Screwdriver with neon electricity tester

[brass monkey]

Priceless. :D

[Bill Wright]

It's foresight you need, not eyesight.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

In practice I find that it is possible to work without sticking a wire through a glove, just as you might expect to work without a wire penetrating your skin were you not wearing gloves.

I think we can assume a reasonable level of manual dexterity here.

Bill

[F Murtz]

Could you please point to the law that says that it is illegal to use them at a place of work?

[Bob Eager]

Months.

[A.Lee]

Just in case you are really thick, and not trolling, a 30 A fuse will not break at 31 amps. John is completely right when he says 450A will pass through you.

Alan.

[John Williamson]

That 450 Amps (roughly, give or take a factor of ten), depending on the impedances involved, will pass through the short, not through the person. What will pass through the person will be the molten metal from the copper cores, and maybe enough leakage current to *really* spoil their life.

The resistance through the human body with intact, dry skin will limit the current through it to an amp or so maximum, much less if your shoes have rubber soles, and your feet are the only part of you touching an earth, although not many milliamps can be enough to kill you.

[A.Lee]

Well yes, I should have said "will pass".

Around 1000 ohms iirc. Low enough to kill by heart attack, and, of course,it'll be far lower if you are touching an earthed object when you touch the live conductor.

[Mike Clarke]

And has been shortlisted for a Darwin Award ?

[Lieutenant Scott]

Nonsense, I'm simply asking relevant questions.

[Lieutenant Scott]

I was explaining why there isn't a massive explosion which blows your head off.

[Lieutenant Scott]

There is nothing untruthful about it.

[Lieutenant Scott]

Well it's never caused me a problem using one of those screwdrivers.

[Lieutenant Scott]

I've pierced my skin with wire more often than I've had an electric shock.

[Lieutenant Scott]

I wasn't aware there was one, ask the guy that wrote the wiki I was quoting.

[BartC]

OK. So touching a live wire to neutral or earth is a perfectly valid way of checking that the wire is in fact live?

And it is also completely safe with no risk whatsoever to life or limb (or being blinded by molten bits of copper flying into your eyes)?

How about just shorting with the end of a screwdriver instead? That won't damage the screwdriver will it?

BTW how will you know whether that wire had been live or not? Will there be a spark (like you get when you short a couple of AA cells), or will the wires just stick?

One problem with this is that the test is just a one-off; the live feed might be dead, but someone could turn on the supply while you're working. I prefer something like a nearby lamp plugged into the same supply.

[Lieutenant Scott]

See, haven't electrocuted myself yet.

[Lieutenant Scott]

I know, and I never disputed that fact.

[Lieutenant Scott]

But usually it doesn't. I've had around 10 shocks off mains voltages.

[Lieutenant Scott]

Stop showing yourself up as a gutless wimp who never takes risks. Life must be so boring for you.