On Apr 9, 12:25*am, Owain wrote:
Pete Verdon wrote:
How are they supposed to work?
They are too likely to fail dangerous and hurt somebody, and too likely
to give a false positive or negative, that they are completely unsuited
to the tast and not fit for purpose. A proper electrical tester is much
better.

I've never seen or heard of one that has failed dangerously (at least
not where it's not obvious - snapped in two).

Always test the tester against a known voltage, then test the unknown
wire, then test the tester again, to be certain you aren't getting a
false reading.

But isn't this the same process one should always follow when using an
electrical test screwdriver? So what's the difference? Much easier to
get a false reading from a meter anyway - dodgy leads, low battery,
wrong setting etc.

Jon.