# Klein ET200/Home Depot



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

k_buz said:


> I received a Klein ET200 voltage tester (orange wiggy) for Christmas last year. It stopped working about a week ago. I didn't think the voltage testing used any battery power and that those were for the LED light and continuity testing, but I decided to change the batteries anyway. Nope, still nothing.
> 
> I looked up Klein's warranty on their website and it stated that any distributor is required to honor Klein's warranty, so I took it to the nearest Home Depot and asked if I could trade it for one that worked (same model).
> 
> ...


They usually take everything back as long as you have the receipt.


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## k_buz (Mar 12, 2012)

I didn't. I probably could have gotten it, but I figured I'd give it a try because of what I saw on their website.



> All Klein Tools distributors are required to process warranty returns.
> 
> 
> If you have a problem with a warranty return, you may want to consider using a different distributor because most of our distributors perform this process without hesitation. They know we back up our products and provide them prompt credit for warranty returns.
> ...


The thing that really got me was how they were claiming they weren't a Klein Tool distributor.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

It's a piece of garbage. Throw it away.


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## k_buz (Mar 12, 2012)

Peter D said:


> It's a piece of garbage. Throw it away.



*THANK YOU* for such an insightful post.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

k_buz said:


> *THANK YOU* for such an insightful post.


You're welcome. I happen to own that tester and it's a worthless piece of junk.


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## Tsmil (Jul 17, 2011)

Peter D said:


> You're welcome. I happen to own that tester and it's a worthless piece of junk.


Mine works great. Use it to prop open controlled entry doors when I need something from my truck.


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## user4818 (Jan 15, 2009)

Klein should be ashamed of themselves for putting their name on such poor quality products. But it seems like they want to make every electrical tool under the sun so they keep sacrificing quality. My solution is not to buy anything they make other than pliers. :thumbsup:


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## Briancraig81 (May 25, 2007)

Peter D said:


> Klein should be ashamed of themselves for putting their name on such poor quality products. But it seems like they want to make every electrical tool under the sun so they keep sacrificing quality. My solution is not to buy anything they make other than pliers. :thumbsup:


I don't trust tick tracers at all. I've heard story's of them indicating a circuit being off and people getting shocked or burning up their pliers of strippers. (I have had them fail on me when I first started in the trade.) I will use them as a preliminary test however sometimes. If they indicate a circuit is off then I will use my Ideal neon tester to be sure because it will not lie to you, no matter the circumstances. Using a tick tracer is quick and alot of younger electricians use them but I was taught by some old schoolers who imbeded it into me those things are nothing but a gimmick.


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Briancraig81 said:


> ...I've heard story's of them indicating a circuit being off and people getting shocked or burning up their pliers of strippers....


They didn't understand how to use that tester properly. It's no different than a guy who doesn't understand a multimeter.

But I will grant your Ideal neon-tester seems a bit more fool-proof.

-John


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## millelec (Nov 20, 2010)

Briancraig81 said:


> I don't trust tick tracers at all. I've heard story's of them indicating a circuit being off and people getting shocked or burning up their pliers of strippers. (I have had them fail on me when I first started in the trade.) I will use them as a preliminary test however sometimes. If they indicate a circuit is off then I will use my Ideal neon tester to be sure because it will not lie to you, no matter the circumstances. Using a tick tracer is quick and alot of younger electricians use them but I was taught by some old schoolers who imbeded it into me those things are nothing but a gimmick.


was trained to test your tester on a live source, then check circuit you're working on, then verify your tester still working by checking it on the live source again. Live-dead-live. It's worked so far...


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## Celtic (Nov 19, 2007)

HARRY304E said:


> They usually take everything back as long as you have the receipt.





k_buz said:


> I didn't.



Next time....buy the back up/replacement....and return the broken one with the new receipt. :thumbsup: 
[the other receipt will be lost by then any way ]


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## sparky711 (Oct 1, 2011)

Me too...if its hot kill the power so you get no reading then energize it again to make sure you're reading right.


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## wptski (Jun 30, 2008)

k_buz said:


> I didn't. I probably could have gotten it, but I figured I'd give it a try because of what I saw on their website.
> 
> 
> 
> The thing that really got me was how they were claiming they weren't a Klein Tool distributor.


