Red LCD Screwdriver Mains Testing Item

[@alanjewell9550]

I have one of these, and it is very useful for detecting live voltage through insulation. I have had several, some better than others so quality is variable. The one I have in my box is a good one, and can easily detect which side of a cable the live is on, and useful in fault finding. However, I wouldn't trust it in direct contact with mains voltage given the small size of the SMD resistors of uncertain spec, the track spacings, and general construction - eg not potted to prevent moisture, dust etc getting in, which would render it extremely dangerous! And I would never rely on it as proof positive a wire isn't live! Also found it useful on 12v elecs in the car etc. I'm a power electronics engineer by the way. It is a concern with this kind of stuff is it's on sale to anyone...

[@albertofagnani5715]

In Italiano

[@sambrumby9958]

Had one of these for years, very useful finding blown bulbs in christmass tree lights.

Slightly better than poking your fingers in the socket.

[@AndyHullMcPenguin]

... only in the sense that you don't die the first time you poke your fingers in the socket, just at some random point in the future when damp has made its way into the thing. Think of it as Chinese roulette.. like Russian roulette, but with more sparks and slightly better odds.

[@NOWThatsRichy]

Hi John, these have been around for years, I got a similar one from a pound shop, got to be at least 15 years ago my one also has a small red LED or neon lamp that also lights to show mains voltage is present, the voltage Indicator is actually fairly accurate if you touch it on a car battery, just the 12v displays, touch it on a BT phone connection it will show the 55v display, but I just use it for tighting screws in small choc block terminals.

[@shaunphillips321]

The reason it was not reading correctly on the 2 core wire is because you holding the wire which makes interference .Hold the tester only to the cable

[@dashtesla]

I use these a lot for detecting leak current from unearthed or double insulated devices, you can see it with the lcd something i can't get done with my fluke that's got an led, (can also be done with a multimeter of course which is the proper way to do it as you're basically measuring voltage). Also earth induction loops.

[@SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers]

I've got one of those, except mine is written in olde English. They're brilliant, as long as you use it as I do. I've never taken it from the packet. Never used it. Never had an electric shock. Brilliant. 😊⚡

[@elonmask50]

Great device, it has two buttons because they had two holes.

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

What was that little black bit that fell off when you turned the Pcb round in your fingers? 9:43

[@pierreuntel1970]

It's impressive for how they could manufacture something like that and sell for $1

[@frank7353]

This thing sell for CNY¥4 shipped in China... (shipping is about CNY¥3 for those bulk sellers)

[@Xclub40X]

JW : no Mr James bond, that's not just a screwdriver, that's a screwdriver with an LCD display on it.

[@nutsnproud6932]

JW, did you know the CE marking on cheap Chinese stuff means "Caveat emptor", Latin term that means "let the buyer beware"?

[@joep041188]

I thought it was "Chinese Export"

[@JUANKERR2000]

Nuts n Proud. Alternatively 'Crap Electronics' :-)

[@REWYRED]

I thought it meant "Chinese Excrement".

[@jaksonpritt5920]

@Poor Poor it gives more options for buyers for when they want cheap and practical to suit every budget which is good last time I checked for instance a bought a air rifle English designed then built in China so and products fairly decent yeah an English made one for a bit more money will be smoother engineering and better materials etc but it works so what's the problem

[@edmundfisher4951]

Wilko have a £4 version in black, item number 0116444. It's basically the same, but not a bad screwdriver!

[@theonly5001]

The CE Symbol on that thing stands for China Exported. They deliberatly designed that Symbol in a way, that it gets confused with the proper CE Symbol. It basically just means, that that thing was produced in China. As Jonathan pointed out. That China Exported thing might be a myth. Anyway. That thing is crap.

[@mixerfistit5522]

It's more likely a myth. These kind of factories have no problem with putting fake marks on their products so I can't see why they wouldn't just put the CE mark on and claim it as genuine conformity. It's a wonder they'd not more people getting killed by some of the crap on ebay (and Amazon now)

[@braschilester]

Gracias por el video, consulta UD sabe por que un vehiculo este consumiendo la bateria del auto

[@noelj62]

This brings back memories, I've had one like this in the early 2000's.

[@noelj62]

@Mai Mariarti It broke down after few months. Now, I'm better educated on electrical safety thanks to the good people such as JW and bigclive.

[@justingough9790]

Great advice my local B&Q have these for £5. Found your review for advice would not buy and surprised they sell these !

[@Ironarcer]

Typical garbage from B&Q.

[@paulbracken4003]

The CE “mark” letters should meet if you flip the E around the other way, the CE lettering is too close & looks like it would overlap instead of the C & E meeting each other.

