"stretch" wrote in message
oups.com...
He said it lit a compact flourescent bulb also. That does not sound
like a meter problem or induced voltage. The floating ground sounds
more likely.

Stretch

It takes about 70 volts to set off the neon bulb testers. It also takes
almost no current for them. Induced voltage will very easy light them up.
I use the testers almost every day at work in a large plant. I have seen
the tester light up, read about 100 volts on a Fluke digital meter and
about 20 volts on the good old Simpson 260 analog meter . While I don't
think it will really hirt you, I can tell you that it will make you hirt
yourself, especially if you are hot and sweaty.

If a nutral is loose and feeding back on it, you can get almost the full
voltage and almost the full current of the circuit it is connected to.