Testing Equipment You Probably Don't Have, But You Definitely Need in Your Electrician Tool Belt!

With so many types of test equipment available for the electrician, its hard to keep track of what is out there. In this episode of Electrician U, Dustin talks about some of the testing devices that one of our sponsors, Klein Tools, has available.

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First up is a simple voltage tester. No frills, but definitely worth thinking about. All it tells you is if there is voltage present. But that is the beauty of it! Less to break, less to malfunction! Small and compact, it easily fits in your pocket or tool pouch and its price is also super affordable. In addition, it does test on a range of voltages not just 120.
Klein’s ET-310 is next on our list of testers. This tool allows you to plug one end into a receptacle and with the other end (wand) you can go to the panel and scan the breakers until it audibly lets you know which one you are plugged into on the other end! Super handy and keeps you from running back and forth between panel and receptacles until you find out which one you are working on!!
Also available from Klein is a thermal imager. Unlike a standard laser type thermometer, this device also has a screen which allows you to SEE an infrared picture of what you are testing, not just get the digital readout of the temperature. This can be very useful in identifying hot spots in a circuit where there is a potential problem point or a loose joint/connection, without having to disassemble each and every device/bolt in the arrangement.
Klein's Amp Clamp type meter is next up. This tool will typically tend to have Less testing options than a Digital Multi Meter, but More than a standard voltage only tester. In addition, it has a split clamp on one end that you can clamp around a wire to see just how many amps are flowing through the circuit you are testing. They are available in different voltage and amperage ranges to suit the need of the electrician. If you are going to have one type of meter in your arsenal, make sure it is this type! They are totally invaluable!
A borescope is the next test instrument we look at. While not something that you would use every day, it is surely nice to have to allow you to look into an opening and behind something that you normally couldn’t see into. So, say for instance you wanted to see if there was an obstruction inside the wall cavity you just cut a box into, you could simply insert the camera end of the borescope into the hole and look around! Nice!!
A Megger is a tool that the average electrician probably Doesn’t have in their personal tool kit, but one that most of us have used them. These typically look much like a multi meter, but what they do is send a high voltage signal into the conductor they are clamped onto and can sense if that current is leaking out somewhere and escaping indicating a potential problem point within the conductor. A definite must use tool for the electrician.
The last tool we are looking into is a Earth Resistance Tester. This particular meter is a three-point fall of potential type, though there are four-point fall of potential types available. This tool allows you to test the immediate earth surrounding the area you are working in to see how much resistance the earth carries. An invaluable tool for service installations/problematic grounding testing.
We hope this has been helpful in showing you what types of electrical testers are out there that you can easily access and which ones to select. Continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly adding new content to the platform

#electrician #electrical #electricity #dustin stelzer #electrical contractor #electrician tool bag

[sun]

0:47 Klein ET40 Voltage Tester $15.00
1:29 Klein ET310 Circuit Breaker Finder $43.00
2:03 Klein TI 250 Thermal Imager $300.00
2:50 Klein CL390 Digital Clamp Meter $90.00
4:00 Klein ET20 Wifi Borescope $87.00
4:57 Klein ET600 Megohmmeter $154.00
6:02 EXTech 382252 Earth Resistance Tester $230.00
All prices are from Amazon as of 04/04/2022

[rupe]

I'm amazed we didn't see a rotation meter for doing 3 phase motor wiring. If you don't get the legs in the right place the motor won't turn in the correct direction. One thing I made up for testing is a break-out cord for measuring load amps on household stuff. It's basically a male and female cord cap, wired together with a service loops hanging out the side so you can grab the conductor with your amp-clamp. I can test hot, neutral, and ground. You may ask why you want more than just the hot leg available. The way I see it the hot and neutral would be equal, but if they are NOT then you have the option to see if something is leaking off to ground. I also find this useful for doing temporary power, such as fairs and music festivals. You have no idea what people are plugging in till you get issues with tripping breakers. (say, a line of trinket vendors) This way you can point a finger and tell them they need to run another cord to another outlet. The same goes for all that stuff on a stage. I had a guy tell me his lighting was 150 watts each. My meter told me the printing was worn off and they were 750 watts each. Big difference!