[@kylebishop6233]

Thanks for this John; One of these I had arrive in a cheap tool set i ordered. I did film a video on it but I lost the footage lol. Poor devices and really should not be used. Only tester to ever use is a two pole device. ;)

[@gedman9527]

Had one for years great little tool for trouble shooting

[@paulmorrey733]

Cheers John

[@dingwenxiao2242]

last several digits ended with V is the voltage. in your video, the voltage is 220v. The quality depends on how much you spends. If you go cheaper way, then it is the quality you get. At least, it works. If you spend more, you definitely will get some thing decent. Never expect you got high quality with very low cost, then say shit to the 5 cents stuff.

[@m4rckzer042]

Goodthing it doesnt need battery... pls review the ingco brand like this tester

[@6p1p]

i think when you test the main cord wire , your hand cant hold the wire, this will make your hand induce the same potential .. you can let the wire lay down and use your test pen to touch the wire skin . i think it should work.. To test DC battery like 12V ,36V ..etc the probe touch the positive , and finger press on direct and another hand touch the negative terminal. The highest voltage will be the reading voltage.. it only able to read 12V ,36V,55V, 110V , 220V , the highest voltage will be the reading voltage. I have one bought it from china, i still learning how to use it..

[@m.g.540]

I have one of these, now i know how it is used, thanks

[@xConundrumx]

Well they do have an overpopulation issue in China which might explain the low priority on personal safety.

[@Roflcopter4b]

They don't sell this stuff in China. Export only.

[@frank7353]

Roflcopter4b Any Chinese know anything electrical know this thing is rubbish, but people still buy because it’s even cheaper than the old fashioned pen.

[@andywood1966]

But why do people buy such rubbish, great video as always JW.

[@johnarmstrong3782]

Andrew Wood Beause it’s so cheap. We all buy on price, There are no exceptions other than an other more expensive item being in our demonstrably self interest. This item, for the price paid, represents value for the money even though it’s junk,

[@unitrader403]

Probably to make Videos about how bad it is :D :P

[@totbob8947]

Thank you . What is the power source for the light led when we testing the countinity of wires . thank you sir .

[@mbaker335]

You said 'quality' in what I took to be a sarcastic way about the plastic protector being left on the LCD. Actually it is quality in so far as these protectors are always left on. I recently purchased a £1300 spectrum analyzer and a £2000+ RF generator and they both had this protection on the displays. Not having it is a 'quality' issue. Apart from that the screwdriver is useless of course.

[@jwflame]

Nothing wrong with protective film, but it's there to be removed by the user - in this thing, it can't be removed without dismantling the device.

[@santamulligan676]

Kind of you, the old gent next door asked me to find out what this was, now I can advise him .

[@naderhumood]

Thanks John for finding the cheep Chinese stuff..👍 it's great eduo

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

Would a £14.99 multimeter from Aldi/Lidl be a better bet? Cos that's what I have.

[@uK8cvPAq]

Possibly, big stores usually test electrical things before they sell them to cover their asses. Is it exactly the same as the one in the video?

[@YouTubeSupportTeams]

it's unlikely you'd die using it anyway

[@johnpj6345]

Hello John ' I am finding a lot of aluminium cable on existing installations ' just wondering how you would code it on an e.i.c.r .

[@jwflame]

if it really is aluminium, then it's C2 or FI, due to the lack of information about such cables. However aluminium cable in smaller installations is rare, it was only used for a couple of years and most of it will have been replaced decades ago. Virtually all silver coloured wiring found in older installations is tinned copper.

[@johnpj6345]

@@jwflame hello john thanks for getting back to me. it stranded cable twin and earth with pvc insulation finding lot's of it on some 1960 s flats , allways assumed it was aluminium, maybe as you say , could be tinned copper. its in good condition for its age .no thermal damadge etc .carnt find anyfind anything in regs or code breakers book . regards Pete .

[@marcusharmon8389]

I had one of these that worked great not chinese though i think it was silverline or something similar well known brand the lcd was very clear if you put it near a wire etc!!! 😊

[@AsymptoteInverse]

That doesn't say "Ground line." That says "Qreund line." Lovely bit of mistranslation.

[@Hagledesperado]

Surely no qreund for concern.

[@JosephMelia]

Excellent teardown. So if the resistors are destroyed, they might still have enough conductivity to relay a harmful shock to the body? Well I won't be jamming this in any mains sockets any time soon.. Also I notice it can pick up voltages from higher voltage household appliance , Computer, televison etc, lines from around a centimeter away, but try it on something like a modem's power lead and it fails to read the charge at all.Now it says it's good for 12 volt..which the modem is operating on, however , the modem lead does an excellent job of masking that from the tester...must try testing it on my motorcycle cables, but really I think it has limited usefulness. Not going to replace the multimeter. Still, in certain scenarios could be a valuable source of feedback. liked subbed etc.

[@Ahmed51410]

liked this voltage tester!

[@ScienceFiend]

Are you only on KZbin? Or are u on other social media?

[@jwflame]

Other social media accounts here: flameport.com/john_ward_electrician/contact/socialmedia.cs4

[@terryhutchinson6503]

Best thing you can do with testers is chuck em in the nearesr river

[@Bodragon]

That inductance track is way too close to the direct soldered wire at the bottom of that pcb. Way too close for comfort.

