Re: Neon Tester Screwdrivers
Neon screwdrivers are at least vulnerable to damage and notably unreliable, therefore probably 'not the best option' for testing anything. I agree that non-contact (capacitively coupled) indicators are very useful and would not be without mine, but they too need proving every time. If nothing else, I rub the tip of my voltstick against my shirt sleeve to use triboelectricity to activate it.
In the electrical industry it is common knowledge that only a GS38-compliant voltage indicator should be used to prove a circuit dead. So much so, that electricians decry all other forms of testing and insist that volt-sticks and their ilk are a menace and should be binned. However, a GS38 indicator will not warn that both legs of a circuit are live w.r.t. true earth (only that they are different in potential) or tell anything about a cable mid-span where no connections are accessible. Therefore I use both types of tester in combination, requiring a negative response from both before proceeding.
Having thus gained a considerable amount of experience of the response pattern of the volt-stick, and being able to trace potential gradients to a high degree of spatial precision with it (to the extent of being able to find an incorrect core assignment in a 19-core circular flex without opening the connectors,) I find no further use for neon screwdrivers and do not expect to use one again.
|