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Instrument to detect presence of AC voltage

P

peterlonz

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi everyone, hope the new year finds all in great health & spirit.

I have a very simple question, which arises each year as I try to pack away,
until next year, all the Christams strings of mini lights.

As usual several strings of series wired lights are not working.

By carefully examining each light filament using a x4 power loupe, I have
managed to find & replace, most of the faulty bulbs causing problems.

Unfortunely this method is not reliable, & I still have a string of 100 mini
lights, refusing to either light up, or submit their fault secrets to the
above approach.
I gather their are instruments capable of picking up the presence of 110/240
VAC.
If I could find such an instrument suitable for this repair task, I would be
a happy chappie.

BTW I am aware of a special purpose instrument designed for mini light
repairs, however availability & price are issues for me in Queensland
Australia where there is no manufacturers agent.

Hence my wish to use a simpler more "all purpose " device, can anyone help
with a specific model/brand recommendation & source for 240 V version.

Rgds again to all,
Peter O
 
R

Ross Mac

Jan 1, 1970
0
peterlonz said:
Hi everyone, hope the new year finds all in great health & spirit.

I have a very simple question, which arises each year as I try to pack
away, until next year, all the Christams strings of mini lights.

As usual several strings of series wired lights are not working.

By carefully examining each light filament using a x4 power loupe, I have
managed to find & replace, most of the faulty bulbs causing problems.

Unfortunely this method is not reliable, & I still have a string of 100
mini lights, refusing to either light up, or submit their fault secrets to
the above approach.
I gather their are instruments capable of picking up the presence of
110/240 VAC.
If I could find such an instrument suitable for this repair task, I would
be a happy chappie.

BTW I am aware of a special purpose instrument designed for mini light
repairs, however availability & price are issues for me in Queensland
Australia where there is no manufacturers agent.

Hence my wish to use a simpler more "all purpose " device, can anyone help
with a specific model/brand recommendation & source for 240 V version.

Rgds again to all,
Peter O
Christmas tree lights are pretty much a disposable item these days...Just
buy new ones every year or three and you can avoid the holiday
frustration....Ross
 
D

Don Kelly

Jan 1, 1970
0
Salmon Egg said:
A capacitor in series with an ac voltmeter will do he job. But that is not
the way to do it.

Most digital multi-meters today have an ohm-meter function. Even better,
it
may come with a buzzer function. I would just use that to check for
conductive continuity.

Bill

-- Ferme le Bush

There are devices available. One put out by Carillon (try
carilloncanada.com) is called "LiteTester Plus" (about $10 CDN) It comes
with batteries included. I got it at the local hardware store (Home) where
it was in the Xmas light display area.
It is fairly cheap and will test bulbs and indicate broken or loose
connections. I have used it and it does make the job much easier than
trying to test each bulb and section of wiring with a multimeter. However,
on a long string in two independent sections as a 100 bulb string is
likely to be, it did not help me where one section has failed. This may be
due to the specific nature of the string- which is now in the trash as
replacement sets are cheap and my remaining life time can be spent on more
interesting things.
There is at least one version of this which is a bit more expensive but
may be better but I intend to gradually replace all with LEDs as they become
cheaper.
 
E

ehsjr

Jan 1, 1970
0
peterlonz said:
Hi everyone, hope the new year finds all in great health & spirit.

I have a very simple question, which arises each year as I try to pack away,
until next year, all the Christams strings of mini lights.

As usual several strings of series wired lights are not working.

By carefully examining each light filament using a x4 power loupe, I have
managed to find & replace, most of the faulty bulbs causing problems.

Unfortunely this method is not reliable, & I still have a string of 100 mini
lights, refusing to either light up, or submit their fault secrets to the
above approach.
I gather their are instruments capable of picking up the presence of 110/240
VAC.
If I could find such an instrument suitable for this repair task, I would be
a happy chappie.

BTW I am aware of a special purpose instrument designed for mini light
repairs, however availability & price are issues for me in Queensland
Australia where there is no manufacturers agent.

Hence my wish to use a simpler more "all purpose " device, can anyone help
with a specific model/brand recommendation & source for 240 V version.

Rgds again to all,
Peter O

For the device you are talking about, see Jaycar catalog number
QP2260

Like the others, I would not try to use that device for testing
your xmas lites. Aside from the fact that it would probably
be ineffective for that, its a lot safer for you to use an
ohmmeter.

Ed
 
B

Bud--

Jan 1, 1970
0
Don said:
Here is a site which shows the device that I have.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question270.htm

They detect the "alternating electromagnetic waves"? Simpler to say they
detect the electric field on a hot wire. The reference for the detector
is through the user to ground so they don't detect on neutrals. These
are made by a bunch of manufacturers for general use and are handy. You
need to know which end of the string has the hot feed and separate the
lamp wire out from the other wires so you don't detect them. If both
sides of a lamp are dead move toward the hot end, else the neutral end.
Clever idea; would have saved a lot of grief if I would have known it
long ago. The detector from ehsjr appears to be the same kind of
detector with added functions.

bud--
 
D

Don Kelly

Jan 1, 1970
0
No need to separate the lamp wire- point it at the upper end of the socket
as per instructions.
 
E

ehsjr

Jan 1, 1970
0
MG said:
Using an Ohm-meter requires to:
Remove lamp - not easy to do, requires player or blade or finger nail.
Ohm out the lamp - not easy to do with two hands easy with three hands
Put the lamp back - easy
Repeat 100 times or so - sum of the above
Unless the problem is with the socket connection in which case after
unplugging and plugging 100 bulbs you have increased the probabilities of
having one more open.

The whole idea is to have a contactless method.

MG

You can find the bad bulb in seven or eight measurements with
the ohm meter; you don't need 3 hands; and the op's question
asking for a specific "all purpose" device was answered:
" Hence my wish to use a simpler more "all purpose " device,
can anyone help with a specific model/brand recommendation &
source for 240 V version. "

If you have something that would help the OP, I'm sure
we would be glad to read it.

Ed
 
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