What is a Voltage Indicator and How Is It Used

A voltage indicator can easily be explained in terms of being a testing device or instrument that helps identify if the circuit has a sudden trace of voltage when the very tip of the tester touches, or if its detecting an energized piece of metal or a hot electrical conductor. The very tip of the voltage tester depending on what brand you use will either do one of the following, glow or create a vibrant sound repeatedly whenever the device detects a trace of voltage at the particular circuit your testing. The primary purpose of a voltage tester is to test various applications such as fuses/circuit breakers, receptacles, a break in a cable, and various other testing scenarios, in which its trying to identify if there's a trace of voltage.

Voltage indicators come available in a large range anywhere from a couple of volts to a couple hundred volts, they are also used in various different voltage types such as AC, DC or even AC/DC for testing the many different circuit types. Voltage indicators that are primarily rated for 90 VAC to 600 VAC are especially made for testing circuits of power supplies. Voltage indicators that are rated for 24 VAC to 90 VAC are used only to test lower voltage cables and control circuits. There are even models that are used to test magnetic fields which is pretty neat and they include transformers, solenoids and various other coil voltages.

The primary advantage of using or owning a voltage tester is the fact that they are extremely cheap and are portable enough for you to carry around in your pocket. Another advantage of a voltage indicator is that their relatively easy to use, are nonconductive, and the fact that you can detect voltage without the need to touch any energized circuits or wires even through the conductor's insulation. The one disadvantage of a voltage indicator is that they only detect voltage and that's about it, it doesn't however detect how much voltage is present. Another disadvantage is the fact that the voltage indicator may detect there's voltage present when in fact there might not be any voltage at all to begin with, especially if the wire is shielded.

Note= Voltage testers should only be used as a quick way to determine whether or not the wire or piece of metal is hot or energized. If the voltage indicator doesn't glow or make vibrant noises when you test the circuit make sure to test it on a live circuit before you consider working on it because it could be that the indicator is not working or that the wire may be energized when the shielded conductors are used.