Indicator screwdrivers and voltage indicators

I would like to learn more about Chinese indicators made in Germany or vice versa?

Dear Oleg. I will try to answer your question using the MS-18 indicator as an example. This indicator is intended for professional use in electrics. The device should be used at temperatures from -10 to + 50 and a frequency from 50 to 500 Hz. Technical characteristics - 1- Determination of alternating voltage by contact method 70-250V 2- Determination of alternating voltage by non-contact method 70-600V 3- Determination of direct voltage up to 250V 4- Determination of polarity 1,5-36V 5- Checking circuit integrity 0-5MOhm 6- Definition microwave radiation from 5mW / cm. But all this will be observed if the device is original. And if Chinese then it will react in general to everything that moves.

The main remedy by the way!

IMHO. I have a pretty positive opinion about Chinese two-terminal devices. I have two, I use the truth infrequently. From a security point of view, of course, there are a lot of questions (you can’t compare them with PINs). Graduation from 6 to 380, with tips, cliffs "do not lie." Mostly I prefer a multimeter. Having a PIN in your pocket is a waste of space. The most useless thing. Only guaranteed headache, and optional reflections.

I would like to note that many Chinese voltage indicators are not safe, namely: in electrical installations over 400 V up to 1000 - they often pierce, are too sensitive to pickups - which is often misleading, not the high-quality performance of the case. In my opinion, it is better to use a cheap Chinese multimeter than a Chinese voltage indicator ......

I have a voltage indicator that glows simply because a finger is attached to it when there is no voltage at all.

Igor Zakharov ...
PIN is not superfluous in your pocket and often shows what the multimeter will not show!
If I do not carry the tester with me every day, then the PIN, like the ballpoint pen, is always with me!
Believe me, I do not work as an electrician, but the group is constantly being extended, because this is part of my job description. In general, in the 6th group, I once performed work both on weakness and with high frequency, I am friends!

Konstantin,
I apologize, but where did you work on group 6 (and what kind of group)?

Thank you for the information, but I personally have all of the above pointers at home!

The voltage indicator is an irreplaceable thing, but not the Chinese one that glows from any touch, but ours, ordinary, with a neon lamp.
HAPPINESS is one word. No need to separate it, otherwise it is unclear WHAT is a "touch" ...

For all emergency and installation work on the 220/380 V network, I use 2 devices: 1. Sound indicator iEK OP-2E 2. A probe of two light minion 15 W (from the refrigerator). I close one of them with a miniature keyboard switch. Two wires from it with tips go into the hole of the shampoo bottle into which the probe is placed (protection against falling and breaking the glass when mistakenly turned on. Most of the work requires not quantitative, but qualitative measurement: that is, the presence of voltage 220 or 380 V, the integrity of the wires. And accurate measurements, which are much less common, are performed with a digital multimeter. I can detect the presence of voltages of up to 0.4 kV by touching the open current-carrying parts. In this case, my experience allows me to distinguish between 220 V and the ground wire (on the red light). On the green light in the "L" or "H" position, by touching an insulated wire (unpainted conductors AVVG, KG, old VVG) I can find a 220 V core, a grounded wire, and ungrounded (for nothing You can ring the bulbs in the store, unlabeled wires in the shield, the integrity of the winding of the electric motor, generator, polarity of the car battery ... I use a probe to determine the voltage 220 or 380 V. First, touch the two wires when the switch is off. If the light bulbs burn in the wire, between the wires 220 V, if the full glow is 380 V. In some cases, the probe serves as a light bulb. I check the serviceability of the counters with a probe. When the switch is off, the total power of the bulbs is 7.5 W (15/2 = 7.5). When the switch is on, the probe power is 15 W (15 + 0 = 15). Proper use of these two devices allowed me to work safely in networks for more than 20 years.

I am a professional electrician. Before retiring, he worked as an electrician in Lvovoblenergo, and now he is a private electrician, I work on calls. So, I do not know a single electrician who determines the voltage "to the touch." However, PIN indicators have not been seen by anyone for a long time. In Lvovoblenergo they use various bipolar electronic indicators with sound and light indication (on LEDs). There was a time when single-pole indicators with a neon bulb were prohibited, but then the ban was lifted. So now I have 4 devices in my bag: A single-pole indicator with a neon, a Chinese indicator with a LED, a two-pole electronic sound and light indicator and a combined clamp meter - a multimeter. Moreover, each of the listed devices has its own purpose. In particular, the Chinese indicator with an LED turned out to be very useful for contactless determination of the presence of voltage on the wire, and, sometimes, with a shallow occurrence of hidden wiring, you can even determine the trace of this wiring. At the same time, with a single-pole indicator with a neon, I determine the presence or absence of phase voltage, but only until I'm going to get into it with my hands. If there is a need to carry out work when the current-carrying conductors or terminals are in contact with the hands, be sure to check the absence of voltage with a two-pole indicator.

By the way, Yuri Nikolaevich, your sampler on bulbs from the refrigerator may be good, but it’s not safe, because you can just forget that one of the lamps was shorted with a switch and you’ll get to 380 V.And even if you put the lamp in a plastic bottle, and you are not threatened with glass fragments, but still your probe will fail at the very height of work, and you will have to really finish the work by touch. Therefore, when choosing an indicator device, you must completely exclude the human factor.

Victor, if your indicator is with batteries, then when you touch the probe with one finger and the other end of the indicator, you simply ring the integrity of the circuit (your own body). To check the voltage with such an indicator, hold it only by the housing, and touch the tested conductor with a probe (sting).

Thanks for the site, I learned a lot of useful things for myself. Very informative!

To all of the above. On the first working day, the master strictly told me that, - before you touch your hands, tools, touch the indicator, and more than 1000c, be sure! I follow this rule for more than 20 years.

I had a Chinese indicator screwdriver. I noticed that he doesn’t show something, although he must ... I check - but it does not function at a voltage of ~ 220V at all. I disassemble, there the Resistor in the form of a column of more than 3Mom and a glass neon with rusty (soldered wiring). Neon and with a 1.5 MΩ resistor does not shine.

Explain, please! I can’t understand the principle of operation of unipolar pointers, as well as bipolar pointers in principle! What is meant by capacitive current and active! For what purpose do resistors serve in them?

"Your refrigerator light bulb probe might be good ..."
He is very good, because Thanks to the lamps used as indicators, it is the only one of all the mentioned probes that indicates the voltage under load!
What is a single-pole indicator, what is a two-pole indicator, that a multimeter is easily misleading, but rather, they are deceiving!
He repaired the socket, they say that it doesn’t work .. The phase indicator, two-pole indicator, and a multimeter for 10 thousand rubles from a well-known manufacturer showed the presence of a voltage of 220 volts. And we connect the bra- does not work! And only a similar indicator with an incandescent lamp showed that there is no voltage! The voltage falsely indicated by other "devices" passed through the threads of the chandelier bulbs and there was an imitation of the presence of voltage in the outlet.
This indicator is the only one that shows the presence of voltage under load, and electricians with experience only use them.