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Should a line tester light up when inserted into grounding socket?

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Martaine2005

May 12, 2015
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As already asked above “what line tester”?.
If a simple bulb affair, yes it will as the neutral is connected to earth/ground.
If it’s a decent plug in type like Fluke, no it wont light unless live/neutral or earth are reversed.

Martin
 

novicefedora

Jun 25, 2020
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Hello,

Wich line tester do you use?
I would say that there should be no power on the ground connection.
The ground connection is there for safety.
Read the book in the link:
www-d0.fnal.gov/~hance/doe_esh.pdf

Bertus
As already asked above “what line tester”?.
If a simple bulb affair, yes it will as the neutral is connected to earth/ground.
If it’s a decent plug in type like Fluke, no it wont light unless live/neutral or earth are reversed.

Martin

It is a local brand line tester, it looks like screw driver but in it's plastic handle, it has a small bulb, and when inserted into power outlet, it lights up on positive side, doesn't light up on the neutral side. But when I inserted it into the grounding socket, it light up, must some problem in the wiring or they are reversed?
 

Martaine2005

May 12, 2015
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Yes, you have some sort of earth/ground fault.
But having said that, those testers are the worst. The neon can glow due to the bodies capacitance.
You may find there is a break in the earth connection.
Don’t rely on these cheap dangerous neon testers. You are only one resistor away from line voltage.
Have a qualified electrician check it for you.

Martin
 

novicefedora

Jun 25, 2020
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Yes, you have some sort of earth/ground fault.
But having said that, those testers are the worst. The neon can glow due to the bodies capacitance.
You may find there is a break in the earth connection.
Don’t rely on these cheap dangerous neon testers. You are only one resistor away from line voltage.
Have a qualified electrician check it for you.

Martin

What kind of line tester would you recommend?
 

Bluejets

Oct 5, 2014
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Definitely one with a qualified electrician on the end of it.

Live earth is a highly serious event and should be investigated by one qualified to do so.
 

Minder

Apr 24, 2015
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The path for those screwdriver neon testers is from live through the body resistance to ground, they will light even if stood on a milk crate!
You should not see a light from the GND terminal or pin.
What part of the world are you in?
Your best bet is to qualify it with a meter and do a test from the earth pin to a known earth ground path.
M.
 

novicefedora

Jun 25, 2020
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The path for those screwdriver neon testers is from live through the body resistance to ground, they will light even if stood on a milk crate!
You should not see a light from the GND terminal or pin.
What part of the world are you in?
Your best bet is to qualify it with a meter and do a test from the earth pin to a known earth ground path.
M.

I'm from India.

I was testing it to attach a grounding cable to a faraday shield I was building. Just to be safe, I wanted to test the grounding socket and inserted the neon tester, and I saw neon testers bulb light up and I was confused if it should or not, I thought it shouldn't but to clear away my doubt I asked here.

This is happening a lot recently, we had this fixed few times but this problem comes back, the electrician says, the rodents are chewing up the wire, can something like that happen? Isn't there any hard wire to use to avoid this problem?
 

ramussons

Jun 10, 2014
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Neon testers are very sensitive and will light up even on negligible leakages. Earth line glow indicates a clear danger to everyone in that building - the earth line is NOT EARTHED and there is a leakage from some 3 pin equipment connected. Call a qualified person to restore the Ground AND identify the equipment with the leakage fault.
 

Bluejets

Oct 5, 2014
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As previously stated, those "neon type" screwdrivers can send one on a wild goose chase.

It may well be a serious fault somewhere in your installation or it could be due to a broken or improper earth.

Rodents tend to chew hell out of the insulation but when it gets to the copper they usually move to the next bit of insulation, essentially leaving the conductor either partially damaged or still intact.

You may get readings on your "neon device" when the earth electrode ( if any exists) is in dry soil and the earth at the outlet is showing leakage current, the latter being normal in most instances.

Best (if you don't have already) to get an electrician in and fit either earth leakage breakers to each final sub-circuit or, as is standard practice in Thailand, fit one (as they call it) safety-cut to the main incomer.

AND..... if you must earth some piece of gear from some wild and woolly experiment, run your own earth outside to your own electrode and leave the main electrical system completely out of the loop all together.
 

davenn

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Sep 5, 2009
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k, the electrician says, the rodents are chewing up the wire, can something like that happen?


yes, worldwide, a common problem

PLEASE GET A LICENCED ELECTRICIAN to look over the wiring and stop messing around with things you dont understand
you could electrocute yourself or others in your family


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