My voltage pen habit almost got me hurt

I used to love how fast voltage pens work for checking wires. They beep, and you're good to go, right? But I had a job where the pen didn't beep on a live circuit. I was about to grab the wire when my buddy stopped me. We checked with a multimeter, and sure enough, it was hot. The pen's battery was dead. Now, I always use two methods to test for voltage. It might slow me down, but it's better than a shock. Don't make the same mistake I did.

2 comments

2 Comments

wendyb3322h ago

Heard lots of electricians warn about that.

charlie_butler21h ago

Yeah, the warnings are real. I had the same issue last year. I ended up having an electrician install a GFCI outlet right at the source, which fixed it completely. He used a simple plug-in tester to confirm it was working right.