[@michaellack5139]

Cef knocking these out cheap at the moment

[@chrissnowdon8235]

The neutral will will cancel off the line.thats why it wont work

[@TheDigitalAura]

Who needs a Fluke VoltAlert when you can have one of these high quality devices instead. I'm surprised they even bothered with the expense of putting screws in.

[@MalagasOnFire]

These products are not good for screw driver or plug into mains, so they serve to take out the HBC fuses or testing bug zappers :P

[@sean999ification]

Bought two.

[@rakselectric7390]

Another quality video keep up the good work

[@GoldSrc_]

lol, I have one that's probably from 2005, always use it when I can't be bothered to grab a multimeter. I always laugh when people try to make these cheap testers sound "dangerous", like, what did you expect? it didn't cost you $50. I've used more sketchy stuff to test mains voltage.

[@lilconch]

I mean. Seems dangerous. But I've seen electricians do crazier stuff. I got one as a part of a networking kit. needed the multimeter, Cable tester, punchdown tools and end crimpers for RJ-45/RJ-11 And one of these dodads was in it. Had to watch like four videos to be absolutely sure and start to get confident in sticking this thing in a power strip 😂 won't catch me using this in any actual sockets but it seemed to be fine. Nice to quickly check if there is power to a line if I'm to busy to swap a cable not knowing if it'll work or can't be assed to grab a multimeter. Good for checking mice and keyboards I like it!

[@davidprice2861]

Why is it allowed for sale by the relevant authority in your country? especially health and safety!

[@mubd1234]

Authorities usually don't take action until someone is killed. Here in Australia the NSW Dept of Fair Trading raided stores selling non-compliant mains voltage electronics after someone was killed in bed while using their phone hooked up to a 240V mains to USB charger. You can still find shops selling cheap dangerous shit, but most $2 shops in shopping centres usually have the nous to buy something that complies with Aussie standards.

[@uK8cvPAq]

With internet commerce its really difficult to keep these things out, and like the other guy said they don't normally act until someone gets killed and it hits the news.

[@michaelbarcz326]

Usually a thumbs down if I come out more confused than going in!😮

[@Mark1024MAK]

Yes, a cheap piece of rubbish. Shame you did not try it on various DC voltages before you took it to pieces.

[@jivekiwi]

Love this although I feel pretty stupid..I mean "my friend' feels pretty stupid for buying one..

[@g7mks383]

Thanks John another reason not to place your life in the hands of the Chinese. Note how the inductive wire antenna passes over the direct wiring on the PCB and with no insulation. If it gets pressed too tight then you get zapped on the inductive button. An item straight for the bin !!!

[@ScienceFiend]

I bought one of those from Poundland 😂

[@telosfd]

I've got a similar and i can't read anything on the display. Tester just for laugh!!!!!!

[@km5405]

if you are going to cheap out , for fuck sake use a cheap multimeter instead. that way the multimeter will die and not you if you fuck up or the shoddy build quality craps out. Either way just don't gamble with your life for a few bucks saved.

[@gartmorn]

That's probably half of a chinese electricians tool kit! The scary thing is that they must be selling them! For voltage testing, in our electrical fitters standard tool kit, in the power station, for some reason we were supplied with a martindale tester which I can't recall anyone ever using! We always used our fluke multimeter.

[@sparkydave2783]

gartmorn it is likely you were issued a ‘two pole voltage tester’ because a multimeter is not recognised in the HSE’s guidance note GS38 (safe electrical isolation) as a suitable method of proving dead 😉. Too easy to be on the wrong range and end up with a live circuit showing dead (especially is a proving unit is not used after the dead test).

[@gartmorn]

@@sparkydave2783 That's sounds right . I seem to remember we also had a test point where you could check them in the workshop.

[@gartmorn]

@@sparkydave2783 proving dead if a permit was required was carried out by the permit engineer who signed the certificate which could be for anything up to 17kv. On HV circuits we would watch the circuit being tested and then the engineer would touch the circuit before asking us to work on it!

[@waterpowerspaniels]

Awseome chinesium engineering

[@AlanLumsden]

Bin it.

[@mikecawood]

I won't bother buying one.

[@jontownsend8090]

Cheapomatic indeed

[@Anthony_The_Chicken_Licker]

I'm third 😁

[@bobo888bobo]

For next time you could prepare for a video by learning about the item you are going to review. You saying that the writing is chinese or whatever, and that you do not know what CE means on the packaging does make me confident in anything you have to say.

[@lmp2208]

Why bother reviewing something you know little about ?! Don't know what CE means ... gees !!

[@MonaichFother]

He was meanng what does it mean in relation to the product he probably mean to say " It doesn't mean anything" The mark has no merit here.

[@markaffleck4622]

@@MonaichFother Exactly! Some people just don't get Johns sense of dead pan, do they?