This may be similiar. The warranty on a Fluke product is "only" good if purchased from an Authorized Fluke Dealer. You can buy a Fluke off eBay brand new in a box but it "really" doesn't have a warranty, although you may or maynot be asked by Fluke to provide proof of purchase for a warranty repair. Fluke has never asked me for one in the past. This might depend on the product and the problem it has.

I had a problem with a Windows Update disc and was told that Microsoft doesn't support eBay purchased products.


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## EBFD6 (Aug 17, 2008)

Briancraig81 said:


> I don't trust tick tracers at all. I've heard story's of them indicating a circuit being off and people getting shocked or burning up their pliers of strippers. (I have had them fail on me when I first started in the trade.) I will use them as a preliminary test however sometimes. If they indicate a circuit is off then I will use my Ideal neon tester to be sure because it will not lie to you, no matter the circumstances. Using a tick tracer is quick and alot of younger electricians use them but I was taught by some old schoolers who imbeded it into me those things are nothing but a gimmick.


I use a "tic tracer" daily, and have for close to 15 years. They are great for quick checks and situations where physical contact of live parts (required for other testers) would be difficult or inconvenient. I do not trust my life to it and use a meter or wiggy if I will be actually contacting live parts. I have never heard of or personally experienced anyone having an issue with a false negative reading when the tester is used properly. The guys feeding you this misinformation are probably old timers who are stubborn and to set in their ways to realize that there are new fangled contraptions that make work easier. The key to any tester is to do a live-dead-live test to ensure proper tester operation. I have had my "tic tester" give me false positive readings in the past (which is no big deal safety wise), never a false negative (which could prove dangerous).

As with any tool, you must be smarter than the tool!


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

I use them with respect, find them very useful. Working with ungrounded stuff, finding the hot is handy with the tic tracer. I always have one.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Just buy the same one and repackage the defect for return. I love HD and Lowes return policies, they are a money maker.


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## Briancraig81 (May 25, 2007)

I can give one example. I was working under a mechanic once, we got sent to a service call. Customer had moved into a house, said flood light worked when first moved in but now it didn't. The mechanic only had a tic tracer and it was picking up that the FL wire was hot. "Must have lost the neutral he kept saying because my tester says it's hot. I tried to get him to put my neon tester on it or a meter but he wouldn't listen and seemed to get a bit ticked I was telling him what to do. Anyway to make a long story short and after wasting 3 hours tracing stuff out and trying to re feed the circuit. It turns out what the problem was when the house was built the s/l and the wire to the FL were just wrapped around each other in the attic, the joints never were made up. The tic tracer was picking up inductance. After telling the customer what we had found he then say's "Oh yeah, maybe that light never did work" The guy I was working under still insisted tic tracers work fine :blink:.


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## Voltage Hazard (Aug 10, 2009)

Briancraig81 said:


> I can give one example. I was working under a mechanic once, we got sent to a service call. Customer had moved into a house, said flood light worked when first moved in but now it didn't. The mechanic only had a tic tracer and it was picking up that the FL wire was hot. "Must have lost the neutral he kept saying because my tester says it's hot. I tried to get him to put my neon tester on it or a meter but he wouldn't listen and seemed to get a bit ticked I was telling him what to do. Anyway to make a long story short and after wasting 3 hours tracing stuff out and trying to re feed the circuit. It turns out what the problem was when the house was built the s/l and the wire to the FL were just wrapped around each other in the attic, the joints never were made up. The tic tracer was picking up inductance. After telling the customer what we had found he then say's "Oh yeah, maybe that light never did work" The guy I was working under still insisted tic tracers work fine :blink:.


So, if the guy was using a standard DMM, and measuring 50V because of the inductive coupling, he still would have been troubleshooting for hours. He would have been looking for a high resistive splice of some sort. But, using a low impedance DMM or wiggy would have helped to solve this problem. Does that mean standard DMM's don't work fine?

It's all about understanding how you tools work, and using them properly. Tic tracers work fine if you understand how they work, and know their limitations. Using a DMM or Clamp, or even a neon tester improperly will cause issues too. Don't blame the tool when it's the user.


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## SVT CAMR (Apr 17, 2012)

Sorry to bring this back from the dead. 

