# Voltmeter exploded in hand



## 69x66 (Nov 2, 2008)

Hi guys, new here and am looking for some opinions. A fellow electrician was on a job site recently and witnessed a service tech testing voltage to a 460v motor starter coil as it was chattering and not sucking in. He was testing the circuit energized obviously to test the voltage to the coil and his meter through sparks and blew a hole in the meter. He described this as a grey and red meter (craftsman?) and was not close enough to see what he had it set on. My thoughts were that it was set at ohms and it was a low resistance meter. Has anyone out there seen this happen and does anyone have any opinions or knowledge as to why this happened.


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## 76nemo (Aug 13, 2008)

69x66 said:


> Hi guys, new here and am looking for some opinions. A fellow electrician was on a job site recently and witnessed a service tech testing voltage to a 460v motor starter coil as it was chattering and not sucking in. He was testing the circuit energized obviously to test the voltage to the coil and his meter through sparks and blew a hole in the meter. He described this as a grey and red meter (craftsman?) and was not close enough to see what he had it set on. My thoughts were that it was set at ohms and it was a low resistance meter. Has anyone out there seen this happen and does anyone have any opinions or knowledge as to why this happened.


My initial question,....was the meter CAT rated?????


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## 69x66 (Nov 2, 2008)

Our guy was not in a position to look at the meter.


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## 76nemo (Aug 13, 2008)

69x66 said:


> Our guy was not in a position to look at the meter.


 


With ALL due respect, the rating of the meter should of been looked at and determined to suit the application before hand.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

I have been involved in projects were there were meter explosions in each case the technician had the wrong meter for the application.

Right tool for the job


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## 69x66 (Nov 2, 2008)

76nemo said:


> With ALL due respect, the rating of the meter should of been looked at and determined to suit the application before hand.


This was not one of my techs doing the testing. This was an entirely differant contractor. Our tech witnessed from around ten to twenty feet away and has no idea what type of meter was used. I am inquiring for a safety discussion that I will be having with our team. We require no less than a catIII rated meter when testing anything above 24v. I'm only asking if anyone has had a similar issue and had some specifics as to what may have happened internaly to the meter.


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## BP_redbear (Jun 22, 2008)

*Maybe had the leads in the Amp jacks?*

If the test leads to a meter are in the 'A' jacks, and then touched to a energized circuit, the meter will act like a short circuit, ans a high inrush of current will occur. Better meters like Fluke have high energy fuses to protect the user and meter. Some don't.

Fluke meters give an audible warning when the meter is set to Resistance, and the test leads are touched to a voltage source, with no damage to the meter, and this doesn't open the fuse. (With the leads in the 'V' or 'Ohm' jacks).

The meter's internal circuitry is a very low resistance for the Amperage testing function, so a meter without fuses, or one that has the wrong fuses installed, can 'blow up'. Meters with proper fuses would at the worst, suffer burnt probe tips and need a fuse replacement.

I had a fellow co-worker have this happen to him with a Craftsman clamp meter/DMM. I don't know if he just had the meter just set on Ohms and touched 480 with the leads. Probably, as I believe most clamps only have one set of meter jacks.


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## 76nemo (Aug 13, 2008)

Now that redbear's explained it, you can view it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9jpwGTy66g


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)




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## BP_redbear (Jun 22, 2008)

76nemo said:


> Now that redbear's explained it, you can view it
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9jpwGTy66g


Hope I never see that firsthand. 

OUCH!!!


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## Matt2318 (Jan 31, 2008)

69x66 said:


> Hi guys, new here and am looking for some opinions. A fellow electrician was on a job site recently and witnessed a service tech testing voltage to a 460v motor starter coil as it was chattering and not sucking in. He was testing the circuit energized obviously to test the voltage to the coil and his meter through sparks and blew a hole in the meter. He described this as a grey and red meter (craftsman?) and was not close enough to see what he had it set on. My thoughts were that it was set at ohms and it was a low resistance meter. Has anyone out there seen this happen and does anyone have any opinions or knowledge as to why this happened.


Well I dont know if this is what happened in your case. When inductive loads are opened, high voltage spikes can occur. If your meter is not able to handle these transient voltages, you could have issues, and even start a fault current Ive heard.


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## 69x66 (Nov 2, 2008)

Thanks for all of the response. Exactly the help I was hoping for.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Right after I got my first Fluke meter years back I had to send it in for a repair, the supply house gave me a UEI loaner meter to use. First day I went to check a 480v motor circuit and the meter scaled up and blew up in my hand. Never cared for UEI after that.


