Volt sticks+

I have a Kewstick Uno, I know it won't detect live SWA buy you wouldn't expect it to, it does detect T&E under galvanised capping, I don't recall ever having wrong reading from it, it does give a brief flicker from the LED when you tap the end onto something (don't know if all makes do that?)

They sell a Duo version which seems to have a high/low sensitivity

Well I quite like my fluke, but I have not tried the others, so can't really give you a comparison.

In this case even fluke prices are not that steep - normally £20 - £25 ish.

Di-Log do some at about £15 that are probably ok as well (they are what TLC sell). Note sure I would chance the £2.50 duratool offering from CPC though!

newshound presented the following explanation :

I would still pay the extra and get a Fluke..

If you had one of the Fluke SM300 socket testers that got recalled, and took the option of replacing it with a Fluke T110 tester, those are now also being recalled ...

Agreed, but I think my previous ones were only a fiver or so. Trouble is, I could do with one for my general toolbox, another for the small lightweight electrics one, another for the desk drawer, another to hang next to the consumer unit.

But thanks all for the comments, will order a Fluke or maybe the fancy Kew while I muse further.

I think one of my others is a Kew, no doubt it will turn up now.

Andy Burns submitted this idea :

I don't have either, but thanks..

Fark, pity about the price.

I have one of these (Fluke)

It is nice because of the pen light built in - bright and clear.

Do be aware that volt sticks are just as bad as neons in that you shouldn't trust your life to them (in fact I'd trust a recently proved neon tester more).

The most solid tester is a "proving lamp" - fancy word for an incandescent lamp tester - and these should be proved before and after on a known live source.

On a side note - if anyone is trying to *accurately* locate cables behind plasterboard, I have a magnetic tester that has proven most useful. You need to load the circuit under test, but it is fairly immude from stray field readings unless you're unlucky enough to have a bit of iron capping or plasterboard edging in the area.

That's what I thought when I got one until the push switch in the cap intermittently stopped working. Fluke weren't interested in supplying a new cap.

A while after that the main body started to crumble away round the cap.

I replaced it with a LAP one from Screwfix about 3 years ago and have had no problems with that.

Very true, but you do need exposed conductor for this. Actually I tend to use a DVM at that stage.

The Kewstick Duo is quite nice: it flashes green when swiched on and off, confirming that you have a battery and making it less likely to be put away swiched on. And it switches itself off after 3 minutes, and it gives you a red + green light for low battery.

I havn't tried the dual sensitivity yet.

Totally agree about checking on another live first of course, but that is easier to do than for a neon screwdriver.

I got this last week but have not tried it out yet.

When I do use it I'll report back.

I have this one

It certainly outperforms the cheaper brands.

The proving units for volt sticks seem stupidly expensive, I presume there's no advantage to using them compared to a known live circuit?

Ooh a tone tracer - let us know if it works :)

(Especially through plasterboard)

None. I presume they are convenient on building sites where all the installed power is off

At that price I'm a bit surprised it doesn't have the means to swap the lead with croc clips on the transmitter for a lead terminating in a plug that can go straight into any 13A socket that's not getting power. The more so when it's the "Socket & See" brand!