Does this tester really suck this bad? I have used a fluke ever since I lost my vol-con. At first it was big and heavy but I got use to it. 

Now I want something I can bring on the job and not worry if it is stolen. 

I was all set to buy this tester today and did a search. People are saying it just stopped working out of no where. :001_huh:

I wonder if it has something to do with the solid state board? 

Is the Klein ET-200 Tester a waste of money?


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## jza (Oct 31, 2009)

Hold on, so Home Depot offered you store credit, and you went ahead and bought the same piece of junk again?!

They gave you an out, you should have taken it. I don't **** where I eat and I don't buy test equipment from a manufacturer known for their pliers either.


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## Deep Cover (Dec 8, 2012)

SVT CAMR said:


> Sorry to bring this back from the dead.
> 
> Does this tester really suck this bad? I have used a fluke ever since I lost my vol-con. At first it was big and heavy but I got use to it.
> 
> ...


Klein sent me a new one swearing that they are constantly upgrading it, but I bought a Fluke TPro + and haven't used the replacement.


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## Deep Cover (Dec 8, 2012)

jza said:


> Hold on, so Home Depot offered you store credit, and you went ahead and bought the same piece of junk again?!
> 
> They gave you an out, you should have taken it. I don't **** where I eat and I don't buy test equipment from a manufacturer known for their pliers either.


Klein has "made" wiggies for years the black rebranded Square D version was the goto for many electricians for years.


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## jza (Oct 31, 2009)

Deep Cover said:


> Klein has "made" wiggies for years the black rebranded Square D version was the goto for many electricians for years.


Keep telling yourself that. Fluke was and still is the go to for _professional _electricians.


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## FastFokker (Sep 18, 2012)

It's not even a wiggy in my opinion... it's all electronic.

I'm happy using electronics, but for a wiggy, I want electro-mechanical solenoid action!

At this point, you're better off hooking some leads to a 240V bulb.. if it glows dim, it's under 240V, but real power, glows bright, it's around 240V and if it pops, it's well over 240V. And if it explodes and burns your face, you should have known better than use a lightbulb as a tester!


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

For normal use, if I am going to be working on something, I use my wiggy. I trust the electro/mechanical action of it over a DMM since there aren't ghost voltages and such. Here is a picture:


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

k_buz said:


> I received a Klein ET200 voltage tester (orange wiggy) for Christmas last year. It stopped working about a week ago. I didn't think the voltage testing used any battery power and that those were for the LED light and continuity testing, but I decided to change the batteries anyway. Nope, still nothing.
> 
> I looked up Klein's warranty on their website and it stated that any distributor is required to honor Klein's warranty, so I took it to the nearest Home Depot and asked if I could trade it for one that worked (same model).
> 
> ...



NEXT TIME:

Buy exact model at store
take new item out, replace with broken one
return to store with reciept


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

Going_Commando said:


> For normal use, if I am going to be working on something, I use my wiggy. I trust the electro/mechanical action of it over a DMM since there aren't ghost voltages and such. Here is a picture:


I like my old Wiggie. But it hasn't made it out of my basement in years. They have a habit of blowing out freq drives and other solid state devices.


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## mikewillnot (Apr 2, 2013)

Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 21 










I've just gone through my second Klein et-200 in about two years. they're great, when they're not broken. this one, the leads went bad at the unit, and i couldn't solder them back in and get it to work; my skills there are rusty. the first one, I can't remember what went bad on it, but it was in the first couple of months. Grrrrrrrr. I'm in the market for a new one, but I'm bloody ticked at Klein testers. Or maybe it's just klein.


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

Damn this is an old thread, I saw my old account in here... that was trippy.


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## Rochsolid (Aug 9, 2012)

FastFokker said:


> It's not even a wiggy in my opinion... it's all electronic.
> 
> I'm happy using electronics, but for a wiggy, I want electro-mechanical solenoid action!
> 
> At this point, you're better off hooking some leads to a 240V bulb.. if it glows dim, it's under 240V, but real power, glows bright, it's around 240V and if it pops, it's well over 240V. And if it explodes and burns your face, you should have known better than use a lightbulb as a tester!


This one frunk? Haha


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## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

Heck yeah... next time this thread gets resurrected maybe I'll have a new account again!


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