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Wrote off those plug-in voltage testers for years. Now I'm eating crow.
I used to think those Klein NCVT testers were just for homeowners who didn't know better. Then last week a bad neutral on a 3-way circuit at a house in Arlington had me chasing ghosts for an hour. Grabbed the tester on a hunch and it caught a phantom voltage the meter was smoothing over. Anyone else had one of those little yellow pens save them a headache?
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blair_martin3d ago
That hour you spent probably taught you way more about that circuit than grabbing the right tool in five minutes would have. I see those tough lessons as part of the trade, not wasted time. Those little pens aren't perfect but they fill a real gap when you're dealing with weird voltage stuff. I'd rather spend 60 minutes learning something than 15 minutes blindly swapping parts. You'll probably never forget that particular bad neutral pattern now, right?
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lucasschmidt3d ago
A bad neutral had you chasing ghosts for a full hour? That's brutal, man. Those little pens have humbled me more than once too.
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jake9863d ago
Chasing ghosts for an hour" over a bad neutral? Man, I would've trashed that thing by minute 15.
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