Watching a guy in Phoenix get zapped by a backfed circuit made me stop using my non-contact tester as a final check.

Now I always verify with a meter, even if the pen says it's dead, because that incident showed me the hard way that induced voltage can lie.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_holly4d ago

Honestly that seems like overkill for most basic work. Non-contact testers are fine for a quick check before you touch something, they're not meant to be lab equipment. If you're working on a known dead circuit after flipping the breaker, the pen is a solid second step. The Phoenix case sounds like a weird edge situation with messed up wiring. For everyday outlet swaps or light fixtures, trusting the pen plus the breaker being off is totally safe. Carrying a meter for every single job just slows you down.

paige864d ago

Trusting the pen is how you get bit.

blakem374d ago

But how often does that actually happen outside of a training video? The_holly has a point about it being overkill for simple jobs.