[growshopfrank]

Every grow room should have one around cheap easy to use and can save your life
https://www.amazon.com/Gardner-GVD-35.../dp/B00004WLKP

[Dirty Harry]

They are nice but be careful with them. I have a different type and it will only light when held on the hot side of a wire. Move it to the other side, no light. If you use one, rub it all over the wire.

For testing an outlet, I prefer a three-prong unit. Might as well get one that also tests GFCI.

[Horsemanrocks]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry

They are nice but be careful with them. I have a different type and it will only light when held on the hot side of a wire. Move it to the other side, no light. If you use one, rub it all over the wire.

What you have is a voltage tester....once you realize that the voltage drops (goes away) across the resistance (the device that uses it) you see that the voltage can only show up on the supply side....in most cases the black wire.

I use the TIF 100...it's so sensitive that because of inductance it can give what appears to be a false positive (reading very small induced voltages) Most importantly it has never given me a false negative.

HMR

[Weezard]

I can just"sort of" tell if a circuit is hot.
It's a tingly kine feeling with AC and a "pressure" with DC but I never rely on that.
(It's a very subtle thing and seems to vary with the RH.)

For anything over 90V., I like the small screwdrivers with the tiny neon lamps inside.
Always seem to have a screwdriver in my hand anyway and I just touch-test any suspect conductor with it before I get to groping.

Cheap n simple.

Weeze.

[Horsemanrocks]

The Weezard is a highly accomplished electrician....he know what he can get away with.
If you're not sure what a circuits potential is....err on the side of caution.

Good see'n ya Weeze....just reached the big 50....I feel so old.
HMR

[Electrician]

"Hot Sticks" are well they are what they are. I've been electrocuted multiple times because my "hotstick didn't do it's job. When in doubt use your Multi Meter. I don't even carry a "hot stick" in my bags anymore. Just my .02

[Catchin1]

Originally Posted by Electrician

"Hot Sticks" are well they are what they are. I've been electrocuted multiple times because my "hotstick didn't do it's job. When in doubt use your Multi Meter. I don't even carry a "hot stick" in my bags anymore. Just my .02

that sir is because you are a professional the others are amatuers.
it is like daddy with his big hammer and the little boy with his plastic one.
I have been a master electrician since 2002. When I had my company before I sold them........if you worked for me and I caught you with one, I would slap it out of your hand...........this is precisely what they make a "wiggy", a voltage tester or multimeter for. Better to have your little hand smacked then have it blown off because your piece of shit voltage beeper did not go off.
You have got to have the right tools to do the job or you are just spinning your wheels.

[rives]

Something that might bear mentioning here is to test your tester on a known hot circuit before using it on something that you are going to work on. About 25 years ago, Knopp went through a bunch of bad leads that would break at the top of the probe where the leads folded when the probes were stored. A little 480 volt education tends to stick with you!