# Live pipe work?



## Craigj6a (Oct 8, 2014)

Hi 

I got called to attend a lady's house after a British Gas engineer refused to carry out a service to there boiler due to her voltage indicator stick indicating the caseing of the boiler was live !

Now I know these sticks are not great and you shouldn't trust them fully but I went there put my indicator on the boiler and on the pipe work on the immersion heater and it came up as if there is voltage there, i turned of the boiler and it still indicates voltage !

I used my fluke tester to test from the pipe the boiler the immersion to a neutral and to a earth terminal and I got 0 volts and I'm not getting any shocks !



any advice would be great thanks


----------



## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Craigj6a said:


> Hi
> 
> I got called to attend a lady's house after a British Gas engineer refused to carry out a service to there boiler due to her voltage indicator stick indicating the caseing of the boiler was live !
> 
> ...




Try your stick on the walls and doors. Is this a knob and tube wired house?
Or one with three way switches wired with two wire cable travellers? Both of those can make tic testers give false positive readings thru the structure.


----------



## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

Those testers are really electromagnetic field detectors. Designed to err on the side of caution, so false positives are more common.
You really need a voltage meter to be sure.

http://www.homeinspect2020.com/uploads/Non_Contact_Voltage_Testers_and_Personal_Risk_Management.pdf


----------



## gnuuser (Jan 13, 2013)

correct wcord
the non contact testers will alert you of a potential of voltage present.
most can be set off with even a small static charge buildup
using an analog meter (or any meter that applies a load ) will give you an accurate reading.

while i dont use them often they can tell you to pay more attention
and there is nothing wrong with that:laughing:


----------



## wcord (Jan 23, 2011)

gnuuser said:


> correct wcord
> the non contact testers will alert you of a potential of voltage present.
> most can be set off with even a small static charge buildup
> using an analog meter (or any meter that applies a load ) will give you an accurate reading.
> ...


They are a great tool for demo and such, but I have found my guys relying on the tic tester, rather than grabbing a meter.
I agree, as a safety tool, they definitely have a place.


----------



## Big John (May 23, 2010)

These testers pick up an AC electric field. There are any number of things that might trigger them artificially. Are there fluorescent lamps close by? Or maybe even something like a baby monitor or intercom? 

If you had high voltage present on the boiler frame, you'd also measure it on all the pipes that weren't protected by dielectric fittings. If you don't, then that means there's something local to the boiler causing interference.


----------

