreliable Allways use proven indicator

 

[High Tower]

Always use my T5 to test for dead. However..........

Volt sticks are brilliant for testing for live, fault finding, tracing circuits and finding dropped neutrals

I wouldn't be without one but would never use one for isolation

Never buy cheap ones always buy quality such as fluke

 

[Smugley]

As said above, great for fault finding, identification etc, but only ever use to check the presence of voltage - NEVER to confirm the absence of voltage! I've got two - a Fluke and a Testmate. The Testmate seems more sensitive than the Fluke so I use it all the time.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Use mine for things like functional testing on lighting circuits if there are no lamps fitted, otherwise its out with the multimeter or whatever.

 

[davelerave]

ya-use them everyday

 

[Adam W]

I find they're great for checking for live cables without splitting them open to put probes on.
They're not meant to replace the proper safe isolation procedure.

 

[Guest123]

I have the Fluke one.....very handy in the correct situation.

 

[sparkie]

haha, i learnt the hard way.. had my new combi cutters all of an hour before they had a third stripping notch.

 

[TPES]

I use fluke volt stick, In my pocket all day everyday, it's alot more accurate than others, about the only decent thing fluke have made.

I have tried megger volt stick but that is unreliable, you can rub a megger volt stick fast and it will glow up.

A fluke volt stick has to actually switched on.

I use it alot

 

[High Tower]

Ah has anyone seen the new volt stick by fluke has a built in led torch and glows red when it finds a phase clever bit is it glows blue when it finds a neutral. I'll post a pic when I get chance

 

[lewlec]

Ah has anyone seen the new volt stick by fluke has a built in led torch and glows red when it finds a phase clever bit is it glows blue when it finds a neutral. I'll post a pic when I get chance

hi


aye..... got one of them, handy little thing.

regarsds
gary

 

[Adam W]

This one?
What happens if you find a live t&e? Does it glow purple?

 

[ringer]

Ah has anyone seen the new volt stick by fluke has a built in led torch and glows red when it finds a phase clever bit is it glows blue when it finds a neutral. I'll post a pic when I get chance

yeah - very funny. And you forgot to add that it also glows green when detecting earth leakage

LDV2 Volt Light

It actually turns blue when about 1-5 inches from a voltage source, then red when less than an inch away.

 

[High Tower]

yeah - very funny. And you forgot to add that it also glows green when detecting earth leakage

LDV2 Volt Light

It actually turns blue when about 1-5 inches from a voltage source, then red when less than an inch away.

Oh feck

I really should start reading instructions

By default it does do what I said it obviously isn't what it was designed to do lol

 

[mogga]

lol u gettin all excited there hightower

 

[High Tower]

Yea lol

Took out of packet all excited, tested on set of meter tails, phase lights up red neutral lights up blue

How pleased was I, instructions straight in the bin unread.

Dooh!

 

[ringer]

High Tower, with harmonised colours, they ought to have made it brown for live, not red, don't you think?

Now if someone really could make that work .... (runs off to make a filing at the patents office) ....

 

[mayfair]

Use it daily .......trust it for live testing NO WAY JOSE great to hang of a ceiling rose when you have 20 unmarked mcb's

 

[lemau]

hye everyone ...my suggestion,you don't use the VOLT STICK...it not accurate and sometime make we confius about voltage detection...for smart job i suggest you use the ultimate and simple instrument a multimeter....it can tell we the actual voltage reading This device never let me down

 

[robsparky1975]

I have my fluke voltstick,very handy at times,would not use a multimeter though,have you seen the size of the prongs!!!!!!!!!not fused and deffo not gs38 tips a recipe for disaster

 

[High Tower]

hye everyone ...my suggestion,you don't use the VOLT STICK...it not accurate and sometime make we confius about voltage detection...for smart job i suggest you use the ultimate and simple instrument a multimeter....it can tell we the actual voltage reading This device never let me down

My suggestion is you use spell check

So what you are saying is that to test a solid cable for the presence of voltage you would isolate, split cable, re energise, test and then JB the cable......... Great idea I'll just continue using my volt stick

 

[robsparky1975]

If they are used for the job they are intended to do,they are a good tool

 

[thebassman]

Hi There

Never trust them, all the ones i have tried if you rub the tip on your overalls it lights up!!!!!!!! A electrician who works for a local company used one to check that swa cables that were cut down a manhole were dead he used one and said cable was dead..............Labourer went down manhole and was almost killed cables were still live.
Our Select inspector said they should not be used all testing should be done with 2 probe device and a proving unit.

Danny

 

[Sintra]

The moral of the volt stick is never use to prove dead that's madness.

 

[High Tower]

The moral of the volt stick is never use to prove dead that's madness.

Couldn't agree more and that has been re-illiterated time and again int the posts, but they have so many other uses

 

[Mark_Burgess]

Hmm, use my Fluke T140 to filter through the bunch of wires at the terminals to find the only one that is live, or volt stick to find it fast and verify with the T140 after?

VOLT STICK every day!!

 

[Guest123]

Hi There

Never trust them, all the ones i have tried if you rub the tip on your overalls it lights up!!!!!!!! A electrician who works for a local company used one to check that swa cables that were cut down a manhole were dead he used one and said cable was dead..............Labourer went down manhole and was almost killed cables were still live.
Our Select inspector said they should not be used all testing should be done with 2 probe device and a proving unit.

Danny

That spark is obviously a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic......thats just not what they're for.

 

[lobsterbob]

I use them every day. I find it a good quick check but WOULD confirm before snipping/making off/disconnecting ect. I have found that the voltstick doesn't always pick up the voltage the first time so I check several times in different places ect. But I always check with leads before doing any work.

 

[Gravid]

Used to use them, till getting a right shouting at for wasting about an hour trying to find where to isolate a dead cable that the volt stick showed as live. After that, no never, got a free Megger one from one of their " have you thought about getting into PAT testing nights" its never been out of my tool bag.

 

[davelerave]

Used to use them, till getting a right shouting at for wasting about an hour trying to find where to isolate a dead cable that the volt stick showed as live. After that, no never, got a free Megger one from one of their " have you thought about getting into PAT testing nights" its never been out of my tool bag.

ya- they'll give more false positives than false negatives

don't work through screens, armour

great for troubleshooting but they are not designed for SAFE ISOLATION

 

[Des 56]

They are ok for christmas trees, either as a present or to find a break

I find they are excellent as a first indication type tool
Broken extension leads,the presense of a supply,they are very handy

Get working on a open circuit lighting circuit and you can trace problems fairly easily
Using them as an indication rather than a tester,however,I would never handle any cable on the say so, of a little induced power

 

[nickblake]

my main use for them is for identifying circuits on a PIR , safer and better than the screw driver (item that i have pleasure in introducing to a sledge hammer ) as has been said they should never be used for acurate identification ,this should only be done using a set of test prods and proving unit ,