[WrenchNinja]

Love the videos but I have to disagree with electricians having the most tools, as an automotive technician I think we might take that trophy home lol

[finalboss]

I have that ET310 tester with all the extra components: ungrounded plug, Edison screw in, wire clamps, and use it multiple times a week.

[paulcaldararo]

Everybody forgets the Elevator Trade, we need to have a lot of tools and equipment also

[rickingersoll]

Journeyman here, we work on everything from 32.5 kva incoming to our substations rectified to 850DC fed through 5000amp breakers, low voltage train detection track circuits, and fiber optic vital communication systems. (Public Transit Train environment) I would like to see a video on a TDR if you have any tips and tricks aside from the basics. Great videos bro, informative with humor and fun splashed throughout. Nicely done.

[genedussell]

hey dustin, of course, thanks so much for the effort you put in and sharing your vast experience. i would say though, there are definitely circumstances where a a "tick tracer" or "sniffer" as i call it has distinct advantages. for instance, if you are replace an old K/T fixture, which has no ground conductor, and you are not sure if it's a switched neutral wiring senario, a voltage tester is useless for determing if there is a "hot" wire there. a sniffer will identify which wire may be energized. when one is in a crawl space or attic and one wants to determine if a cable or wire is energized, as in the case of a switched leg, and it is not possible to get to the junction box for the fixture, then a sniffer works in determing that. i use the Fluke 1AC11 and have used many others but always prefer this tool. also, when there are times that a sniffer indicates a hot wire, but isn't, this is often caused by capacitive induction by another current carrying wire, and if one touches the insulation of the suspected wire and the voltage reading is caused by capicitive coupling, then the sniffer will stop indicating a voltage reading. my main observation is that just trying to use a volt meter is not always practicable and sniffers are definitely a worthwhile tool in the electricians "arsenal" thank you again for doing what you do.

[andya]

SO I am not an electrician, however my father, grandfather, uncle and and brother, were all in the trades and IBEW members, so I am very failure with the tools you speak of here, and I have purchased a number of those tools so that I can work on own property. But I am never above calling in the pros when I have reached my limits, and I do know them.
Of the tools you shared, and I have, not a fan of is the circuit tracer. It does not always provide me with a reliable trace to the correct circuit breaker.

For the thermo, I use a FLIR device I can attach to my phone, like the bore scope, you can than save pictures or videos of what you are looking at.
Great tool for the money, and so many uses. Aside for looking for hot spots, you can find cold spots. As thermo cameras work on the principal of the difference in temperature and not a set temperature. Fun fact, use it to locate damp and wet areas. As a water evaporates, it will leave the spot cooler than the surrounding area, thus showing up on the screen as cold spot compared to the surrounding area.

Overall great content, I really enjoy your teaching methods. My father was an instructor back in the 70s and 80s for the trade, and though I did not become a certified electrician, I learned a lot from his teachings and helping out around the garage and house.

[chrisfyfe]

One minor observation ; I prefer Boroscopes with a built in screens ( I use a Milwaukee M12 iteration ) . My reasoning is as follows; a phone is a vital piece of equipment, I for sure don’t want to risk dropping mine off a ladder . Borescopes are used much less often ! I also carry a Flir Camera, good for documenting set of conditions !