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## electricalperson (Jan 11, 2008)

i only buy my meters from fluke since they are all cat 3 and 4 rated. i do a lot of heavy commercial and im always working with 480. i used to have the knopp tester and that was cat 3 rated but i passed it down to my helper. i do own a wiggy but its in my closet on the top shelf. i heard they stopped making one so i decided to buy one hoping someday it becomes a collectors item


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## 76nemo (Aug 13, 2008)

electricalperson said:


> i only buy my meters from fluke since they are all cat 3 and 4 rated. i do a lot of heavy commercial and im always working with 480. i used to have the knopp tester and that was cat 3 rated but i passed it down to my helper. i do own a wiggy but its in my closet on the top shelf. i heard they stopped making one so i decided to buy one hoping someday it becomes a collectors item


 
Fluke solved the risks and problems with the traditional "wiggy". Check out the T+Pro from Fluke. You'll be surprised and happy you did for the price if you haven't seen it already


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## electricalperson (Jan 11, 2008)

76nemo said:


> Fluke solved the risks and problems with the traditional "wiggy". Check out the T+Pro from Fluke. You'll be surprised and happy you did for the price if you haven't seen it already


i own one of those and love it


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## gilbequick (Oct 6, 2007)

So what's so dangerous about the old wiggy's?


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

gilbequick said:


> So what's so dangerous about the old wiggy's?


 I don't know I carried one for about 10 years till I got a fluke.


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

Here's a Fluke application note about the solenoid tester safety issue: http://us.fluke.com/usen/promotions/solenoid


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## BP_redbear (Jun 22, 2008)

wptski said:


> Here's a Fluke application note about the solenoid tester safety issue: http://us.fluke.com/usen/promotions/solenoid


Ah, that's one of the things that I was looking for when I was trying to explain the drawbacks of Wiggy's in a diferent thread.


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

I will tell you this I GUARANTEE a Wiggy has saved more lives than anywhere near the number of people that a manufacture claims may have been hurt by this device in a push to make their meter NUMBER one by law.


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## BP_redbear (Jun 22, 2008)

brian john said:


> I will tell you this I GUARANTEE a Wiggy has saved more lives than anywhere near the number of people that a manufacture claims may have been hurt by this device in a push to make their meter NUMBER one by law.


So...
Am I hearing you say...
You agree that people have been hurt by Wiggy testers... 
or you doubt that a manufacturer's 'claims' that a number of people 'may have been hurt by this device' have any truth...
And because the number of people hurt is _'nowhere near'_ the number of people _you_ 'claim' have been 'saved', that that's enough reason to ignore the potential dangers of this type of tester? One of my posts in the 'Fluke T5' thread is a link to an article that is NOT from a 'manufacturer who is in a push to make their meter NUMBER one by law'. (What law are you referring to, anyway?)

What are the numbers that you *'GUARANTEE' *? 10 in 1000?
10 in 100,000?
10 in 1,000,000?
What do you say to those 10 people?

I am not trying to tell everyone who owns a Wiggy to throw it in the garbage. They may still have a place in our toolboxes, and may have specific uses where they are more practical that a DMM, but I don't see myself going out and buying one, and would just urge anyone using one or considering buying one to be aware of the potential dangers and limitations of this type of tester. 

Do the Wiggy-type tester manufacturers explain all of the potential dangers? Why would I want a tester that has to 'cool down' between tests? What if a watch or clock with a second hand is not near? What do you tell the supervisor when he asks you what the heck you are doing? "Oh, I am just counting seconds off before I can test voltage again".
How do you know if the tester is 'too hot'? How do you know if a tester has been 'hot' too many times? 

My experience has been largely as industrial maintenance electrician/technician/mechanic, not commercial construction, which I am currently learning.

I am sure that there are dangers and drawbacks with any and all electrical testing devices. People just should be aware, and consider what testers are best for their uses. Can a Wiggy tell you if one phase is low on, say, a 208V 3-phase system?

Not trying to be a d**k here brian john, all I was, and am, attempting to do is point out some facts. Do you disagree that the link to the Fluke Application Notes page has any basis in fact? Are they completely fabricating false information to mislead people?


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## brian john (Mar 11, 2007)

I am saying both.


> Am I hearing you say... You agree that people have been hurt by Wiggy testers... or you doubt that a manufacturer's 'claims' that a number of people 'may have been hurt by this device' have any truth..


 When improperly applied both instruments can result in injury. But if you doubt for one minute that a manufacture does not skew data to sell their product, or have new standards and codes written supporting their product over others well, please sit on a few standards or code panels.

A wiggy is a go no go tester and as I stated and saved more lives when properly utilized long before the fluke was ever thought of.


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## walkerj (May 13, 2007)

brian john said:


> I am saying both. When improperly applied both instruments can result in injury. But if you doubt for one minute that a manufacture does not skew data to sell their product, or have new standards and codes written supporting their product over others well, please sit on a few standards or code panels.
> 
> A wiggy is a go no go tester and as I stated and saved more lives when properly utilized long before the fluke was ever thought of.


I agree Brian John. I use my DMM for resistance tests, amprobe, low-voltage, and dc.
The wiggy comes out if i need to work on something "hands on" and I need to KNOW the circuit is off.


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## BP_redbear (Jun 22, 2008)

Got it.


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## nolabama (Oct 3, 2007)

i trust my wiggy when i dont want to get bit, but the info you guys have put here on some of its dangers has been very helpful - i will continue to use it as a go no go tester


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