How To Use a Voltage Tester | Ask This Old House

Like it alot!!! Great Info about Reverse Polarity

Why didn't thre second guy do the video? He seems to know more about the testers and has been terrified by them.

I use an Simpson 260😁

What’s that cute lil thing called?

This Video is so informative Thank you very much for it!

I could not grasp the reversed polarity how to read it or less to correct the problem wiring it at all. Way too fast for me when you’re not an electrician by trade.

The small contact tester link opens up to a vehicle tester, not the one shown

Is he poking those probes in both slots of the recepticle or just one?

Great video!!!!

WooooooooW😳thanks for this vid. I wasn’t 100% confident in knowing if I wired my new smart dimmers and gfci(s) correctly so I was “oh well, they work and I’m tired now so forget it”🤷🏼‍♂️but after seeing this vid and learning the warnings and potential dangers, I’m redoing all of them tonight so I can feel 100% sure and have a piece of mind!! Wheeew! Thx

Good explanation, I have a professional Fluke multimeter, overkill for an average home owner. I use it for auto mechanics.

I love that he plays dumb on our behalf. All the questions get answered and it makes for a perfect video. Thanks.

1 multi-meter or 3 specialized items... ya I'll keep my multi-meter

Always love learning things
And this was a problem I had
Thanks so much

He never show the multimeter how to do the reading in those outlets?

Receptacle testers - You have to be careful about the tester saying the ground is good. People that don't care about safety will put a short piece of wire connecting the ground screw to the neutral screw. If wiring in the house doesn't up to code a lot, then I would also take the cover off and look at the screws to be safe.

I have a problem of opening the cover to put the battery in

How many people's live would be saved from this video?

Ah, more confused then before,🤣

Awsum Video

If you're never going to trust a NCV tester then why use it? Why not just use the tool you trust?

Ya'll have the BEST explanatory and professional videos. Keep up the good work (of course always Liked & Subscribed) John 3:16

There is another mistake TOH, it is not reverse polarity. In ac circuits, your polarity is reversing 60 times a second meaning one side is negative and then 1/60 of a second later the same side is positive hence AC current.
The fault is the fact that ground is always the white wire and what has happened, you are now grounding the black wire. I'm not going into the simple facts of the grounding in three pronged devices because it will just confuse you and the electrician.
Just as a reminder follow the color codes in 240 v split phase ac and remember the polarity reverses by itself every 1/60 seconds. You should do better research.

I think a 6 minute video is enough to start testing electrical wiring. 220 volts is fun to play with two hots. But you watched this video.

You guys are awesome .

Interesting. Very mutch so. Great content yall

Can you do one when is open ground pls

He didn’t say if the red/black matters in terms of where u put them (or for something other than a socket)…?

What happens if you want to test the wires connected to a light fitting?

Helpful vid. Thanks TOH.

An excellent, excellent video!
Thank you!

this show is simply great.

excellent communication between the two and great information and questions asked. great video and interaction

This was very informative. Thank you

Extremely important information. I think every homeowner should watch this video. Even if you don’t mess with electrical current. You should always RESPECT ELECTRICITY.

Great information and comments. The 3 prong GFCI tester is definitely a good one to have. There is a new version out that also has an LCD screen that actually gives you a voltage readout on the screen that comes in handy. I believe it is made by Klein….

Which prong goes what side

Going to sign the paperwork for my first house which is an older house. This is invaluable information, thank you.

thanks, I don't trust the wiring in my house

Please help me out I have nowhere to turn. My electricity was shut off because of Bill issues. I brought a homeless man over to my house to make me a solar car powered battery charger. Because I charge all my devices through my car. My car doesn't drive but it starts up and I just put gas in it as needed and that idle to charge my devices through the cigarette lighter and through the car battery attachment clips. So back to the homeless guy. I left him alone at my house and then come back home and he's got four doors blocking the electric panel to make like a little closet. I said what are you doing and he switches a switch on the electrical panel and my power is on. Somehow he turned my power on on his own. I didn't ask him to do it and I didn't want him to do that. And I look in the power meter and such and there's like stuff on the ground that he cut and did s*** too pieces of stuff. I don't know what he did but only like half the power is on in the house. A month later a tweaker girlfriend of mine brought a dude over to my house said he can fix that. Soon as he walks in my house the lights start dimming like a seance. He said that's dangerous. So anyways they leave and I leave I come home all the electricity light poles on the whole block are off. And I look at my electric meter and circuit breaker box on the outside of the house and looks like he removed a couple circuit breakers from the top part. Plus don't forget all the light poles in the whole block are out and I was scared that maybe he did something bad to my house and I left and for the whole night cuz I pray the police are going to come. I ended up gambling all my money away at a local AMPM convenience store that has slot machines. I come back home in the morning I'm afraid to touch my electrical panel but I opened it up anyways. I don't know what it is it's all Chinese to me. That night the lights are back on the street but I have no power. Two days later I see on the news that this guy gets arrested for stealing copper wire from cellular towers and light poles all throughout the county. He had 300 transactions in 2 months at the couple different scrap metal yards in Nevada. Then I look online and I see that there's a lot of silver in the circuit breakers. I can't call the electric company. I don't have any money for a electrician I'm in 110° heat at my house and I have no water and no electricity and no air conditioning. I'm spending $8 a day on ice cubes just to cool my dairy products and meat in an ice chest. That's more money than be spending on electricity. Give me some clues of what's going on please thank you my dad died and this was his house and he was in the hospital for 10 months before he died and then covid happened and they have the moratorium I'm shutting off the electricity. So they finally shut it off. I moved in I had the electricity put in my name. My first electric bill was $3,230. They put his entire back Bill onto my first month's bill. So I wasn't really that pissed at the homeless guy turned back on my electricity because they wronged me in the first place. My bill should have been $30 not $3,230. Now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place and catch 22

There are also screwdrivers which have a neon lamp in the handle.

I know that this is off subject but I can't help commenting about how MUCH Kevin looks like 1940's actor Van Johnson! I mean he could be his twin. Check it out!

👍

Jesus loves you

If you have two prongs, get an electrician to add ground wires or a GFCI. You might save yourself a nasty shock.

How does this work for light switches?

always must have tools when dealing with ac dc power

Great point
Thanks

It’s also a fire issue. Fuses are also placed on the hot side. If it is reversed an internal fuse cannot clear a fault condition.

Theoretically the breaker should catch it, except if the short is a low current short exceeding the capacity for internal components it may not exceed the breaker capacity so the fault will continue until unplugged or the breaker is flipped.