[garbo]

You are so correct in not liking the the tracers. First-time I used one was to turn off a 480 volt circuit that was in a large conduit then a 100' long through that had over 20 other live circuits from 120, 208 & 480 volt circuits. Keep receiving a power present signal but it was a false positive due to the wires indicating a voltage in circuits that I turned off. Is what you call a thermal scanner a cheap IR device or the better but expensive FLIR type camera. My FLIR gun cost over a grand 12 years ago but prices keep coming down. If you do commercial work spend the extra money on a circuit breaker tester that located and has axillary wire leads to handle up to 277 volts.Borescope appears to a great tool that I wished were around years ago. Think you are wrong with merger being a manufactures name. Started out using hand crank 500 volt meggers back in the 1960's. All were made by Huddle company. I have a 500 to 5, 000 volt battery operated Wilson merger that works great. Never saw a sparky that owned an earth ground resistance meter. Ground resistance varies greatly especially between summer & winter. Old ma bell guys would wiz on grounded rods out in the boon docks to get system working instead of laying a circle of wet salt around ground rod to lower resistance. Thanks for another great vid. Caution you young just getting into this great trade: NEVER PURCHASE OR USE or tools, test or safety equipment from cheating lying scum bag lack of quality control communist china. Your life & safety of others not worth saving a few bucks on inferior cheating china garbage.

[FlnVnm]

I have half of those personally but as a locomotive electrician, I use a Megger brand megger often, 1kv - 5kv for finding grounded traction motors, main generators, blower motors and dynamic braking grids. Otherwise, DMM and Amp clamp is the extent of non specialty equipment.

[ScoutzMcGyver]

I'm not an electrician but living in a house an electrician use to live in had me buying a handful of testers and tools i wouldn't have otherwise! I love the ET310 and the additional parts that go with it. We have a panel and a subpanel and some of the fixtures and outlets are hard to figure out what circuits they are on. The ET310 has really come in handy.... as well as your channel!

[tlhIngan]

The UK has a company called Megger that makes electrical test equipment, including well, megaohm-meters. I know John Ward has done a review and shown off his Megger in doing various tests from high voltage insulation to earth resistance tests. So technically it's a brand name, just it's probably more well known in Europe than North America.

[EastWindCommunity]

Could you list out the model name and numbers for each product you went through? Description seems to be missing some.

As a small property manager, really appreciate the excellent videos, thanks!

[ethankriegel]

I'm an HVAC service tech and have a few meters. All my meters have amp clamps and can read mega-ohms and capacitance. After checking voltage, those are the three most common uses we have for our meters. Checking phases is less commonly needed, but I have a meter for that, too.

I've been eyeing that Thermal imager, but for the price there are other tools I need to get first. I think HVAC would give you a run for your money on breadth and depth of tools we have since we do gas, light plumbing, sheet metal, electrical and electronic troubleshooting, air conditioning/refrigeration, and heating.

[joetapout]

The klein circuit locater is awesome . I used it at church to find the breaker for septic pump. It worked thru a metal building and about 100 yards

[tomcanfield]

I have a few of these, including the ET310. One feature or tool which would be handy: the ability to test which circuit breaker is protecting a specific circuit when the breaker trips. The ET310 only works when there Is power in the circuit.

[comingtofull-ageinchrist]

I totally agree with getting a false reading on a tic, but in some of the commercial work that I have done, even if you are using a voltage meter, you are required check the reading for what you are working on with something you know is hot, so that you know your meter is working, and it isn't just saying you have no power when your meter could be malfunctioning! I found the hot sticks or tics as some call them, that the ones with the flash lights are prone to giving false readings. I finally bought a Fluke, no other fancy function on it. You can do the same test with it by checking it with something you know is hot and testing what you are working on, and even test it against multiple circuits. All of them can give a false reading!

[ChrisEnglish]

I keep seeing you talk about how electricians have more tools than anyone. You've obviously never met a Millwright, lol. I'm both. I've got a lot of shit. Worked in the trades all my life. Still have my bullfloat, etc. I cut into the trades on (Cement Mason). All my carpentry stuff, power compound mitre boxes, etc., became a Millwright. Currently an Industrial Electrician. Millwright took the cake in sheer volume and price. Lots of pocket in tools in that trade. Love your videos. Keep up the good work.

[KD-slve]

i am a home owner who got frustrated that the panel was not labeled correctly. The Tester is great and it cost me less than what an electrician was going to charge to do it for me.